Grade Seven Believing Expectations
Believing ~ Hope Expectations for Intermediate Classes
By the end of grade 8, it is our hope that students will be individuals who:
Recognize in the saving story of the Christian faith God’s call to holiness;
Appreciate the authority of the Magisterium in the interpretation of scripture and its message for contemporary Christian living;
Actively reflect on Sacred Scripture as a means to grow in understanding and practice of the Catholic faith;
Proclaim with confidence a belief in the mysteries of the Catholic faith, the Creed.
BL 1.1: Articulate what is meant by the Church’s belief that “God speaks only one single Word through all the words of Scripture” and that this unique Word is Jesus Christ.
The Christ always existed with God and the Holy Spirit. It says it in John’s Gospel Jn 1:1-5. Read this passage to the students and ask them what they think it means. Who is the Word? To whom is the author referring? [Christ] Clarify if need be: before Jesus’ earthly life he was the Son of God, the Christ with God. Since His ascension into heaven, Jesus returned to heaven to become the Christ of Faith. When God created the world, God spoke words to have creation come to be. Christ is the Word that is spoken from the very beginning. When God spoke to humans, i.e. Abraham, Moses, the prophets, God used words to communicate. Sometimes the Spirit will stir up feelings within individuals but humans generally communicate using words so that has been the way that God has talked to us, communicated with us, wanting to be clear. God still uses words to speak to people in our time. Sometimes God speaks directly to people’s hearts in prayer. Sometimes God speaks to people through the words of Scripture, or in the words of songs. “This is why the Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord’s Body.” [CCC 103] “The Christian faith is the religion of the “Word” of God, “not a written and mute word, but incarnate and living.” If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, “Open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures.” [CCC 108]This is a bit challenging to understand. It is a mystery of our faith – we accept it even though we may not fully understand it.
BL 1.2: Compare the Old and New Testament images of the Messiah and the Kingdom of God and link these to the understanding of the “unique Word” – Jesus Christ and his teaching of the Beatitudes.
I would take first the images of the Old Testament and link them to Jesus. It would be important to explain what the word Messiah means. You might use the following words: In the Jewish tradition they longed for a Messiah, the one who would come as anointed by God. Eventually the Jewish people thought that the Messiah would come as a King to free the Jewish people from the domination they experienced at the hands of other tribes/nations.
In each of the passages outlined here we have an image of the Messiah prophesized.
The image in the book of the prophet Isaiah is a shoot (new growth from the stump of Jesse) In the book of the prophet Isaiah (prophet means one who spoke for God) it is said – A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, (Is. 11: 1-9) and it continues to outline the gifts of the spirit. It is important to understand that Jesse was KingDavid’s father. Jesus is part of the family tree ofKing David. This is why he is born in Bethlehem, the city of David. David was the great King of the Jews. In this second reading from the prophet Isaiah the Messiah is described as a king.
Isaiah 9: 2-7 “describes Immanuel as a wise, brave, courageous, virtuous, and righteous king. Here, First Isaiah may be referring to King Hezekiah, the reformer king of Judah (see 2 Chronicles 29-33). However, after Hezekiah’s death, the passage came to be understood as predicting the coming of an ideal future savior or messiah. That’s why the passage is called a messianic prophecy. Christians see in these words a perfect description of Jesus.” The Catholic Youth Bible-NRSV In the reading from the prophet Micah the Messiah is a ruler (similar to a king.)
In Micah 5:2, it states “from you (referring to Bethlehem) shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel…” It is thought that this prophetic reference is to Jesus who was born in Bethlehem.
In the reading from the prophet Zechariah the Messiah is portrayed as a leader riding on the back of a donkey. Zech. 9:9 prophetically refers to Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday [Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey.] Again the book of Zechariah is written sometime after 333 B.C.E.
The prophecies of Zechariah are quoted in the Christian Scriptures as proof that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Invite your students to read the following passages from Isaiah and ask them if the readings remind them of anyone in the Scriptures. Can they pull out that the readings describe the type of death that Jesus experienced?
In Isaiah 49:6, 53:2, 53:3; 53:5-7, 53:9 are descriptions when read from the Christian perspective can describe the type of death Jesus experienced.
