Tag: corinthians

For the Poor

I want a Church that is poor and for the poor. People with nothing have so much to teach us. In their difficulties they experience the suffering Christ.

Scripture
Though he was rich, our Lord Jesus Christ became poor for your sakes, so that through his poverty you might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

Prayer
This is Pope Francis’ dream, O God – that we let go of our attachment to material things and focus on those who have very little of this world’s goods. I am so attached to what I have that this prospect makes me nervous and afraid. I need to travel so far to get a new mindset, and for this I depend on “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He became poor to make me rich in ways beyond my understanding. Amen.

Conscience: Bible Readings

Skim these Scripture passages. Pick one that appeals to you and

  1. summarize its main point,
  2. tell how it relates to the theme “Understanding Conscience”,
  3. list one or two thoughts that entered your mind when you read it.

Faith Reflection: Conscience

Saint Paul wrote that the difference between what we will know in heaven is as great as the difference between what we know now and what we knew when we were children:

When I was a child, my speech, feelings, and thinking were all those of a child; now that I am a man, I have no more use for childish ways. What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete – as complete as God’s knowledge of me.

Meanwhile these three remain: faith hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:11-13

As a child gradually emerges into adulthood during the period of adolescence, more and more opportunities arise to form – and test – a personally validated self. Deep within our human consciousness, God has implanted a hunger for the truth, for goodness, for love – all of which are at holy war with the unevolved beast in us, the Id. Human dignity lies in conquering that beast and discovering God’s law, written right into the way God made things and people.

All creatures deserve proper treatment simply because of the way our Creator made them. According to Vatican Council II:

By conscience, in a wonderful way, the law is made known which is fulfilled in the love of God and one’s neighbour. Through loyalty to conscience, Christians are joined to other [persons] in the search for truth and for the right solution to so many moral problems which arise both in the life of individuals and from social relationships. Hence the more a correct conscience prevails, the more do persons and groups turn aside from blind choice and try to be guided by the objective standards or moral conduct. The Church in the Modern World, 16.

What guides you in making important choices, such as the way you deal with your family, friends, and strangers? With animals, food, the environment? Do you treat each consistently or haphazardly: as the mood strikes you or by what you can gain or lose? Are you, honestly, more of an altruist or a utilitarian?

Where Hope Grows

  1. Why do you think the film is titled Where Hope Grows? What changes do you see in Calvin, Milt, Colt, Katie and the other characters throughout the film? Discuss how you see the growth of hope throughout the story. Who or what is the source of hope?
  2. How does Calvin’s relationship with Produce help him make changes in his life? In his relationship with his daughter, Katie?
  3. How can we work together to create an inclusive community for people with disabilities?
  4. Where can the conversation go from here? How will you be accountable to yourself, your family and friends, your school, and your community?
  5. Have you ever witnessed someone showing disrespect to a person with a disability? How did you respond? How would you respond after watching the film?
  6. Why do one-to-one friendships matter?
  7. Why do you think Calvin initially befriends Produce? What are his motives—good and bad—that prompt him to spend more time with Produce?
  8. Describe Katie and Colt’s relationship. Why do you think Colt continues to spend time with Katie? Why do you think Katie keeps hanging out with Colt?
  9. Calvin finally chooses to give up alcohol and attend his first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. What situation prompts him to repent? Why does it seem to take “hitting bottom” for people to choose to turn their lives around?
  10. At the hospital, Katie and Calvin pray for Produce and Milt. Katie asks Calvin, “What good is it to pray if you don’t get what you ask for?” How does Calvin answer her question, and would you be satisfied with his answer? How would you answer the question? What do you think is the purpose of prayer?
  11. At a funeral service, the pastor says to “make your dash count,” to live your life to the fullest. Who is someone you know who is making their dash count? How can you tell? What are key elements needed to live a full life? What are the dangers or costs of not “making your dash count?” Who makes their dash count in the film?
  12. Who or what “saves” Calvin? What relationships bring about his transformation, and what realizations does he make in order to grow?
  13. What do you think will happen with each of the characters beyond the end of the movie? Imagine and describe a future for Calvin, Katie, Produce, Amy, and Colt—what will the next year hold for them?
  14. Which character did you relate with the most—Produce, Calvin, Katie, or another character? Why do you think you felt a connection with that character? Which character did you dislike the most? What bothered you about them?
  15. Who are some people with special needs in your life? What have you learned about life and about yourself from knowing this person?
  16. Calvin and Katie have a strained relationship at the beginning of the movie. What are some of the sources of their tension or the obstacles that prevent them from a healthier relationship? Describe how Calvin might be frustrated with Katie, then describe how Katie might be frustrated with Calvin.
  17. In a key scene, an embarrassed Katie must pick up a drunken Calvin from the police station. She tells him “I’ve given up on you.” What would you want to say to Calvin in this moment? What would you say to Katie?
  18. Produce was a voice of hope for Calvin. We are all looking for some reason to have hope, to have a reason to keep going, to see that we have a sense of purpose and destiny, a reason to see what our future holds. How can you be a voice of hope in our world?
  19. Romans 5:3-5
  20. 1Corinthians 12:14-20, 27
  21. Are there people with special needs in your life? What have you learned about life and about yourself from knowing this person? How does your school welcome and serve people with special needs? Your friends? Your neighbourhood? Your community? This question presents an excellent opportunity to talk about inclusion with your students. In particular, you may want to raise the concept of social inclusion and what it means to ensure all members of a school or community are meaningfully engaged as part of the group, form positive, mutually beneficial relationships, and are viewed as equal, contributing members of the group. Some additional questions to ponder with your students might include: What does it feel like to be excluded? What are some ways we unintentionally exclude certain people or make them feel unwelcome? What steps can we take to make sure we create an inclusive community?https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-cA3t1HW1Ow
  22. Luke 14:15-24 If Jesus pushed the disciples to go out and invite people with disabilities to the table, what would it look like for us to do the same?
  23. Mark 12:41-43
  24. According to the World Health Organization (2011), more than one billion people around the world have a disability(1 in 7). 20 percent of the teen population has a disability. 70 million people in the world need wheelchairs and only 5-15% have them.
    http://www.who.int/disabilities/infographic/en/
    http://www.who.int/features/qa/67/en/
    http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/chapter1.pdf
    https://www.younglife.org/en/Pages/default.aspx

