It is always a challenge to teach in ways that will grab the students’ attention. One way to do this in a course on the Scriptures is to highlight the warrior-heroes and battles of the Old Testament. This activity is especially useful if you teach at an all boy’s school. Assign students the following names of warriors of the Old Testament and have them create a report on them to present to the class.1. Joshua (Joshua 1:1-11; 5:13-6:27; 10:7-15)2. Caleb (Joshua 15:13-193. Ehud (Jgs 3:12-30) 4. Deborah (Jgs 4-5) 5. Gideon (Jgs 6-8)6. Jephthah (Jgs 11)7. Samson (Jgs 13-16) 8. Jonathan (1 Sm 14) 9. Saul (1 Sm 10-1210. David (1 Sm 17)11. David’s Warriors (2 Sm 23:8-39) 12. Joram (2 Kings 3) 13. Naaman (2 Kings 5) 14. Jehu (2 Kings 9) 15. Hezekiah (2 Kgs 18-20)16. Judith (Judith 8, 13) 17. Mattathias (1 Mc 2)18. Judas Maccabeus (1 Mc 3-5, 9) 19. Jonathan (1 Mc 9-13) 20. Simon (1 Mc 13) Give the students the following guidelines for the report: 1. Read the passage from Scripture about the warrior (including the footnotes). 2. Write summary of everything you can deduce from the Old Testament passage: unique qualities, reason for fighting, the enemies, their success of failure. 3. Describe whether they consider the warrior to have participated in “Miracle Warfare” (see below). In the Torah, “Divine Warfare” or “Miracle Warfare” was commonplace. Miracle Warfare is the idea, unique to the Israelites, that God will fight, not just with them, but for them against their enemies. Ask the students to decide whether or not they see this theology in action as they are doing their research. Does God literally fight on their behalf? If so, explain. *Note that studying these figures does not condone the evil of violence and war. You may also consider following up with a lesson on the Just-War Doctrine of the Catholic Church.
For Ash Wednesday, share the following journal reflection on the Temptation of Jesus from Luke 4:1–13.
Prelude
Refer to the shema in Deuteronomy 6:4–5. Point out that each of the temptations of Jesus is a temptation against the shema. Likewise, each reply from Jesus comes from Deuteronomy.
First Temptation
Ask a student to read Luke 4:1–4.
Explain that the first temptation is to the quick fix, the easy answer, the instant gratification. It’s Veruca Salt screaming at Willie Wonka, “I want it NOW!” The response of Jesus tells us to have patience, to reject the easy fix, and to discover how to rely on God.
Have students respond in their journals to the following:
In what ways do I seek instant gratification?
In what areas of my life do I need to learn patience and self-control?
Second Temptation
Ask a student to read Luke 4:5–8.
Tell the class that the second temptation is to power and wealth over and rejects our loving God.
Have the students respond in their journals to the following:
In what ways do I lord it over others? Put others down?
Third Temptation
Ask a third student to read Luke 4:9–12.
Help the students see that the third temptation is to fame, or to glory. Jesus responds to the devil with humility.
Have the students respond in their journals to the following:
What temptations to fame come my way via TV, videos, advertising?
How does the way I spend my money—on clothes, makeup, or whatever—lead me to succumb to this temptation?
Conclusion
Finally, have the students respond in their journals to this question: “To which temptation do you give in to the most?” Tell students that their answer will give them a starting point their Lenten penance—and for their own dying to sin and rising to a new way of living
This lesson is drawn from Catholic Essentials: An Overview of the Faith.
February 11 is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes who appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in on February 11, 1858 in Lourdes, France. Young Bernadette was gathering wood near a grotto when she heard a noise and felt a gust of wind. She turned and “something white in the shape of a girl.” She immediately knelt to pray the rosary before the Blessed Virgin disappeared. Bernadette witnessed many more visions at the grotto and the event grew in great popularity to become one of the most traveled to pilgrimage sites for Catholics. The feast day is a great opportunity to explore this devotion that is very important to many Catholics around the world.