When the disciples speak of Jesus becoming a king or ruler of the people and beginning a revolt of the Romans, Jesus makes it very clear that that is not the type of leader that he has come to be. He has come to be a Suffering Servant. On the Passover night at the last supper Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. He shows them an example that he invites them to imitate. He is the fulfillment of the Beatitudes.
It is good to point out that the Jewish people are still waiting for the Messiah.
BL1.3 Explain why the Gospels are the heart of all the Scriptures. “The Gospels are the heart of all the Scriptures ‘because they are our principal source for the life and teaching of the Incarnate Word, our Saviour.’” [CCC 125] Begin this lesson by asking your students if they know the difference between the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament and the Christian Scriptures/New Testament. [The Christian Scriptures begin because Jesus came to earth.] Ask your students why they think the four gospels are placed at the front of the Christian Scriptures. [because they introduce us to Jesus the Christ] But the letters behind the gospels were written earlier than the gospels. “The four Gospelsoccupy a central place because Christ Jesus is their centre.” [CCC 139] Jesus is God become human [through the Incarnation.] He comes to us to teach us how to live and how to love. So the Gospels [the word means Good News in Old English] help us to come to know Jesus and his way of life and his way of loving. If one reads the Gospels with an understanding of the Jewish traditions and culture of the time, one sees how unique Jesus’ way of including everyone in his personal circle of care and friendship. It is ultimately Jesus’ way of living and loving that brings him to the Cross. He threatens the traditions and culture of the Jewish authorities. He asks them to live the spirit of the Mosaic Law not the letter of the Law. So they think they need to destroy him and they do.
BL 2.1: Identify the significance and meaning of Jesus Christ’s redemptive death on the Cross in God’s Plan of Salvation (i.e. Jesus and Israel, the Law, the Messiah, the sacrifice of the Cross for our sins). [CCC nos. 571-623] Invite your class to look at the first chapter of the book of Genesis. Ask your students, what are the truths that this story teaches us. 1. God created everything. 2. It took time for all things to be created and it was according to a plan. 3. God declares that all of creation is good. 4. God creates humankind in God’s image and likeness. Can your students see evidence of these points in the first Creation story? It was God’s initial plan that life would continue forever in the garden. Now read Chapter 3 of Genesis. Ask your students, what are the truths that this story teaches us. 1.At some point in human history, humans sinned against God, trying in some way to be God, not being satisfied being made in God’s image. Humans wanted to be Gods. In the Scriptures we read this as the sin of Adam and Eve and refer to it as the original sin (when sin first entered our human story.) Adam and Eve are only archetypes of the humans who committed the first sin. From that point on, humans need to be saved from sin.Please teach/remind your students about the idea of the Messiah. In the Jewish tradition the Messiah (God’s anointed one) would come to renounce sin and bring God’s kingdom to earth. Many prophets from the Jewish tradition speak about the Messiah to come. Moses brought the Law (Ten Commandments) to the Chosen People and Jesus, the Messiah, fulfills the Law. Ask your students, why did God send Jesus to earth? Listen to what they think. For the first thirty years Jesus lived a quiet hidden life. No one would have known who he was except the people who were aware of his special birth. Jesus grew up with his parents being rather ordinary.
Read the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark where Jesus begins his public ministry. Ask your students to imagine that they are in the story as a character when they went to Capernaum (Mk. 1:21-28) How would they have responded when they saw Jesus interact with the man with the unclean spirit? Keep reading and asking the students how the people would have felt when Jesus comes into their towns and villages and does these healings. Then teach this message: “From the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, certain Pharisees and partisans of Herod together with priests and scribes agreed to destroy [Jesus.] Because of certain of his acts – expelling demons, forgiving sins, healing on the Sabbath day, his novel interpretations of the precepts of the Law regarding purity, and his familiarity with tax collectors and public sinners – some ill-intentioned persons suspected Jesus of demonic possession. He is accused of blasphemy and false prophecy, religious crimes which the Law punished with death by stoning.” [CCC 547]
This next section is a challenging point of the expectation. Students may say if God had this plan of salvation from the beginning then why didn’t Jesus come earlier in time. It is a good question. But just as God created everything in its time, Salvation has its time.
