No Room In Our Hearts

When we get caught up in our own interests and concerns, we no longer have room in our hearts for others, no place for the poor. We forget the quiet joy of God’s love. – Pope Francis

Read Romans 12:15-16

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.

http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=402728180

Prayer
O beloved God, If I have closed my heart to you, please open it wide that I might reach out beyond my own interests and concerns to be aware of the needs of others, especially the poor. Your Son Jesus become one with all those who have little of this world’s goods, and he proclaimed your kingdom to them first of all. Make my heart like his, dear God.
Amen.

Practice
Today I will think about Pope Francis’ words and try to let them into my heart.

Be Faithful

Theme 1: What do I really believe?

Outcomes
Students will

  • articulate ways that relationships based on faith are reasonable
  • express what it means to have a relationship with God through Jesus
  • describe how faith in Jesus Christ challenges them to love and respect others

Key Concepts

  • “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord…” (Deuteronomy 6.4).
  • Jesus is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega.
  • Faith cannot be fully explained, but it is reasonable. Faith admits mystery.
  • Our moral life has its source in faith in God, who reveals his love to us. (CCC #2087) Faith in God’s love encom- passes the call and the obligation to respond with love and respect – the first and second command- ments call us to love and respect God above everything, and to respect all creatures for and because of God.
  • Being faithful means being open to develop- ing our relationship with God.

Theme 2: What’s the point of prayer?

Outcomes
Students will

  • define Christian prayer
  • locate in Scripture, describe and demonstrate five forms of prayer:
    • Adoration and Blessing
    • Petition
    • Intercession
    • Thanksgiving
    • Praise
  • express different ways that God responds to prayer
  • demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between human freedom, divine prerogative and prayer

Key Concepts

  • “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heav- en” (Matthew 5.3).
  • Prayer is our living relationship with God.
  • The third commandment calls us to stop and pray. The Sunday celebration of the Lord’s Day and his Eucharist is at the heart of the Church’s life.
  • Jesus teaches us how to pray.
  • God always answers our prayers.
  • God answers our prayers in ways that are not limited by our own perspectives. God’s view is infinitely bigger than our view.
  • In answering our prayers, God does not take away human free- dom.

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

Catch People

Read Luke 5:1-11

http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=322900027

The lake of Gennesaret was also known as the Sea of Galilee or the Sea of Tiberias. It was the scene of many of Jesus’ actions (such as preaching from a boat to the people on shore, the miracle of calming the stormy seas, and the miracle of the loaves and fish). Jesus was also seen there after his resurrection.

When Jesus told Simon Peter, a fisherman, that he would now catch people, Jesus did not explain what this meant. But Simon Peter came to know that he was invited to dedicate his life so that others might know the Good News about the kingdom of God.

The Book of Isaiah

Prophets are people who have a special ability for listening to and speaking for God. The prophet Isaiah, who lived around the eighth century B.C.E., was an adviser to the king of Judah. At that time, the kingdom was under attack from Assyria, Isaiah told the king that god would protect the people if they had faith, but if they rejected god, they would be destroyed.

My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside; he spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted the choicest vines; . . . Then he looked for the crop of grapes, but what it yielded was wild grapes . . . Now, I will let you know what I mean to do to my vineyard: Take away its hedge, give it to grazing, break through its wall, let it be trampled! Yes, I will make it a ruin: it shall not be pruned or hoed, but overgrown with thorns and briers; I will command the clouds not to send rain upon it. The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his cherished plant. (Isaiah 5: 1-7))

In your own words, explain what Isaiah was saying here.