Be Loving

Theme 1: What is love?

Outcomes
Students will

  • examine and evaluate their understanding of love
  • analyze Scripture pas- sages where Christ models love
  • explore the Christian dimensions of love within the context of popular notions of love
  • analyze ways they love others because they love themselves
  • articulate what it means to be loved and to love unconditionally
  • listen prayerfully to the call to be loving

Key Concepts

  • We are called to love as Jesus loved.(Since we have been loved, we also must love – 1 John 4.10- 12.)
  • Love that is rooted in Christ will never fail, even when it seems to be the most foolish, unreasonable or diffi- cult choice.
  • Love is not just an emotion. Love is willed. Mature love is a call to action which fosters the good of others.
  • Giving and receiving love is the most important dimension of our lives, bringing out the best in both the lover and the beloved.
  • To truly love others, we must love our- selves.

Theme 2: What is the loving thing to do?

Outcomes
Students will

  • reviewandapplythe decision-making model (see, judge, act, evaluate)
  • demonstrate an understanding of the role of the magisteri- um, Scripture and tra- dition in moral deci- sion making
  • identify times when it may be difficult to do what is loving
  • define conscience and name its role in moral decision making
  • explain the relation- ship between Christian moral deci- sion making and love

Key Concepts

  • Christian moral deci- sion making is based on love.
  • People are bound by their conscience in determining the loving thing to do.
  • The magisterium, Scripture and tradition guide Catholics in moral decision making.
  • Doing the loving thing may mean doing what is difficult or unpopular.

Theme 3: Why wait?

Outcomes
Students will

  • explain how our sexuality can help us to love
  • identify acceptable Christian expressions of love
  • explain why having sex is not the loving thing to do outside of marriage
  • define chastity and understand why it is a Christian virtue
  • analyze sexual issues in relation to the virtue of chastity

Key Concepts

  • “All Christ’s faithful are called to lead a chaste life in keeping with their particular states of life” (CCC #2348).
  • “Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self- mastery which is a training in human freedom” (CCC #2339).
  • God created us as sexual beings. Our sexuality draws us out of our- selves to relate with others.
  • Genital sexual expression becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one per- son to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman. (see CCC #2337)
  • Sexual feelings are neither good nor bad in themselves; they sim- ply are.
  • There are many chaste ways of expressing our love for others.
  • The sixth commandment protects the sacred bonds of committed love.

Theme 4: How does love go wrong?

Outcomes
Students will

  • use 1 Corinthians 13.4-8a for identifying the signs of manipulative, coercive and abusive behaviour in relationships
  • value the basic dignity of every person within relationships
  • understand and demonstrate skills of appropriate assertive behaviour
  • use Scripture for developing Christian attitudes towards loving others

Key Concepts

  • “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5.9).
  • In Scripture we find direction and inspiration for healthy, lov- ing relationships. (e.g., 1 Corinthians 13.4-8a, Romans 13.10)
  • People in healthy relationships recognize the equal dignity and basic rights of all involved.
  • Love goes wrong when it becomes self- centred.
  • Not all relationships are healthy. Manipulation, coercion and abuse are signs of unhealthy relationships.
  • Assertiveness skills are necessary for developing and maintaining healthy relationships.

Am I Strong Enough?

The tradition of the Catholic Church lists seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Each gift is  a part of what St. Paul calls the greatest spiritual gift – the gift of love (1 Corinthians 13:13)

  1. Wisdom “You can recognize a wise person by …”
  2. Understanding “You can recognize an understanding person by …”
  3. Counsel (Right Judgment) “You can recognize a person with the gift of counsel by …”
  4. Knowledge “You can recognize a person with the gift of knowledge by …”
  5. Fortitude (Courage) “You can recognize a person with the gift of fortitude by …”
  6. Piety (Reverence) “A pious person will …”
  7. Fear of the Lord (Wonder and Awe in God’s Presence) “You can recognize a person with the gift of fear of the Lord by …”
    • Proverbs 19:23“The fear of the Lord is life indeed; filled with it one rests secure and suffers no harm.”
    • Job 1:13-22“Would Job worship Satan if he got nothing out of worshiping God?”
    • Exodus 3:4-6“Here I am!”
    • Luke 5:12-14“He would withdraw to deserted places and pray.”

