Tag: mystery

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.

Knowledge

“As God’s chosen one, whole and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience … Forgive each other.” – Colossians 3:12-13

  1. What are your hopes and dreams for yourself?
  2. What are some activities that refresh you?
  3. What difference has the Pascal (Easter) Mystery made in my life and in the life of our school community?
  4. “Place your talents and enthusiasm at the service of life.” – John Paul II

“Knowing in not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough: we must do.” – Goethe

The Buddha and Traditional Religion

Scholar Huston Smith has identified six common aspects of traditional religion.

They are authority, ritual, speculation (answers to questions like “Why are we here?”), tradition, grace, and mystery. But these aspects are not found in Buddhism.

Imagine a conversation between the Buddha and a student, where the Buddha is asked about one of these aspects or religion. What do you think the Buddha would have said?

Write a short dialogue to show the conversation.