Theme 1: What keeps us going?
Outcomes
Students will
- define hope and its role in Christian living
- explore the ways prayer nourishes hope
- identify people who model Christian hope
- find hope for their own lives in the death and resurrection of Jesus
Key Concepts
- “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5.11-12).
- Jesus’ death and resurrection are the foundation of Christian hope.
- Hope is the virtue which keeps us searching for true happiness which is found in being true to oneself and faithful to God.
- Hope sustains us during times of abandonment. Hope also protects us during times of struggle.
- Hope is nourished in prayer.
- When we presume that we don’t need God or when we deliberately presume that God will forgive and save us regardless of our attitudes, we sin against hope.
- The first commandment is not only a call to avoid idolatry; it is also a call to place all our hope in God.
Theme 2: Where have we been and where will that take us?
Outcomes
Students will
- review the virtues and Beatitudes, which underlie the Christian attitude toward being in the world
- share their faith with others in the context of a year-end class celebration
Key Concepts
- Review of Christian virtues and the Beatitudes.