Resources on the Web
Background Information on Our Lady of Lourdes
• Video of Fr. Jim Martin about St. Bernadette from “Who Cares About the Saints?” http://sqpn.com/2009/02/11/feast-of-our-lady-of-lourdes/ (YouTube Video)
• Webpage including history, readings, prayers, etc.: http://www.wf-f.org/OurLadyofLourdes.html
• American Catholic article: http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1288
• Catholic Online has detailed descriptions of each of the apparitions as well as background information on St. Bernadette: http://www.catholic.org/clife/mary/lourdes1.php
• For a list of full movies including The Song of Bernadette (1943), visit: http://www.ignatius.com/Videos/bernadette/
Prayers for the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes:
• Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes: http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/novena/lourdes.htm
Reference Books:
• Mary: A History of Doctrine and Devotion by Hilda Graef, pp. 343-344, 347-356. http://www.avemariapress.com/itemdetail.cfm?nItemid=990
Lesson Plan
Objectives:
• Students will be able to recognize images of Our Lady of Lourdes.
• Students will be able to describe the story of Our Lady of Lourdes.
• Students will be able to illustrate the story of Our Lady of Lourdes.
• Students will be able to pray a novena or other prayers for the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Assessment:
• Create a storyboard visual representation of Our Lady of Lourdes
Teaching Approaches:
1. Type a Google Image search (http://images.google.com) for the phrase Our Lady of Lourdes. Show the students the common features found in pictures and replicas of grottos of Our Lady of Lourdes: Mary clothed in white with a blue shawl, St. Bernadette kneeling in prayer, one or both holding rosaries in hands of prayer, Mary’s halo reading “I am the Immaculate Conception,” a mix of stone and greenery, Mary standing in a small alcove. Note that the images express the descriptions given by St. Bernadette.
2. Provide students with a background to the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes in an appropriate format: video, audio, copied text, or an invitation to explore websites on their own. See “Background Information on Our Lady of Lourdes” above.
3. Ask students to answer the following questions individually then discuss them as a class:
How would you describe St. Bernadette Soubirous?
How did St. Bernadette encounter Mary?
With what name did Mary reveal herself?
Why do you think this even became so popular?
4. Based on the information that they viewed or read and the pictures that they have seen, have the students create a story board production of a movie trailer for the apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes. For an example of a story board see: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/7217001/Movie-production-storyboard-example or http://cfbstaff.cfbisd.edu/paciottib/Video_Production/Module3-2.html.
5. To bring the lesson to a close, ask the students to pray together the following prayer. You might also challenge them to pray a novena (see above) in the evenings or in the mornings before school.
Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes
O ever-Immaculate Virgin, Mother of Mercy,
health of the sick, refuge of sinners,
comforter of the afflicted,
you know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings;
look with mercy on me.
By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes,
you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary,
whence you dispense your favors;
and already many sufferers have obtained
the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal.
I come, therefore, with complete confidence
to implore your maternal intercession.
Obtain, O loving Mother, the grant of my requests.
Through gratitude for your favors,
I will endeavor to imitate your virtues,
that I may one day share your glory. Amen.
Source: http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/prayers/Lourdes.html
It is fitting that in the days just prior to the start of Catholic Schools Week, the Church celebrates the lives of two founders of religious communities who have been dedicated to educating boys and girls in Catholic high schools that flourish to this day. Interestingly, if you were to choose one word to describe the educational philosophies of St. Angela Merici (January 27) and Bl. Basil Moreau (January 20) it might be innovative.
St. Angela lived in the early sixteenth century in Italy. When she was fifty-six years old Pope Clement VII asked Angela to take charge of a nursing order of sisters. She told the pope “no.” The reason? She had observed an even more pressing need in her hometown of Brescia. The girls of the Brescia had little or none formal education.
Angela wanted to help, but according to the times, unmarried women could not be teachers. Nuns were highly educated but they were not allowed to leave the convent. She thought of a new way. She brought together several unmarried women who had been members with Angela in the Third Order Franciscans. They met for prayer and classes while living in their own homes. These women went out into the streets to find and offer education to poor girls. Eventually Angela agreed to the pope’s new request to formalize this new approach. Angela’s Company of St. Ursuline, or Ursulines, was the first group of women to work outside of the cloister and the first teaching order of women in the Church.
The Ursuline tradition has been strong in the United States. Ursuline Academy in New Orleans began in 1727 and is the oldest girls’ school in the country. There are several other Ursuline academies that continue to foster:
Spiritual formation and faith development
Respect for the uniqueness of the individual
Development of the whole person
Development of a nurturing community spirit
Commitment to Peacemaking
Serviam (I will serve) as a lived reality
St. Angela Merici once said, “If according to times and needs you should be obliged to make fresh rules and change certain things, do it with prudence and good advice.” Ursuline schools in the United States have continued to be homes for many “firsts” including offering the first classes for female African-American slaves, for free women of color, and for Native Americans.
