In the beginning of the Lenten springtime encourage your students to reflect on the classic poem of Jesuit Father Gerard Manley Hopkins, "God's Grandeur."
God’s Grandeur
By Gerard Manley Hopkins
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not wreck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge[and] shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast[and] with ah! bright wings.
Journal Questions
1. In the poem, what is the failure of humans?
2. According to the poem, what do people fail to comprehend about nature?
3. How does Hopkin's praise of nature relate to the praise of God?
Activity
Watch the following readings of "God's Grandeur." Then interpret the reading for yourself. Share your own unique reading of the poem with the class.
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The Vatican announced this weekend that Blessed Damien De Veuster, a priest of the Fathers of the Sacred Heart, who had ministered with lepers in Hawaii in the nineteenth century and later died of the disease, would be canonized a saint on October 11, 2009. When Fr. Damien was first assigned to the leper colony at Kalawao, on the island of Molokai, he was at first struck by an invitation in the letter from his superiors: "You may stay as long as your devotion dictates." That he certainly did. The following text, written by Boniface Hanely, O.F.M. in Ten Christiansrecounts the last days of Fr. Damien's life, after he, too, had contracted leprosy.
In 1886, Father Damien wrote to his superior: "As I wrote to you about two years ago that I had then suspicions of the first germs of leprosy being in my system—the natural consequence of a long stay with these lepers—be not surprised or too much pained to know that one of your spiritual children is decorated not only with the Royal Cross of Kalakaua, but also with the cross more heavy, and considered less honorable, of lepsosy with which our Divine Savior has permitted me to be stigmatized."
The announcement that Damien had leprosy hit his own religious superiors, Father Fouesnel and his boship, Hermann Koeckemann, like a thunderbolt. Damien was the third Sacred Hearts missionary stricken with leprosy. To prevent further infection, Father Fouesnel forbade Damien to visit the mission headquarters of the Sacred Heart Fathers in Honolulu. "If you come, "Father Superior advised Damien, "you will be relegated to a room which you are not to leave until your departure."
Father Fouesnel suggested that if Damien insisted on coming to Honolulu, he stay at the Franciscan sisters leper hospital. "But if you go there," the superior counseled, "please do not say Mass. For neither Father Clement nor I will consent to celebrate Mass with the same chalice and the same vestments you have used. The Sisters will refuse to receive Holy Communion from your hands." One can understand the superior's concern. But Damien was being forced, nonetheless, to consume the bitter wine of loneliness to its dregs. He now knew not only the physical sufferings of Chrihst but the harrowing loneliness and abandonment of the Savior. Damien did go to Honolulu and remained at the leprosarium from July 10-16. It was during that time that the arranged with Mother Marianne to come to Molokai. He spoke of his rejection by his own as "the greatest suffering he had ever endured in his life."
Dr. Mouritz, medical attendant at Molokai, charted the progress of the physical dissolution of Damien's body. He wrote: "The skin of the abdomen, chest, the back, is beginning to show tubercles, masses of infiltration.... The membranes of the nose, roof of the mouth, pharynx, and larynx are involved; the skin of his cheeks, nose, lips, forehead, and chin is excessively swollen.... His body is becoming emaciated."
An ever-deepening mental distress accompanied Damien's physical dissolution. A severe depression, as well as religious scruples, now plagued the leper priest. Damien felt he was unworthy of heaven. The rejection of his religious superiors left him in near disarray. Once he claimed: "From the rest of the world I received gold and frankincense, but from my own superiors myrrh."
As death approached, Father Damien engaged in a flurry of activity. He worked as much as his wounded and broken body would permit him. He wrote his bishop, entreating not to be dispensed from the obligation of the breviary, which he continued to recite as best he could as his eyes failed. The disease invading his windpipe progressed to such an extent that it kept him from sleeping more than an hour or two at night. His voice was reduced to a raucous whisper. Leprosy was in his throat, his lungs, his stomach, and his intestines. After ravaging his body outwardly, it was now destroying him from within.
