Dear Holly,
I am writing on behalf of a group of Catholic mothers who meet regularly "to sit at the feet of Our Lord", both to hear His Word and study the Catholic faith, and to serve the Church family by sharing as a group the Christian call to hospitality. We plan to use your MROL as our next study, so I am writing to request information on the workbook mentioned on your website.
Could you advise us on how the workbook is meant to be used? Is it something we would each need a copy of, or will it suffice that the leaders purchase one and use it for our face-to-face discussion? Does it contain discussion questions or is it intended to be a practical guide? If it is only available in the e-book format, does this mean it can printed out on paper, or is it only accessible digitally?
We thought we would break the sessions down into two chapter increments, which for us would span 10 weeks since we meet bi-monthly. Does this seem like a good plan? Do you have alternate suggestions?
I have personally read your book several times since becoming a mother a few years ago. I cannot imagine the mother I would be now if I had not been pointed to your words. I am so grateful for the wisdom God has imparted to me through you and I can't wait to share the rule with others. Thank you for all your time and dedication to Catholic mothers.
Help With Your Mother's Rule is a forum for women who want trouble-shooting
help with their Mother's Rules or about any aspect of the 5 Ps of
the married vocation.
Thank you for your letter and inquiry. Let's see if I can assist you.
ReplyDeleteIf you are planning to meet as a mothers group over the course of a number of weeks, I think your best bet is to arrange things this way.
1. Assign a set reading - two chapters is OK, or you could assign the first two chapters, then each session a single P (priority), then the last session the practical and final chapters. That would be my recommendation, because it enables you to focus on those priorities - you don't want to rush through them when they are the heart of our vocation.
2. Arrange for someone to do a quick verbal summary of the main points in the reading - say 5-10 minutes.
3. Have an open discussion with the following questions that I recommend:
- What am I getting out of this for my life? What struck me the most, personally?
- Have I heard about any of these ideas/situations before in church teaching or scripture or my experience?
- What did I think of automatically when I read this section?
- What is different/same about this compared to what I usually do?
- Do I agree with this or not, and explain why.
- What changes do I feel drawn to implement as a result of this?
I think these 6 basic questions personalize the book/discussion, and provide a basic template which eliminates the need to provide upfront quotes or scripture references - as each woman would bring her own learning and experience to the sessions, and really leave room for the individual person and the Holy Spirit to inspire and enlighten.
4. Go over the appropriate sections of the workbook with the women, 'assigning' them for the next two weeks. Someone in your group should understand the format and the tasks, and be able to guide , instruct and field questions. Please let them know they only need to begin each section - not complete everything in two weeks. Remember Aesop's tortoise... slow and steady wins the race.
As for the workbook:
It is really designed for personal use, but could and should be introduced at the sessions. For your group, your leader needs a copy for her examination. There is a group rate which can be accessed when details of the sessions are sent to me, payable through the donation button on my Holly's Helper's Page. The leader should contact me directly.
There are two ways to access the workbook with group rate:
Either
Each woman can go to my website, make their own payment via the donation button, and itemize the name of the Women's Group, including Location or Parish or Leader name, so I will know they are to receive the special rate. Please note: I can do this only after the agreement has been made with the group leader. The member can print this on her own and bring to the sessions.
Or
The leader may make a group donation via the donate button, and then forward the file to the participants, or print them on her own via parish paper, etc (with permission, of course).
For anyone interested in starting a discussion group, please contact me to make arrangements. May God bless you!