Bl. Basil Moreau was ordained a priest in 1821 and founded the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1841 in France. The Holy Cross sponsor 14 high schools in the United States.
Fr. Moreau’s educational goal was to prepare students to be both productive citizens while at the same time imbuing them with Catholic values and a Catholic worldview. He believed that the “mind must not be cultivated at the expense of the heart” and that teachers should both prepare “useful citizens for society” while at the same time doing their “utmost to prepare citizens for eternal life.” He sought out top-level teachers and trained them to be even better. He wrote textbooks and teacher manuals and documents on Christian education, unheard of for his time. In his homily commemorating Basil Moreau’s beatification in 2007, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington D.C. described Bl. Basil as a patron of religious education.
Moreau constantly reminded educators that education is a balance between heart and mind and between faith and knowledge. His attitude is continually reflected in values common to Holy Cross schools throughout the world:
The school’s primary purpose is the leading of young people towards being true Christians.
The school is a community and family.
The school serves a diverse population.
The school approaches its responsibilities with a world-wide perspective.
The school views itself as part of the mission of the local diocesan Church.
The school’s mission includes helping students gain the best education possible by secular standards.
The school’s mission includes helping students become active and informed citizens.
As you celebrate Catholic Schools Week in the tradition of your own high school—be it Ursuline, Holy Cross, or of the charism of any other religious community or local diocese or parish—pray to St. Angela Merici and Bl. Basil Moreau and ask for their intervention for your students and your ministry as a teacher.
Teacher’s Reflection
You will effect more by kind words and a courteous manner than by anger or sharp rebuke, which should never be used except in necessity.
—St. Angela Merici
Zealous teachers know that all students are equally important to God and that their duty is to work for each with the same devotion, watchfulness, and perseverance.
Teachers who have drawn such gentleness from Jesus Christ will be blessed and happy. They will truly be the most important people in their school, and they will cause Jesus Christ to be the important person there.
—Bl. Basil Moreau
Prayer for Our Children
Lord, help our children
to know the road you have chosen for them:
May they give you glory and attain salvation.
sustain them with your strength,
and let them not be satisfied with easy goals.
Enlighten us, their [teachers],
that we may help them to recognize their calling in life
and respond to it generously.
May we put no obstacle in the way of your inner guidance.
—The Pope’s Family Prayer Book
This lesson plan is useful for anyone teaching a course on the Introduction to the New Testament. Access to computers and the internet is required, so students should have laptops at their desks or they should be taken to the school computer lab or library.
Background: Canon of the New Testament
It took centuries for the Catholic Church to make a recognition of the official books of the Bible. “Canon” refers to the official list of the inspired books of the Bible. Catholics list 46 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books in the canon. Technically it wasn’t until the Council of Trent in the 16th century that an ecumenical council officially recognized the canon by affirming St. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate as the authoritative text of Scripture. Traditionally, St. Athanasius is credited with fixing the New Testament canon at 27 books in AD 367.
The Church canon was developed according to the following criteria:
1. Apostolic Origin - the author should be an Apostle or closely connected to one
2. Widespread Acceptance – the book should not be unique to a certain geographic area
3. Conformity with the rule of faith – the book must reflect what the Church expresses in its traditional teachings and the liturgy
Lesson Plan:
To help students understand the formation of the New Testament canon, direct them to a website called “The Development of the Canon of the New Testament”: http://www.ntcanon.org/table.shtml.
Objectives:
SWBAT trace the developments of a particular book of the New Testament canon.
SWBAT predict why some books were accepted into the canon earlier than others.
1) First, assign each student a person (or codex) at the top of the table. Ask them to prepare answers to the following:
Symbol:
Full Name:
Date:
One sentence summary:
Give students about 5 minutes to complete the assignment, then have them share the information with the class. Have students copy the information in their notes or create a word document on the computers to keep track of the information. They may copy and paste the table from the website into a word document to take notes.
