Basketball legend Kobe Bryant (1978—2019) and eight other people, including his thirteen-year-old daughter Gianna, were killed on Sunday, January 26, in a helicopter crash in Southern California. They were on their way to a youth basketball game. Kobe was the coach, his daughter was a player.
The Bryant family members are practicing Catholics. Kobe attended 7 AM Mass at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Newport Beach prior to boarding the plane. Attending Mass and receiving Holy Communion was one of the last things he did in his life.
Take some time to reiterate the necessity of attending Sunday Mass. Remind the students of some of these reasons and have them suggest others:
Going to Mass helps to fulfill the Third Commandment.
As a member of the Church, it’s important to obey its laws.
It is sinful to deliberately miss Sunday Mass.
There is no greater grace than to receive Jesus in Holy Communion.
Mass is a foretaste of heaven.
The Church misses my presence when I am absent from Mass.
Jesus asked us to go to Mass to remember him.
Going to Mass is a good example to my peers and younger siblings.
Mass participation helps me to fulfill my baptismal promises.
Also discuss some excuses students may give for missing Mass:
My family doesn’t go to Mass.
Sunday is my only day to sleep in.
I have to work on Sunday.
I catch up on homework on Sunday.
I don’t have a ride to Mass.
There are very few my own age at Mass.
I have a basketball (or other sport) game on Sunday.
Conclude bymaking copies of an article about Kobe Bryant and his Catholic faith and assign it for reading.
Requiescat in pace
Kobe Bryant
Gianna Bryant
John Altobelli
Keri Altobelli
Alyssa Altobelli
Christina Mauser
Sarah Chester
Payton Chester
Ara Zobayan
In support of this year’s March for Life, have the students explore the website and look for ways they can participate in this effort throughout the year from wherever they are.
Also, have the students consider some of these pro-life actions they can incorporate into their own lives. Write examples like these on the board. Have the students suggest more to add to the list:
Respect your own life. Eat the right foods. Get proper rest. Exercise. Avoid harmful substances.
Respect the dignity of others. Treat all people fairly.
Remove prejudicial feelings from your life.
Share your resources with the book.
Drive carefully. Do not text while driving.
Learn pro-life responses to pro-abortion arguments.
Support the unborn by writing letters to legislators, government officials, and the media, or by participating in pro-life rallies.
Support health care initiatives for poor women and children.
Show extra care for the disabled and those with special needs.
Speak out against euthanasia. Help those who are sick and elderly to offer their suffering to Jesus.
Visit the sick and elderly. Help to care even more for their spiritual and physical needs.
Pray.
Just released this week, Your Christian Vocation is a new textbook from Ave Maria Press that supports a high-school course on all Christian vocations and states of life, including marriage, holy orders, consecrated life, and committed single life.
Please contact Bob Wieneke to receive a complimentary sample copy of Your Christian Vocations for your Catholic high school.
One of the hallmark's of Ave Maria Press textbooks in the Encountering Jesus series is a variety of teacher support materials. Included here are three approaches for coverage of the issue of homosexuality as it appears in Chapter 5 on marriage. Care is taken in presenting authentic Church teaching in a pastoral way geared especially for teenagers.
Teaching Approach 1
Explore material from Life Teen that presents Church teaching on homosexuality in a youth-friendly manner. Organize your class into three groups, and assign each group one of the following articles from the Life Teen website:
“Too Catholic to be Gay”
“This Is How to Talk to Your Friend Who Is Gay”
“7 Ways to Love Our Brothers and Sisters Who Experience Same-Sex Attraction”:
Note: All Life Teen materials support the teachings of the Catholic Church.
First, give students about ten minutes to read their assigned articles quietly and individually. Taking notes is advisable. Then have the students meet with those who read the same article (if the three groups are too large to be productive, they may subdivide into two smaller groups). They are to compare notes, discuss, and compose questions to bring to the large group.
Reconvening the class together, have student volunteers summarize the contents of each article. Then invite students to pose questions about the articles. You may wish to begin with basic, factual questions that give you the opportunity to clarify Church teaching as needed. Then move to deeper, more philosophical, and/or discussion-oriented questions. If time does not permit you to address every question, keep a list (perhaps on your board) of questions to address in a subsequent class session. For homework, direct students to write a one-paragraph reflection sharing their thoughts, feelings, and reactions regarding the content of today’s lesson.
Teaching Approach 2
View and discuss the film Desire of the Everlasting Hills. Produced by Courage International, this 2014 documentary examines the lives of two men and one woman who acted on their homosexual attractions in the past and are now living the Church’s message of chastity. The film is available to stream online at https://everlastinghills.org/movie; a DVD is also available for purchase.
Taking into account the film’s length (1:03:05), determine how best to show it to your students while also allowing adequate time for discussion. With a long-block schedule, you could view and discuss the film in one class session. With a traditional schedule, you will need two class periods to watch the whole film and discuss it. If your class time is very limited, you could preview the film and select excerpts that you wish to show your students.
An extensive study guide for the film is available at https://everlastinghills.org/study-guide. You may wish to select questions from this guide that seem compelling for discussion with your students; perhaps select an additional question to which students respond in writing for homework.
Teaching Approach 3
Engage your students in an honest, open, respectful conversation about homosexuality. Homosexuality, including the Church’s teaching regarding it, is a controversial and sensitive topic. Your students would likely greatly appreciate the opportunity to discuss this topic in an open manner. Hopefully, in your course for several months, they have developed a degree of trust in one another, so that such a conversation can occur in an atmosphere that respects both Church teaching and the dignity of every student. In order for this discussion not to devolve into a debate or, worse, an argument, careful preparation is essential.
First, direct students to review this section of the Student Text and to write two lists:
points that they understand and that make sense to them
points that they are struggling to understand, find confusing, or find troubling
Then have the students exchange their lists with a partner and engage in a brief discussion, noting similarities and differences in their lists.
Drawing the class back together, facilitate a large-group discussion, beginning with the points that the students understand (be sure to acknowledge and affirm these) and moving on to the points with which they struggle. Allow students to share their honest perspectives and questions, but be sure to moderate the discussion well, lest it become a free-for-all.
One discussion in one class session is unlikely to answer every student’s questions or to bring every student complete clarity. However, all students—especially those whose views regarding homosexuality are evolving and/or who struggle to understand the Church’s perspective—can benefit from the opportunity to voice their concerns and pose their questions freely and without fear. They may ultimately be more open to the Church’s teaching if they can approach it critically and thoughtfully, rather than feeling that it is being “forced” upon them.