 

Response Idea #1:

Low tech (pencils, paper, bible, people): Divide class into 7 groups and assign a gift to investigate. First, investigate and explain what each gift is. Then, read and discuss each scripture reading accompanying that gift – summarize each story and tell how the gift is presented in the story. Then, write a complete sentence or two completing the phrase next to each gift.

Response Idea #2

High tech (computers, blogs): Collect words/phrases exploring a gift to create a Word Cloud: https://tagul.com/

Upload and embed your word cloud in a blog post with a write-up of Idea #1.

Create a hyperlink list of all 7 gifts (link to any 6 of your classmate’s completed posts on their gift).

Response Idea #3

High Tech: Listen to “Strong Enough?” by Matthew West. Read the lyrics from the google. Write a post discussing the gifts of the Holy Spirit. How do the gifts of the Spirit make us “Strong Enough”?

Response Idea #4

High Tech: Listen to “You Say” by Lauren Daigle. Read the lyrics. Write a post discussing the gifts of the Holy Spirit. How do the gifts of the Spirit make us “strong when I think I am weak”?

Response Idea #5

High Tech: Listen to “Even If” by MercyMe. Read the lyrics. Write a post discussing the gifts of the Holy Spirit. How do the gifts of the Spirit “give me the strength”?

Conscience

Survey:

 

Bible Readings:

Skim these Scripture passages. Pick one that appeals to you and

  1. summarize its main point,
  2. tell how it relates to the theme “Understanding Conscience”,
  3. list one or two thoughts that entered your mind when you read it.

Reflect:

The reflection will take effort, but it is an effort to focus – for yourself – an ego-conscience. If that’s not worth the effort, you will always have a personality, but it is unlikely you will ever develop character.

Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper. On one side of the line, list the do’s and don’ts your parents, teachers, and media (other external forces) have taped on your Superego that you have already checked against reality and find are now wrong – or at least far too simplified. On the other side, write the elements of your Superego that you now see for yourself are valid.

Quotable Quotes:

“Faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:11-13

“The more a correct conscience prevails, the more do persons and groups turn aside from blind choice and try to be guided by the objective standards of moral conduct.” – The Church in the Modern World, 16

“Return to the root and you will find the meaning.” – Sengstan

“A man’s action is only a picture book of his creed.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Rather fail with honour than succeed by fraud.” – Sophocles

“In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.” – Mohandas Gandhi

Activity:

Choose:

  1. Roughly how many of your peers do you guess cheat routinely on homework, quizzes, and tests? What are the reasons most would give for doing that? Why is “Well, everybody does it” not a legitimate excuse? If trust and honesty are the glue that holds together the web of our human ecology, what is the effect of widespread cheating on the web of society?
  2. When schools discover that a great deal of cheating is going on, the administration frequently will encourage teachers and exam supervisors to have greater vigilance and require strong punishment when someone is caught cheating. Similarly, with the increase of crime in our cities, the almost automatic response is to call for an increase in the number of police. What would be a better way to attack the problems of cheating and crime at their roots?

New Testament Study Guides

Yes, these files are free to download and use for your Bible study. These are provided as a supplement to the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament.

Pregame Prayer

Strong and faithful God,
as we come together for this contest,
we ask you to bless these athletes.
Keep them safe from injury and harm,
instil in them respect for each other,
and reward them for their perseverance.
Lead us all to the rewards of your kingdom
where you live and reign for ever and ever.
Amen.

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/revealed-the-churchs-official-prayer-for-sports-events#ixzz2iJAGCJmE

BLESSING OF AN ATHLETIC EVENT

All make the sign of the cross as the minister says: Blessed be the name of the Lord.
All reply: Now and for ever.

One of those present or the minister reads a text of sacred Scripture, for example:

Brothers and sisters, listen to the words of the second letter of Paul to Timothy:
4:6-8

I have fought the good fight

2 Timothy 4:6-8
As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=249312013

Or:
Brothers and sisters, listen to the words of the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians:
9:24-27

We win a crown that is imperishable

1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable garland, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.
http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=249312349

A minister who is a priest or deacon says the prayer of blessing with hands outstretched; a lay minister says the prayer with hands joined.

Strong and faithful God,
as we come together for this contest,
we ask you to bless these athletes.
Keep them safe from injury and harm,
instill in them respect for each other,
and reward them for their perseverance.
Lead us all to the rewards of your kingdom
Where you live and reign for ever and ever. R. Amen.

http://www.oldenburgacademy.org/files/content/PLC_Sport_Prayers.pdf
http://www.catholiccompany.com/st-jerome-c2145/
http://www.catholiccompany.com/st-sebastian-c664/