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Reflections on Poverty in America

This handout provides a series of Scripture passages and real-life accounts to help students reflect on poverty in America.

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Married Couple Interview

This handout provides the outline for an interview of a married couple.

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The Roles of Men and Women on TV: True to Life or Not?

This handout provides questions for students to answer as they observe the roles of men and women on TV.

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A Doctrinal Scavenger Hunt

A scavenger hunt to find important Church doctrines, teachings and beliefs in the Catechism.

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Aiming for God Game

This handout contains cards to be used with the “Aiming for God Game”.

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Lead Me Not into Temptation

This handout presents different roles for students to act out from a real-life theft situation

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Beatitudes Strips

A list of the Beatitudes organized to be cut into strips for a class activity.

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Exodus, Chapters 19–20

This handout provides a note-taking guide while reading chapters 19-20 from Exodus.

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What Can a Person Do?

This article gives several suggestions of how an individual can bring about distributive justice.

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The Plight of the Worlds' Children

This handout provides several statistics and pieces of information about the alarming needs of children in our world.

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Pushed Once Too Often

This handout presents a story about drug pushing in a school community. Students are challenged to reflect on several questions regarding the situation.

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Cases to Examine: Conscience and Guilt

Read the following cases. For each one, fill in the words that describe what kind of conscience and what kind of guilt the person has. Then write a sentence or two of advice that you would give to that person.

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The LISTEN Model

Briefly describe below a moral dilemma that an individual might face. For each section of the LISTEN process, fill in one or more things a person facing this dilemma might need to consider.

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Which Principles Apply?

he following moral principles (described in the text on pages 58–59) can be considered basic or foundational: a. Do good; avoid evil. b. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. c. The end does not justify …

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Getting to Know My Parents' Views

This checklist will help you identify how well you understand your parents’ (or guardians’) views on moral issues and whether you think that your parents understand your views on moral issues.

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Cases to Examine: Moments in Competition

Read the following cases of competition and answer in writing the question for each.

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Peace: A Guide to Win-Win Conflict Resolution

The PEACE process is a way to approach a conflict so that the outcome is a win- win situation, one that ensures that the good of both parties is considered and given priority. PEACE stands for problem and purpose, empathy, …

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Peace: Exploring Terms

In the first blank column, express your own sense of what it means to live out the following traits. In the second blank column, explain what you think the culture teaches you it means to live out each trait. Leave …

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Earth-Friendly Living

This is a scavenger hunt for earth-friendly products suitable for a bedroom: furniture, clothes, and so on. Your goal is to furnish this room in the most earth- friendly and inexpensive way you can, while still furnishing a room you …

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The Work of Art

Read the story below, and be prepared to discuss the questions that follow it.

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Work and Budgeting

Fill out the first empty column in this chart to reflect a family’s monthly budget. Leave the second column blank until you receive further instruction.

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Diversity Awareness

Read down the first column, and for each description, mark an X in all the columns that apply to you. (If there is a description you do not feel comfortable writing down, make a mental note of it and leave …

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Participation in the Media

This handout lists several key questions to use when reading or viewing various media from the perspective of different groups of people. Choose one of the following groups of people, and on a separate sheet of paper, write answers to …

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Choosing Life

A handout with different cases about life issues.

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How Does the Culture Value Me?

A list of different roles and conditions of males and females within society.

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The Circle of Faith-in-Action

The steps of awareness, analysis, action, and new awareness are explained in this handout.

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Creating a Relationship Map

A relationship map provides a blueprint for justice—it reveals the conditions and relationships that are necessary to build a just situation. The following are steps to follow when creating a relationship map. To aid in understanding the steps, we will …

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Practicing Prophecy

An activity where students are given the opportunity to imitate the prophetic model by observing the world around them and attempting to interpret injustices.

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Laws to Live By Today

Translating Biblical laws into today’s world.