2) Next, assign each student in your class a particular book of the New Testament. Ask them to use the information in this website to trace the history of the book’s connection to the New Testament canon. Distribute the following questions as a guide to their research:
1. When was mention of this book recorded?
2. Was the book consistently accepted by the Church Fathers in the table?
3. How does this book’s acceptance compare to the other books in the New Testament?
4. What does the timeline suggest about the date that the book was written?
5. Why do you think it took as long as it did to be widely accepted?
While students are working on the assignment, help them with questions 3-5. Remind them of the three criteria for the canon. Suggest that they use these criteria to form their responses to question #4.
Invite students to share their findings with the class.
3) For homework, ask students to write a 250+ word reflection on the day’s activity. What did they learn about the development of the New Testament canon? What conclusions can they draw from their research?
Present to the class several reasons for why people sin. Have the students add reasons to the list. For example:
"I made a mistake." A person chooses something he or she thought was good, only to find out that the consequences were really bad.
"I chose a lesser good over a greater good." For example, a person cheats on a test to get a good grade (the lesser good), giving up his or her honesty (the greater good). Remind the teens of the rule that "one may never do evil so that good may result from it" (CCC, 1789).
"I chose something good for me but bad for you." For example, a fifteen-year-old thinks it's good for him to take his dad's car for a cruise, but it is bad for his dad, for the safety of others on the road, etc.
"I chose something that seems good now but will be bad later." Drinking, drugs, and sex all fit under this type of reasoning.
"I chose to do something bad just because it is bad." There are many examples of teens and adults who seem to choose bad things for this reason. Revenge, blackmail, and gossiping may fit under this category of sinfulness.
Follow-up
In small groups or as part of a class discussion, have the students come up with the following: 1) a definition of sin; 2) top three reasons why their peer group sins; and 3) what they can personally do about sin in their lives. See Part Three of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for further reference on the moral life.
Weren’t able to attend the March for Life rally in Washington DC this year? Why not show your class some of the news coverage of the rally today? Here are some options:
EWTN
http://www.ewtn.com/audiovideo/index.aspFridaySolemn Mass for Life – 7:30am ETMarch for Life – 11:00am ET (replayed at 10:00pm ET)
SaturdayWalk for Life – 1pm ETCatholicTVhttp://www.catholictvrosary.org/videos/videos.aspx?videoID=711FridayMass for Life – 11am ET (rebroadcast at 8:30pm ET)Youth Rally – 4:30pm ET (rebroadcast at noon on Saturday)
You may also consider showing some March for Life Photos:
2010 PhotosGoogle SearchFlickr Search
Or last year’s pictures:Google SearchFor more information about March for Life, visit: http://www.marchforlife.org/Schedule: http://www.marchforlife.org/images/2010/mfl37agenda.pdf
Activity:Start your class by writing the theme of this year’s March for Life Rally:Stand Up Now! Unite for the Life Principles—No Exception! No Compromise!
Have students journal about the meaning of the theme and what it means to them. As a class discuss what this theme is hoping to inspire in us. What are the life principles it mentions? How will you live this out?
The Congregation of Holy Cross and those of us at the University of Notre Dame are celebrating the annual January 20 feast of the Congregation's founder, Blessed Basil Anthony Moreau, C.S.C.There are many events in remembrance of Fr. Moreau this week at Notre Dame.At Ave Maria Press, founded and supported to this day by the Congregation of Holy Cross, we have continued to reflect and respond to Basil Moreau's call to educate the whole student, in mind, heart, and hand:
An education that is complete is one in which the hands and heart are engaged as much as the mind. We want to let our students try their learning in the world and so make prayers of their education.Additionally, Fr. Moreau wrote:
Pedagogy derives from two Greek words—that for a child and that for leading. It is the art of helping young people to completeness. For the Christian, this means that education is helping a young person to be more like Christ, the model for all Christians. From the word's roots, we can interpret pedagogy to mean "leading a young person away from ignorance and disorder." In this way it consists precisely in the reforming of human nature, which has been weakened by original sin. This reforming involves restoring to rational process the light that existed before the fall of our first parents and then restoring to the heart the kinds of feelings and sentiments that ought to reside there. This notion of pedagogy is founded on the principles of Catholicism and makes educating young people a most important work for those who try to perform it—it truly makes education the art of arts.
In commemoration of the Feast Day of Blessed Basil Moreau, encourage your students to explore and consider religious vocations, particularly to the Congregation of the Holy Cross.