As the end drew near, priests of his own congregation came to hear his confession. The leper priest had request a funeral pall, which the Franciscan Sisters made for him and delivered from Honolulu. It arrived the same day. Two more weeks of suffering, and on April 15, 1889, Damien died.. It was Holy Week. Some weeks before Damien had said that the Lord wanted him to spend Easter in heaven.
Once he had written, "The cemetery, the church and rectory form one enclosure; thus at nighttime I am still keeper of this garden of the dead, where my spiritual children lie at rest. My greatest pleasure is to go there to say my beads and meditate on that unending happiness which so many of them are already enjoying." And now it was his turn to occupy a little plot of ground in "his garden of the dead."
He no longer mediated on that unending happiness, but now most surely possessed it. Long ago he had selected the precise spot for his grave amid the two thousand lepers buried in Molokai cemetery. Coffin bearers laid him to rest under the same tree that had sheltered him when he first opened the letter from his superior with those fateful words: "You may stay as long as your devotion dictates...."
Assignments
Read and report on the life of Blessed Damien.
Damien described the disease as his . Have the students research the meaning of stigmata. Consider having them compare the life of Damien with that of St. Francis of Assisi.
Assign Luke 18:11-19, Jesus' healing of the ten lepers. Have the students look up Old Testament laws concerning treatment of lepers that Jesus disregarded.
As Ash Wednesday approaches, share some information on the origins and practices of Lent. The following information is taken from Our Sacramental Life: Living and Worshiping in Christ.
We cannot celebrate Easter fully if we have not taken the time to prepare for the celebration. We cannot be restored if we have not taken the time to identify the ways in which we are broken. By the second century Christians were preparing for the Easter celebration with a two-day (forty-hour) fast. No one within the community was to take food or water during the hours that Christ was in the tomb. Also, during the same time, Lent developed as a forty-day period of preparation for those who were to be baptized at Easter. Catechumens were to fast with just one meal per day for forty days in imitation of the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness.
This fast was seen as having several purposes. First, people believed that fasting gave fervor to prayers, strengthened them to fight against evil and helped prepare them for the reception of the Holy Spirit. Second, fasting allowed one to give money to the poor that would otherwise be used for food. For many fasting was a response of love. The rest of the Church participated in the fast as a way of supporting the catechumens and as a way doing penance for their sins and recommitting themselves to their own baptism.
In some parts of the early Church Lent—the word means “springtime”—was the appropriate time for those guilty of serious sin to complete their process of reconciliation. At the beginning of Lent those who were called penitents would put on special garments. They would be sprinkled with ashes and then be solemnly expelled from the Church. They would not be able to participate in the prayers of the faithful or the Eucharist until they were solemnly reconciled with the Church on Holy Thursday.
The Lenten season originally began on the sixth Sunday before Easter and ended with the celebration of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. Because there was no fasting on Sundays, the Church of the fifth century decided that six more days should be added to Lent in order to have forty fast days. To accomplish this, Good Friday and Holy Saturday were separated from the Easter Triduum and added to Lent and the four days preceding the sixth Sunday before Easter were also added. Thus Ash Wednesday was born as the first day of the season of penance. When the practice of expelling serious sinners at the beginning of Lent and restoring them to the Church at the end of Lent faded out of existence at the end of the first millennium, the practice of sprinkling ashes was retained for all the faithful.
Today, Lent is seen as a time of conversion with a threefold emphasis on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We seek a greater openness to the word of God, a more complete participation in the liturgy, and a stronger commitment to works of charity (almsgiving). Our practice of fasting (not eating) and abstinence (giving up certain foods or behaviors) is designed to turn our hearts to God and remind us of the plight of those who are hungry. During Lent we abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, on every Friday including Good Friday. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday we also fast between meals. Today’s Lenten season extends from Ash Wednesday to the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. It is forty-four days long if Sundays are included and thirty-eight days if they are not.
