Great news. If you are a Member of the New Saint Thomas Institute, you are now supporting abandoned children in China and feeding the poor!

You still get all the great videos and content – and you know that you are making a positive impact on the world at the same time. Nothing changes except now you are part of providing for those in desperate need. This is not an extra cost. We are now using part of your existing monthly tuition for charitable purposes.

As you know from the video lessons in the New Saint Thomas Institute, I am convinced that orthodox theology leads to virtuous living and heroic action. With all of our growth, we are at a point now in the New Saint Thomas Institute to start giving back and helping others.

True Religion: Faith and Works or Theology and Charity

We know that studying Thomas Aquinas is not enough. Learning Catholic theology is not enough. Holding the true faith is not enough. Saint Paul teaches that we are justified by “faith working through love” (fides quæ per caritatem operatur, Gal 5:6). As Saint James wrote: “a man is justified; and not by faith only” (James 2:24). James also tell us that true religion cares for the orphan and widow:

“Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to visit the orphans and widows in their tribulation.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ told us that when we feed the hungry or clothe the sick (Matthew 25), we render these loving works to Him. He is present in the poor and outcast when we assist them.

The Oxcart Project of the New Saint Thomas Institute

Our Members are not only discovering Catholic theology and growing in their faith through the New Saint Thomas Institute. They are now collectively make a deep impact in the world.

We call it the Oxcart Project because it’s the means we use to carry assistance to those in need (the name “ox” is a reference to our patron Saint Thomas Aquinas – the Dumb Ox). With the New Saint Thomas Institute’s Oxcart Project, we are providing a quantifiable number of meals for the hungry and caring for abandoned children in China.

Our initial commitment beginning in October and moving forward is to:

1. provide 1,077 meals monthly to those suffering from hunger
2. provide monthly financial support for Chunmiao Little Flower to care for orphans in China in a loving and Christian environment.

I am particularly passionate about the Little Flower orphanage in China. Many of these Chinese children were born with handicaps or defects and their parents deemed them as “throwaway babies.” The Little Flower Project plucks up these little flowers and cares for them.

I recently heard of a baby who was discovered in a field covered in mosquitoes and flies. The baby had “claw” feet and hands and no doubt his parents cast him away as “throwaway.” Little Flower cared for him and raised him. He is now a teenage boy with friends. He is a baptized Catholic and he loves Jesus. He knows how he was abandoned and rediscovered as a baby and is grateful to be alive. He describes himself as happy. When I heard this story, the Holy Spirit told me that we needed to support this apostolate.

As a Member of the New Saint Thomas Institute you can know for certain that as you study theology and watch our video lessons, you are simultaneously helping feed over 1,000 people every month and caring for orphans in China. We hope to do more in the months and years to come, but I think this is a good start for us. Theological training, if it does not produce real fruit for Christ, is really just the whispering of demons. Hopefully this new “improvement” to NSTI will help us all grow in the one true faith and also in true works.

For all those who are Members of the New Saint Thomas Institute…Thank you for making this possible!

Godspeed,

Taylor

PS: If you’d like to learn more about Chunmiao Little Flower and get involved above and beyond what we do with the New Saint Thomas “Oxcart Project” please visit their site by clicking here.

[reminder]How else can true Catholic/Christian theology move us to make an eternal impact while we are still on earth?[/reminder]