From the beginning of time God had a plan of Salvation. “The Scriptures had foretold this divine plan of salvation through the putting to death of ‘the righteous one, my Servant’ as a mystery of universal redemption, that is, as the ransom that would free everyone from the slavery of sin. …Indeed Jesus himself explained the meaning of his life and death in the light of God’s Suffering Servant. After his Resurrection he gave this interpretation of the Scriptures to the disciples at Emmaus, and then to the apostles.” [CCC 601]
Read the story of the walk to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) This story is a summary of this expectation. God loves us so much, from the beginning of time, that he gives us a gift of free will. We have the potential to live as God’s children in grace and beauty, however, we use this gift in ways that cause us to sin. God asked Jesus to come to earth to show us the way to love like God. Jesus is willing to do what God asks, even to the point to dying on the Cross to save us, all of us, from our sins. We are redeemed by Jesus’ death and invited back into covenant with God. That is how much God loves us.
BL 2.2: Summarize the Church’s teaching on the meaning and significance of Christ’s death (buried, descent into Hell) and resurrection on the third day and describe how these events are celebrated in the Church’s tradition (i.e. Liturgical Season, sacraments, etc.) [CCC 571-658]
This expectation connects with the previous one. Pray the Apostles’ Creed as a class. Stop the class after the line ”on the third day he rose again from the dead.” Explain that today’s class will be on the meaning and significance of lines from “suffered under Pontius Pilate….to…. rose again from the dead.”
Ask your students – why did Jesus suffer under Pontius Pilate? Find out how much of the story of Jesus’ passion and death do they know before you start the lesson. What was happening in the days leading up to the Last Supper? You may want to show video clips of a movie that will show the days leading up to and including Jesus’ passion and death on the Cross. On Youtube – Jesus of Nazareth – Part 2 Director’s Cut – from 1.30- 2.51
Jesus’ death is significant for several reasons. It has great meaning on many levels.
1. Jesus was put to death as an innocent person. Even the good thief dying beside him on a cross says so. Jesus was sacrificed by the Jewish priests/officials because He was making their jobs harder.
2. Jesuscame to fulfill the Law completely and perfectly. Jesus is the only one who could do it and he chose to do it. He becomes the new covenant to the people.
3.“The Paschal mystery of Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection stands at the centre of the Good News that the apostles, and the Church following them, are to proclaim to the world. God’s saving plan was accomplished “once for all” by the redemptive death of his Son Jesus Christ.”[CCC 571]
4. After his Resurrection he gave this interpretation of the Scriptures to the disciples at Emmaus and then to the apostles.” [CCC 601]
Jesus dies then is buried. Jesus’ body spends three days in the tomb.
It is the mystery of Holy Saturday, when Christ, lying in the tomb, reveals God’s great Sabbath rest after the fulfillment of our salvation, which brings peace to the whole universe.” [CCC 624] Jesus’ death is celebrated on Good Friday. After he died he was placed in the tomb and lay there until after the Sabbath (which is all day Saturday until sundown).
In the Apostles’ Creed we confess that Christ descended into Hell at every Sunday mass. “Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned (those who chose to go to hell), or destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him (who died before Jesus died).” [CCC 633]
“The Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ, a faith believed and lived as the central truth by the first Christian community; handed on as fundamental by Tradition; established by the documents of the Christian Scriptures; and preached as an essential part of the Paschal mystery along with the cross.” [CCC 638] There are many accounts in the Gospels about Jesus’ resurrection. “The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life.” [CCC 654] In the Eucharist we celebrate in memory of Jesus’ last supper on earth with his apostles. The bread becomes his body and the wine becomes his blood.
Just before Eucharist is distributed, the priest takes a small piece of bread and drops it into the chalice of wine to signify that Jesus’ body and blood are reunited in his resurrection. In Baptism, we are freed from sin and death by entering the waters of new life in Jesus. NOTE: This is very challenging material. It is good to let the students be challenged by it. There are two units in the old program Unit 8 pp.143-166 and Unit 9 pp. 167-176 that deal with this very topic. You may find some useful resources in the Teacher’s Manual.
BL 2.3: Examine the passages in the Christian Scriptures that describe Jesus’ “resurrection appearances, ascent into heaven and being seated at the right hand of the Father”, where he will “judge the living and the dead” to unfold their meaning and significance in relation to God’s plan of salvation. I would give the students the different passages and ask them to read what each one says about Jesus’ resurrection appearances.“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.” [Mt. 28:16-17] “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” [Jn 10:17-18] Jesus appears to the fearful disciples in the upper room. He shows them his hands and his side so that they will believe it is him. [Jn. 20:19-20]