Discussion
A common modern practice during Lent is for Catholics to substitute a meal of soup and bread or other simple items on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent. Then, the difference in cost between what is usually spent on meals for these days is donated to the poor. Describe other communal or individual penitential acts you are aware of for Lent.
If you pick up any of the high school textbooks of Ave Maria Press, open to the copyright page, you will find that the book has received an Imprimatur from the Bishop John M. D'Arcy, the Bishop of Fort Wayne South Bend and a Nihil Obstat from the diocese's Censor Liborum, Fr. Michael Heintz.Fr. Mike, the pastor of St. Matthew's Cathedral in South Bend and a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame, was featured in the February 17 South Bend Tribune highlighting yet another of his skills and interests: he is a baseball umpire extraordinaire! His parishioners gifted him with participation in a professional umpire school.Congratulations Fr. Mike!
Continuing the Year of St. Paul, have the students write a 750-word commentary paper on a selected passage in one of Paul's letters. Suggested passages include:1 ThessaloniansMission of Timothy (3:1-8)Chastity and Charity (4:1-12)I CorinthiansBody of Christ (12:12-31)Love (13)PhilemonDignity of All (entire letter)GalatiansCalled by Christ (1:10-24)Justification through Faith (3:1-14)2 CorinthiansFalse Apostles (11:1-5)RomansFaith, Hope, and Love (5:1-15)Love and Law (13:8-10)Use the following outline to help you organize your paper:I. Text of the PassageWhat does the passage say?II. Content of the PassageWhat do biblical commentaries and scholars say about the passage?Analyze based on historical criticism, source criticism, form criticism, and redaction criticism.III. Interpret the PassageWhat does the passage mean for our world?What does this passage mean for me?This activity is taken from Encountering Jesus in the New Testament by Michael Pennock.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church quotes the Second Vatican Council document Lumen Gentium in describing the four marks of the Church and their place in the Church:
"This is the sole church of Christ, which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic." These four characteristics, inseperably linked with each other, indicate essential features of the Church and her mission. The Church does not possess them of herself: it is Christ who, through the Holy Spirit, makes his Church one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, and it is her who calls her to realize each of these qualites (CCC, 811).
Listed below are some case studies related to the four marks of the Church. For each situation, have the students list as many possible realistic responses to the dilemma as they can. Encourage them to be as specific as possible in describing each response. Have them discus ways in which each response underscores or ignores the four marks of the Church.
1. There is a significant disagreement over the style of worship at your parish. One group thinks that worship should be just as it always has been, the other believes that worship should be "modernized" to attract people who do not come to church. What do you think?
2. The majority of people in the parish believe that a new building project is necessary; however a significant minority feels that the Church should use its money to help the poor. What do you think?
3. The parish youth group is organizing several sports' teams. Youth have to try out for the teams and some youth may be cut from the teams. There are many in the parish who believe that Church-sponsored things should be open to everyone who wants to join them. There is a loud call for developing rules to govern the formation of every new group within the Church. What do you think?
4. There are three very distinct cultural groups at your parish. There is a strong push for three distinct worship services and for separate organizational structures to respond to the needs of each group. What do you think?
5. There is no standard pattern of sitting, standing, and kneeling at your parish for worship. It has become the practice for everyone to do whatever they want and are most comfortable with. Some people are complaining that the lack of unity distracts them from worship. What do you think?
6. There are several new Bible study groups being started in your parish. Some feel that anyone who wishes to start a Bible study group should be able to do so and advertise it in the bulletin. Others feel that only those Bible studies which meet certain criteria and are lead by certain people whould be allowed to meet under the auspices of the Church. What do you think?
7. Your parish has been assisting at a local soup kitchen for many yearas. The use of the soup kitchen has grown tremendously and the space it is in is not longer adequate. Your parish has been approached to see it it would be willing to open its parish hall two days a week as a soup kitchen. The parish is divided between those who feel it would be sinful to refuse and those who feel that opening a soup kitchen in the church would bring in an "undesirable element" into the neighborhood, making the neighborhood less safe and unfairly reducing the property values for those people (primarily parishioners) who had invested their lives in this neighborhood. What do you think?
