
RESOURCES
We believe that the best place to build community is in the home. It's intimate space where people are comfortable and human, and the early apostles met in their homes.
Our hope is that there are thousands of people who will want to host a community in their home. Below are some of the things we have learned and some particular books that have impacted us. We hope you find them inspiring as you do your part to spread the kingdom.
OUR COMMUNITY GATHERINGS IN THE HOME
These remained faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. - Acts 2:43
The Teaching of the Apostles
Our two main sources of learning together are the Bible and the Catechism. No one needs to know everything. It can help to have a leader, but it is extremely valuable to study short passages together and to discuss them together. There should be a particular emphasis on how these truths can transform our lives and how we can deepen our relationships with the Lord through the wisdom found there. Knowing isn't everything. We need to grow in holiness.
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We can grow in holiness when we take these teachings into our own hearts and strive to live according to them.
The Brotherhood
Deep relationships are extremely important for a community to be able to grow in holiness together. The more we know the intimate parts of each other's hearts, the more we can love them there--and being the body of Christ as children of God means loving one another radically. In order to grow these bonds, we make sure to always share a meal together like a family, sharing what the Lord has been doing in our lives. This also enables us to be able to encourage one another, which was a crucial part of Paul's ministry.
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We can grow in holiness through loving our brothers authentically and receiving their love, showing one another the love of the Father.
The Breaking of the Bread
This is the part we can't do in the home. The Eucharist is the greatest gift to the Church. We need to make sure we're all receiving the Eucharist at Mass at least once a week. This will give us the life and grace to live in intimacy with Jesus and to live a lifestyle according to our faith, including living in deep community with other committed Christians. Hopefully, our communities will enliven the parishes so that worship in the church buildings will become as Jesus wanted them to be and so that we can receive the Eucharist together as a parish community of deep faith.
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We can grow in holiness when we receive the grace from the sacrament which will help us to live like Jesus.
The Prayers
It is extremely important that we pray together. This is what makes us a Christian community; this is what actually connects us to the Lord. We have found that the two best ways to pray together in the home are the Liturgy of the Hours and praising the Lord through music. Anyone can pray the Liturgy of the Hours, and it's particularly valuable because it is the prayer of the Church and the prayer that Jesus prayed. Praise through music is also wonderful because we were each made for worship, and this way of praising allows us to focus on bringing glory to God. It also clears our minds of all the junk and allows us to make space for the Lord in our hearts and to be still in his presence. Beginning our gatherings in prayer makes sure that all we do is in the Lord and lets him be the Master of our community and lead us into him.
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We can grow in holiness by praying together because holiness is Christ in us, and praying together gets us in touch with him in our hearts both individually and as a body.
So our gatherings are very simple. We start with prayer, then we share a meal together, and then we grow in our faith through teaching, each having been faithful to the Sacraments.
BOOKS WE RECOMMEND
The Bible. The most important things we need to know are found here. In order to build Christian communities, we have to first be Christians. The Bible will teach us how to be good Christians. Only after we have a solid relationship with the Lord and spend significant time listening to him every single day can we think about spreading the faith to others. Once we're there, the Bible can teach us how to do that too, particularly in the New Testament. Ultimately, it's not up to us to figure out how to spread the faith. Once we know him, he'll show us how.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church. In order to help the Church, we must first understand her identity. We can get to know what the Church is at the heart and what Jesus intended it to be by prayerfully reading the Catechism. It is dense and very long, so a little at a time will do, but anyone who seeks to work with the Lord to bring life into his Church needs to be familiar with the Catechism.

The Soul of the Apostolate. This book comes recommended by great popes. It lays out the importance of not simply doing ministry, but absolutely prioritizing being filled by the Holy Spirit in our quiet time so that he can do the ministry through us. It is not human power that can make a difference, but divine power, and when we let him fill us our work is profoundly fruitful because we are more likely to be doing his work in the first place, and the power in our work is his own grace.

Personal Prayer: A Guide for Receiving the Father's Love. We've mentioned the importance of prioritizing prayer. This book is a beautiful teaching on all kinds of prayer, the depth to them, the struggles inherent to them, and how to go about them, all with a focus on being intimate with the Lord and receiving the Father's love.

Spiritual Direction: A Guide for Sharing the Father's Love. Though the focus of this book is on spiritual direction, we have found it to be immensely helpful for all kinds of relationships, including one-on-one relationships with the individuals in our community and even in the group setting. We come together in order to grow in holiness together, which means loving each other authentically no matter what--and that requires loving with the Father's love. Once we have been filled with his love in our personal time with him, we are equipped to love everyone around us. It is critical that the whole community learn to love one another this way, but it is especially important for the person in a leadership role because he or she sets the tone for the community and is naturally an example to the rest.

Poverty of Spirit. Being active in the Lord's work, it is critical that we remain humble. Only then can he really use us and only then are our souls safe. This book does a beautiful job of describing the natural poverty of humans, that we are weak and helpless without the Lord, while still recognizing the great dignity in our beings that comes exclusively from the Lord. This is a good book to read on repeat, just a page a day to really absorb the truths.
