From the Abbey

When I taught in a Catholic high school, I tried to find a decent moral theology textbook, but I just couldn't find one that had sufficient content, was doctrinally sound, and was appealing and comprehensible for students. I found Responding to God from Priori Press, but this book is written for college students despite the Dominicans' claim that it is a high school text. So, I decided to write my own.

Dear Brother Thomas is approaching its final form after four years of writing and testing it with my students. This textbook teaches catholic moral doctrine and theology in the tradition of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Veritatis Splendor, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church through a series of letters between a teenager named Christine and a Dominican brother named Brother Thomas. I modeled Chrsitine after many of my students who have asked me awesome questions through my ten years as a teacher. I made up Brother Thomas based in part on my own draw toward the Dominican charism and in part on my devotion to Saint Thomas Aquinas. The book has been a success with my students. I hope it will serve home educators and other students as well.

Meanwhile, I inherited a Catholic book selling business called F.A.I.T.H. Matters. Through this business, I sell books at Catholic conferences and to local patrons. I hope to create an Internet catalog very soon. While there are already many Catholic stores on the Internet, I hope to corner a market through my teaching.

Now that I am a stay-at-home father, I hope to combine these activities. I am writing a moral theology curriculum that I hope to sell primarily to home educators. It will be a CD-ROM curriculum with interactive worksheets, flash applications, and an electronic version of Dear Brother Thomas. I also plan to teach the course as a seminar series for deaneries in my diocese. While I teach, I hope to offer my students careful reviews of books and resources that they can buy from me and personal support to help them decide what will be best for them.

The most exciting part of this project is the possibility of teaching teenagers and adults together. Teens have the desire and curiosity to learn this material. Adults have the maturity and wisdom to better understand it. Together they may just become the best possible class to receive the Church's teachings on moral theology.