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Chapter 45 Activity: The Two Feet of Service and Justice

Caring for others involves both acts of charity and acts of justice. Review the illustration on page 498 in the handbook, and then complete the following chart. For every person or group of people in need described in the left-hand …

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Chapter 6 Activity: Recognizing God’s Goodness

Have you ever noticed how news reports often feature bad news: natural disasters, crime, accidents, and so on? Even in your own life, you may sometimes feel like there’s bad news all around. But the reality is that despite the …

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Social Justice Organizations

A list of social justice organizations that can be cut out.

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Chapter 24 Activities

Activities for Chapter 24 Social Justice including a core activity, core activity extension, and additional activities.

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Lesson 24 Summary

The lesson learning objectives and content summary for Lesson 24, Social Justice.

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Jesus’ Teachings about How to Live

Bible verses that are able to be cut out.

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Human Rights

Several articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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"You Have Heard…But I Say"

An article about Jesus’ command to love everyone, even those who society has deemed unlovable.

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Living God's Call

A reading, with reflection questions, on living out God’s Call of unconditional love, agape, for all.

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Catholic Mission and Volunteer Organizations

A worksheet where students are asked to research a mission or volunteer organization and answer several questions about their findings.

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Final Performance Task Options for Unit 5

Several final performance task project options for Unit 5 of The Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth, Third Edition.

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Catholic Social Teaching Themes

A list of Catholic Social Teaching themes that can be used in conjunction with a homework assignment, from Section 5 Part 3 of “Jesus Christ: God’s Love Made Visible.”

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Invictus Forgiveness Reconciliation and Healing

Questions dealing with the issues presented in the film “Invictus.”

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War and Peace in Catholic Social Teaching

An article on war and peace in Catholic social teaching.

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How to Lead a Socratic Seminar

A reading on how to lead a Socratic seminar.

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The Challenge of Peace

An article on the foundations for a justified war and the just war doctrine.

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If I Ruled the World

A worksheet that asks students to think about how they would solve different social justice issues if they ruled the world.

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Case Studies: Attitudes of the Heart

Several different scenarios are listed where negative feelings are displayed, and the question “how can you change the attitude of your heart?” is posed.

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Using the Jigsaw Process

A resource on how to use the jigsaw process, with is a method where students share information and insights from different readings to create a larger picture.

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Conducting Justice Simulations

A resource on how to conduct a justice simulation.

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Principles of Catholic Social Teaching for Business Ethics

An article on the principles of Catholic social teaching for business ethics.

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Final Performance Task Options for Unit 5 of “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

A list of several final performance task options for Unit 5 of “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

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Violence versus Nonviolence

A worksheet where students fill in what they know and understand about violence and nonviolence.

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Teaching Individuals with Differing Abilities

A reading on teaching and talking to students about differing abilities, along with several reinforcing activity ideas.

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Sweatshop Inquiry

A sweatshop inquiry worksheet on different industries.

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"Homeless: Motel Kids of Orange County" Movie Guide

A movie guide with questions pertaining to the film “Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County.”

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Game Show Questions: Hunger in America

Several “game show” questions on hunger in America.

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Just Choices

A worksheet on just choices where students choose a topic to cover as well as a task based on their preferred learning style.

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Final Performance Task Options for Unit 6 of “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

A list of several final performance task options for Unit 6 of “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

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Mirror Exercise

An exercise that encourages students to reflect on how they are different from others, and how they can respectfully respond to these differences.

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Living As a Steward of Creation

An activity where students decipher the main ideas of several Church documents, and then make connections to Genesis creations accounts and the call to be stewards of creation.

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Students Teaching Students About Environmental Justice

A lesson plan entitled “Students Teaching Students about Environmental Justice.”

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Create a Club

A helpful guide for creating a club, either in school or in the community.

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Final Performance Task Options for Unit 4

A list of several final performance task options for Unit 4 of "Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society."

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Final Performance Task Options for Unit 7 of “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

A list of several final performance task options for Unit 7 of “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

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Planet Partner Survey

A self-assessment survey on how well students are stewards of creation.

