Homework: The Perennial Question

Every year, as I talk with dozens of potential Biblical School (CBS) students, I get a lot of the same questions. The #1 question is this:

This is an important question, because CBS students do spend a significant amount of time on homework each week (Sept. through May). But the question is not as straightforward as it seems.

How much time you choose to spend on homework is a matter for consultation with the Holy Spirit. I'm not being "quaint" here. This is the most accurate answer I can give.

The School's expectation isn't about the amount of time you spend each week on your studies. Rather, what we expect is for you to engage the questions thoughtfully and prayerfully in the amount of time you have to give to them. Some weeks you will have more time and energy than others. That's okay. We expect and respect that.

Your teachers will give you feedback and suggest new or better directions based on the Catholic Church's guidance and teaching. What you do with that feedback that is ultimately your responsibility.

What I find with many of our students is that they sometimes pressure themselves to spend more time on the homework than they can really afford to give. That's a problem, because you can't engage the Bible prayerfully and thoughtfully if you are worried about impressing yourself or the teacher with what you've learned. Instead, think of the widow's mite. If you give what time you have to give each week, it will multiply and facilitate your growth in faith over the course of four years in the School in a way that few programs do. (Just ask our 526 alums!)

Having said that, it takes most students a minimum of 3-4 hours a week,

Who are you trying to impress?

just to get everything done in a casual, hurried way. The reading assignments vary significantly week by week, but the written responses are fairly consistent. There are 5-7 (usually 6) multi-faceted questions designed to help you engage the text wholistically--that is, engaging your mind, heart, soul and spirit, all at whatever level you can engage given who you are and what's happening in your life.

So it's typical of our students to take at least 5-7 hours a week on homework. But some take longer. Others spend less. That's okay. We want you to move through the Biblical School in the way that you feel called to do so. Hence my statement at the beginning: how much time you spend is between you and the Holy Spirit.

Our expectation is that you will open yourself to listening to the Spirit more fully (we all need to do this, teachers and students alike) so that you will really engage God's Word in your inmost being. That does take time, but it is fruitful and worthwhile. We can't tell you how much time that will take for you. But we truly don't want you to overburden yourself week to week. That will NOT bear fruit in the way that God is calling us to do. (See John 15)

Instead, the Biblical School is incremental in nature. You learn what you are able to learn each week and move on to the next week's lesson. Week to week for four years, you grow into the depths of God's Word, becoming comfortable and conversant with the Bible. Along the way you come to the point where you carry God's Word in your heart and mind, and it changes the way you view your world.

The real work happens inside you, as you come to live more fully and more frequently in the heart of God.

If you want to know more, simply contact me: 860-242-5573; catholic.biblical.school@aohct.org.

I wish you grace and peace for true discernment.