8. Your parish is divided over what standards should exist for those who teach religious education, serve as sponsors, lectors, or eucharistic ministers. Some feel that any baptized Catholic who is committed enough to go through the training and "do the job" should be accepted. Others feel that only those of "impeccable moral character" should be accepted. What do you think?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines family as "a man and woman united in marriage, together with their children" (2202). Ask the students to comment on the definition with questions like:
Is this the only viable definition of family?
Can a family come in other shapes?
What "makes" a family?
Point out that a Christian family is a communion of persons, imaging the relationship between the Persons of the Holy Trinity. Ask the students to describe how families can concretely do this.
Continue the lesson by having the students complete the following exercises (taken from the text Marriage and Holy Orders: Your Call to Love and Serve).
The United States Census Bureau defines family as “a group of two or more people who reside together and who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption.” How do you define family? Write your definition below.
Family is . . .
Every family has special traits or qualities or does special things together that really matter to it as a family—make it unique. Think of a characteristic or quality you admire in your family, for example, humor, athleticism, or generosity. Write a limerick that shares something that matters in your family.
The following sample limerick is by a young woman whose last name is Wood. Check out how her family matters to her. Then, write your own family limerick.
I’m part of the family called Wood.
I wouldn’t leave if I could.
Though I’m oft’ underfoot,
I think I’ll stay put,
Cuz here is where I’m understood!
My Family Limerick
A limerick is a simple five-line poem. Lines 1, 2, and 5 have seven to ten syllables and rhyme with one another. Lines 3 and 4 have five to seven syllables and also rhyme with each other.
This activity, taken from Activities for Catholic Social Teaching, is designed to get students in touch with society's attitudes toward work and to challenge them to consider more carefully the service dimension of work and how to put this into practice in the present as well as the future. Copy and paste all or part of the material below to create your own student worksheet.
1. Write the words that come to your mind when you read each of these statements.
“I’ll work for food,” his ragged poster read.
“Get a job!” the passerby shouted.
“The working poor,” the story featured.
“I can’t afford to retire,” the 65-year-old lamented.
“Does this job include benefits?” the job-seeker asked.
“Medicaid Slashed,” the headline proclaimed.
“How do they expect me to pay for childcare, transportation, and health insurance, plus all my other bills, on this $7.00 an hour job!” the single mother screamed in frustration.
“That’s women’s work,” the young man protested.
“Women Still Get Paid 2/3 of What Men Do,” the headline stated.
“That’s the janitor’s job,” the student argued.
2. Overall attitudes. Based on your reactions to these statements, how would you describe your overall attitudes toward work, working people, and the unemployed? How do your attitudes compare to those of your family and close friends? to those of society in general?
3. Work attitude assessment. In terms of the work you are currently doing at school, at home, on the job, in your community, how would you rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 on the following pairs.
I do the least amount that is necessary/I go beyond what is asked of me
I’m negative and complain a lot/I’m joyful and positive about what I do
I think about myself first/ I’m careful about how my work affects others
In describing our work as something we do for God and for Christ, Mother Teresa says that we should “try to do it as beautifully as possible” ( What grade (from “A” to “F”) would you give yourself on how beautifully you do the various tasks of your life?
As you think about all these tasks, what would you say are your main goals in doing them?
4. Work as co-creating with God, as service to humanity.
Pope John Paul II said “… men [and women], created in the image of God, share by their work in the activity of the creator” and that “the purpose of work is to fulfill our own humanity and to benefit the humanity of those our work serves” (p. 000).
1. What are some of the ways you are already using your skills and interests to benefit others?
2. How do you envision putting your skills and interests in the service of others in the future?
3. What could you do right now—at home, at school, on the job, at church, or in the community—to be of greater service?
4. If we are truly are “co-creators” with God, what is it that you would like to create with your life?