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Introspect and Interview

A worksheet on introspect and knowledge gained from interviews on important life issues including abortion, in vitro fertilization, stem-cell research, euthanasia, the death penalty, and immigration.

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Justice Conversation Starters

A list of several conversation starters or self-reflection questions on the topic of justice.

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Call to Compassion

A worksheet on responding to different topics with compassion, from “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

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Final Performance Task Options for Unit 8 of “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

Several final performance task options for Unit 8 of “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

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Critical Marketing Analysis

A critical marketing analysis, to be used on advertisements for products or brands, from “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

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Campaign Platform

A small-group assignment in which students will develop an imaginary political campaign to explore what it means to be a responsible citizen, both locally and globally.

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Electronic Media Log

An electronic media log to help students keep track of their media use, from “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

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Final Performance Task Options for Unit 3 of “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

Several final performance task options for Unit 3 of “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

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Unit 3 Preassessment

A preassessment for Unit 3 of “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society” that deals with social sin, structures of sin, and social justice.

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Dilemma Questions

A set of questions based on real-world situations and dilemmas that a person may be dealing with.

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Pastoral Letters

A worksheet with short-answer questions about Pastoral Letters, from "Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society."

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Social Justice Papal Documents

An empty chart to be filled out during the class PowerPoint presentation on Social Justice Papal documents, from “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

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Action Plan for Living as a Disciple of Christ

A helpful chart that will assist each student develop an action plan for living as a disciple of Christ.

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Final Performance Task Options for Unit 2 of “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

A listing of several final performance task options for Unit 2 of “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

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Preassessment exercise for Unit 2 of “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

A preassessment exercise for Unit 2 of “Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society.”

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Catholic Discipleship

A worksheet on Catholic Discipleship.

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The Corporal Works of Mercy

An activity dealing with the Corporal Works of Mercy.

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Final Performance Task Options for Unit 1

Options for final performance tasks for Unit 1 of "Catholic Social Teaching: Christian Life in Society."

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Our Catholic Faith in Action

A chart that accompanies the Web Quest on our Catholic faith in action, from "Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love."

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Ordinary Discipleship and Matthew, Chapter 25

This activity is part of the Living in Christ Series. It focuses on Matthew 25, highlighting the works of mercy Jesus' speaks of, asking students to reflect on the skills need for each type of ministry and discipleship.

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The Church, Social Ethics, and Politics

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It is a great introduction to the Church, social ethics and politics in the United States.

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Final Performance Task Options for Unit 6

This resource is part of the Living in Christ Series. It offers various project ideas for students who have recently studied ecclesiology, especially ecumenism and interreligious dialogue.

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Service and Justice: A Conversion of Heart

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses 5 stages in introducing service learning to a classrooom setting.

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Called to Holiness: Holiness in Modern Church Teaching

This article from the Living in Christ Series discusses holiness: what it is, who is called, and how to live it out. Both the Church and the people in it are holy.

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Praying with and for the Suffering Body of Christ

This activity is part of the Living in Christ Series. Students can research, present on, and pray for various countries in need.

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Catholic Mission and Volunteer Organizations

This activity is part of the Living in Christ Series. Students can research various Catholic volunteer and missionary organizations in order to find out more about the lifestyle, mission, history and spirituality of the organization.

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Leadership Quotations

This worksheet is part of the Living in Christ Series. It offers quotations from several historical leaders and asks students to reflect on various styles and characteristics of leadership.

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Working for Justice

Student handout: Activity for chapter 39, crossword

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A Place at Our Table

A class activity designed to raise awareness of the reality of hunger in our nation and world.

