William C. Michael

In today’s Gospel reading (St. Luke 6), Our Lord says: “Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.” Everyone loves to blame others for being hypocrites, but Jesus isn’t teaching us to identify hypocrisy in others.  He’s teaching His disciples that they are hypocrites. It’s hypocrites who spend their time talking about others being hypocrites and Jesus is teaching us what true devotion consists of. There is no passage of Scripture that doesn’t simply expand on other passages of Scripture.  The meanings are not mysterious and the … Continue

In today’s Gospel reading, we read: “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” Are we preaching a Savior to our neighbors, or a Judge? Yes, the day of judgment will come and our consciences testify to this reality.  St. Paul wrote of all sinners in Romans 1 that: “Although they know the just decree of God that all who practice such things deserve death, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” What our consciences do not tell us, however, … Continue

In this talk, Mr. William C. Michael of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy responds to some questions from a Protestant friend on the relationship between the Scriptures and Church Authority. +++++++Mr. William C. Michael, O.P.HeadmasterClassical Liberal Arts Academyhttps://classicalliberalarts.com

A parent wrote, “I wonder if you might do a talk on the role of science in young children’s education. I feel like I’m surrounded by homeschool families that put [science] on a pedestal; their kids can name every dinosaur, go into detail about weather and eco systems; if you name an animal they know where it’s from and its species and so on. I feel like I’m the crazy one for not focusing on it. Of course we have things like animal encyclopedias and what not that we read for fun but we don’t “study” them. For elementary age … Continue

The following examination of conscience was shared by a spiritual director for our Lay Dominican group.  It was prepared by a priest, whose name can be found at the top of the page. This examination of conscience is valuable to all who have studied the Summa Theologica because it guides an examination of conscience based on the arrangement and language of the Summa. I have found it helpful and would like to share it with CLAA families. When preparing for confession, I like to print a copy, read through it and highlight issues I’d like to mention while making my … Continue

Modern schools are doing worse as time goes on, yet there is access to more and better educational resources than every in human history. Why are schools getting worse? How can this be fixed? +++++++Mr. William C. Michael, O.P.HeadmasterClassical Liberal Arts Academyhttps://classicalliberalarts.com

There are 168 hours in every week. Assuming that one was to actually sleep 8 hours per day (most of us sleep much less), that would leave 112 hours in every week. Our ability to live a virtuous, productive life requires us to make the best possible use of those hours. We have no time to waste. Think of your day thus far. Can you give an account for every hour of your day? How many hours were used well? How many were wasted? I have always found that transitions between activties was often the greatest source of lost time. … Continue

A great error in modern education is made where parents and teachers view students as passive learners and speak of education as something to be received by the student. In such an environment, the students become the judges of their teachers, schools and study materials. Disapproval from an ignorant student sends parents shopping for alternatives. Everything about this situation is backwards. We don’t do things this way in the CLAA. Students must work first in education. This is clear from the name “student”. The word is derived from the Latin participle studens, which means one who is studying. It is … Continue