Author: D. Sader

Be With Me

Theme
Who do I want to be with?

Outcomes
Students will

  • explore and express the qualities of relationships they want to have
  • name how they want others to “be with them”
  • know that each person has been created with the freedom to shape his or her own relationships
  • repeat and explain the Beatitudes
  • identify ways that the Beatitudes help us understand the Christian attitude toward being with others
  • articulate the Christian call to take on the attitude of Christ

Key Concepts

  • We are created with the freedom to shape our own relationships and to determine what kind of persons we will be with others.
  • We are called to make God manifest by acting in conformity with our creation “in the image and likeness of God.” (CCC #2085)
  • Our relationship with Jesus calls us to be of the “same mind” with Jesus, looking out for the interests and well-being of others with compassion and love. (Philippians 2.1-11)
  • The Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes describe for us the paths that lead to the kingdom of heaven. The grace of the Holy Spirit helps us to travel these paths. (CCC #1724)
  • The Beatitudes outline a distinctly Christian attitude toward being with others

Key Terms

  • beatitude
  • The Beatitudes
  • virtues
  • kingdom of heaven
  • the Ten Commandments

Noise, Noise, Noise.

Sometimes a good villain makes a good point. Recall the Grinch’s hatred for all the noise on Christmas morning.

For many of us, it is in the build up to Christmas that we get annoyed by the noise, the pushy people in the mall, lineups at every store, commercials, endless TV reruns. How do you cope with “all the noise” in the buildup to Christmas?

Read Mark 1:1-8

In all the hubbub build up to Christmas, how can you hear “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight'”?

 

The Sacramentality of the Present Moment

Read Mark 13:33-37

What if every moment were one in which we might meet our God? What might we notice? How might we act?

 

Extra:

Jean Pierre de Caussade invites us into what he calls “the sacramentality of the present moment.” What other bits of wisdom can you discern from his book Abandonment; OR, Absolute Surrender to Divine Providence. What does he mean by the term Abandonment?

 

A Closer Look: Peace vs Just War

Over the centuries, the Catholic Church has developed a teaching on peace and just war.

Peace: CCC 2304

Peace, it states, is the result of justice and charity. One must always be a creator of peace and reconciliation.

Just War: CCC 2309

If relationships between peoples become so tense that war threatens, certain clear conditions for a legitimate defensive war must be maintained. For example, all other means to resolve conflict must have been exhausted before resorting to military force as a way to defend oneself.

 

Take a closer look at a current conflict in the world. Write about the conflict as an advocate of Peace or Just War.

Gender Roles

https://w2.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20160319_amoris-laetitia_en.pdf

 

Paragraph 286 from Amoris Laetitia

 

286. Nor can we ignore the fact that the configuration of our own mode of being, whether as male or female, is not simply the result of biological or genetic factors, but of multiple elements having to do with temperament, family history, culture, experience, education, the influence of friends, family members and respected persons, as well as other formative situations. It is true that we cannot separate the masculine and the feminine from God’s work of creation, which is prior to all our decisions and experiences, and where biological elements exist which are impossible to ignore. But it is also true that masculinity and femininity are not rigid categories. It is possible, for example, that a husband’s way of being masculine can be flexibly adapted to the wife’s work schedule. Taking on domestic chores or some aspects of raising children does not make him any less masculine or imply failure, irresponsibility or cause for shame. Children have to be helped to accept as normal such healthy “exchanges” which do not diminish the dignity of the father figure. A rigid approach turns into an overaccentuation of the masculine or feminine, and does not help children and young people to appreciate the genuine reciprocity incarnate in the real conditions of matrimony. Such rigidity, in turn, can hinder the development of an individual’s abilities, to the point of leading him or her to think, for example, that it is not really masculine to cultivate art or dance, or not very feminine to exercise leadership. This, thank God, has 216 changed, but in some places deficient notions still condition the legitimate freedom and hamper the authentic development of children’s specific identity and potential.

The Eucharist

http://www.vatican.va/evangelii-gaudium/en/files/assets/basic-html/page40.html

 

The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.
We are to be facilitators of grace, not arbiters.

Angel of the North

Angel of the North by Blake Debassige

In this painting, The Angel of the North by Ojibwa artist Blake Debassige, we can see how some First Nations artists are integrating the spiritual traditions of their own people with those of the Christian tradition. The painting also reveals the connection between the natural world and the spiritual world.

  1. What familiar symbols can you find?
  2. What elements in the painting show the importance of the natural world to Aboriginal peoples?

Reflection:
Note the wings of the angel in the painting. They are shaped like the wings of an eagle, a spiritual symbol often seen in Aboriginal art. Placing the wings of an eagle on the shoulders of an angel symbolizes a merging of Aboriginal spirituality and Christianity. the angel is drawn as a two-dimensional, transparent figure, revealing the spiritual nature within – a style that is common among the Woodland school of artists made famous in Canada by Norval Morrisseau. The rays from above suggest the presence of the Great Spirit or God. The angel has released one of her sacred feathers as a gift to those who live on the Earth for use in their sacred rituals. The eagle is one of the most sacred spiritual symbols for Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Angel of the North and other similar paintings illustrate the way in which some peoples have integrated their spirituality with their Christian faith.

 

Isaiah 40:31

No One Can Serve Two Masters

Read Matthew 6:24-34.

In this Gospel reading, before Jesus tells his listeners not to worry, he says “No one can serve two masters.” Who is Jesus refering to? One master is God(Love), surely, but who is the other?

Could Jesus be refering to more specific “evils” – evils that cause us to worry and make us miserable?

What kinds of worry are normal? What kinds of worry lead to debilitating anxiety?

Consider the character Tony from Wm. Paul Young’s, “Cross Roads” – after reading Chapter 3. What “masters” does (or doesn’t) he serve? What other ideas come to mind?