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Overview of Christian Morality and Justice Course

outlines course themes/sessions

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Mercy Works: The Hands-on Gospel

Activity in class

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A Friend for Life

  Editor's note: The names of the minors in this story have been changed to preserve confidentiality, in accordance with the wishes of Holy Cross Children's Services. DETROIT--When Tonya entered a youth detention home of the Holy Cross Children's Services …

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Highlights of Catholic Documents on Justice and Peace

Highlights of Catholic Documents on Justice and Peace The following link will take you to a PDF document that sumarizes many of the key points from Church documents addressing the social teachings of the Catholic Church. http://www.smp.org/Images/Complementary/Highlights.pdf

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Our Lady of Guadalupe: Icon of Justice

"Commitment to human life and dignity, to human rights and solidarity"; these are elements of what is commonly understood as social justice. In the Church today we have numerous "icons" we can look to in order to guide us in …

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January 22: Reflection on Roe vs. Wade

I walked with George the other day, And this is what he had to say: "If this is what its come to, then I'm glad that I've passed on. For the foundation laid so long ago apparently is gone. What …

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Soup or Bowl: A Game and Service Project for Super Bowl Sunday

OVERVIEW This combination game and service project is played in relay style by teams of young people with cans of soup that they bring as donations for the local food pantry. Suggested Time: A minimum of 10 minutes, or as …

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Build a Meal: An Outreach Activity for Thanksgiving

Build a Meal: An Outreach Activity for Thanksgiving OVERVIEW This outreach activity invites the young people to build holiday meals and memories for families that might not be able to afford a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Suggested Time: 10 to 15 …

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A Letter to Young People from the President of Saint Mary’s Press

Dear young friends, The recent, tragic events continue to leave us all shocked, confused, scared, and sorrowful. At this time, nothing is more important than to turn our hearts to Jesus. Perhaps, we can find comfort in the words of …

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A Christian Response to Violence, Part 2:

Pacifism: "We No Longer Learn War" How can we apply Jesus’ command to love our enemies when our whole nation has been attacked? Over the centuries, how Christians have attempted to apply Jesus’ teachings on violence to their lives has …

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A Christian Response to Violence, Part 1:

In the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks, many people are calling for military retaliation against whatever group or country is ultimately found to be responsible. The desire to strike back at those who hurt us is understandable, but …

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Be At Peace Among Yourselves

"Be at peace among yourselves." (1 Thessalonians 5:13) "None of us is alone in this world; each of us is a vital piece of the great mosaic of humanity as a whole." (Pope John Paul II, Israel-Palestine) Think About That …

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American and Catholic: Inviting Current Events into Religion Class

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, my students discussed Catholic social teaching on war and peace. One of my students said, "This is not the time to be Catholic; this is the time to be an American." He was …

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On the Frontier of Justice in Ghana

"Africa has been the land of hope, salvation, and redemption. Abraham had come to Africa, Joseph from slave to savior. It was the land of refuge for Jesus and helped to carry his cross. Will we continue to dismiss Africa …

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Scenes from a Mexican Village

The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration sponsor a program called Global Awareness Through Experience. The GATE program offers a rich opportunity to get to know the realities of Mexico, something I have wanted to do for years. At a point …

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Patch Adams - Movie Reflection

Patch Adams is a great movie to use with students! It is the fact-based story of Hunter "Patch" Adams, the founder of the Gesundheit Clinic. Robin Williams plays the lead character with grace and skill. Synopsis: After spending some time …

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Curriculum Integration in Service Programs

How can you begin working toward curriculum integration with your service program? Consider the following principles as a good guide. Connections Get to know the curriculum in other content areas. Study the program of studies of your school. Look at …

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Processing Service Experiences

I have been involved with our school's service-learning program for over ten years as a classroom teacher. Because the program is integrated fully in the religion, English, and social studies curriculum, we have made a commitment to processing the material …

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The Color Purple

A CAUTIONARY NOTE: One of the criticisms of The Color Purple is that it depicts the men in the story as primarily abusive. Also, this movie is PG-13, mostly because of the violence and strong language. We recommend the movie …

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Technology assignment - Catholic Social Teaching

Over ten years ago, I began using my home computer to file and create documents for my students. My high school, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, already had a very well-developed technological infrastructure. Internet searches, e-mail, PowerPoint presentations, …

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U.S. Students Work for Salvadoran Students

Katie Murphy visited El Salvador in the summer of 1999 as part of the Frontiers of Justice project, a learning opportunity for Catholic high school teachers cosponsored by Catholic Relief Services and the National Catholic Educational Association's Secondary Division. Her …

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Following the Spirit Down the (Yellow?) Brick Road

The road is really a five-foot wide path. The bricks are more dappled browns than yellow. But the journey does have a wizard and feisty little black terrier. And along the way we found our hearts, our minds, and our …

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Central Characteristics of Roman Catholicism

Catholicism is a remarkably rich religion, characterized by a complex tapestry of beliefs, practices, values, rituals, traditions, and more. When viewed "from the outside"--that is, by those who do not share its communal life--Catholicism is probably most frequently identified by …

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Everyday Works of Mercy

Are you more Christian than you give yourself credit for being? My belief is that there are many like that--that many dedicated Christian people have compartmentalized their lives and have excluded important and central areas of their lives from what …

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The Death Penalty and the Catholic Conscience

Some proponents say the death penalty is biblical: "an eye for an eye." This moral theologian shows how they are misreading the Bible. If someone murdered your child or closest friend, what punishment would you want for the criminal? If …

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The Spirituality of Work

Teachers who structure justice into their workday lives model a moral vision for their students. I requested a review copy of all religion textbooks used in Catholic high schools some years ago and scoured over 30 books looking for references …

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Peace: The Countercultural Value

Ours is a violent society. Furthermore, evidence strongly suggests that we are learning to accept violence as normal behavior. As a people, we appear to be increasingly indifferent to daily images of warfare, racial hatred and ethnic cleansing. Murder and …

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The Community Service Dimension

A high school senior leans over the shoulders of two 9-year-olds struggling with math homework in a tutoring program at the community center. Two students carry food baskets up the narrow flight of stairs to the residents of a housing …

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Columbine High's Selfless Heroes

The stories of Columbine's heroes rise like a "tide of inspiration" for this Denver mother. Starting the third laundry load, I pause, puzzled by a pin on my daughter's t-shirt. At 14, she tosses shirts into the hamper with glad …

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Dance: An Awakening

Ms. Sawaya Lamb teaches dance at Judge Memorial Catholic High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. Mr. Wagoner, a former technical director at Judge Memorial Catholic High School, is now assistant principal at Saint Vincent School in Salt Lake City. …

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Getting to the Heart of the Matter

Step 1: Look at the situation What exactly is happening? Why is it happening? Who is involved? What are their motives? How is it happening, that is, by what means or method? When and where is it happening? Step 2: …

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Service and Justice

We are standing on the brink, and our bishops are urging us to jump. Many of us don't know where we'll end up, and we aren't sure whether we'll land in one piece. Yet the sense of urgency is building, …

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A One-Day Retreat on Service in the Inner City

Our sophomore class day retreat focuses on finding spirituality in the inner city. It is a kind of "urban plunge" experience within a spiritual framework, and students go on this retreat during the same semester that they take a social …

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The Harvest Is Abundant: Reflections on a Spirituality of Service

Service is a golden word these days. Everybody's doing it: governmental bodies, schools, churches, even neighborhoods and families. Court sentencing frequently includes community service, the federal government holds service up as a value in programs such as Americorps, and state …

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Building Faith Community in the High School

In a workshop entitled "The Catholic High School as Faith Community," religion teachers, campus ministers, and school administrators discussed, among many things, the obstacles they face in trying to build faith community in their school. One obstacle they addressed was …

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Community Service Courses:

This past semester, at the end of a year-long service program at a residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed youth, two students from my community service course wrote a poem to express the significance of their experiences. These are the …

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Expect Much, Praise Much, Be Present to Them

Course materials, such as the high school religion textbooks and teacher's manuals published by Saint Mary's Press, are a significant ingredient in the education of our young people. But we all know that the most important factor in a student's …

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Curriculum Offerings of Theology Departments

For a couple of years, Saint Mary’s Press sponsored a listserv discussion group online. Discussions on a variety of topics were pursued via e-mail. In this section of the web site, I summarize some of the highlights from these old …

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