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ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

COLLEGE
CURRICULUM
FOR RELIGION

1. RATIONALE
2. OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES
3. ASSESSMENT AND REPORTING POLICY

Rationale
Studies of Religion
It is in keeping with the Mission Statement of STAC that particular attention is given
to Religious instruction. The collegians cannot grow in the love of their Faith without
a sufficient knowledge of that Faith. It is in the study of the Faith that the collegians
will find the means necessary for salvation.

The study of religion seeks to develop in the collegians qualities that will make of
them Catholics in Faith and action, in word and deed. This preparation strives to equip
the collegians to enter the world strong in Faith as productive members of their
families, communities, (religious and civil) and their countries.

This course of Studies of Religion does not presume any previous study in this area. It
is an integrated and sequential course, designed to employ a range of approaches to
the study of religion and to build on the knowledge interests and reflective capabilities
that students will bring to their study. The courses will be given interest and life
through the informed involvement of students.

The course aims at an engagement which will allow students to increase their
understanding of religion as a living and pervasive element of human existence.

EXTRACTS FROM THE PAPAL ENCYCLICAL:

ACERBO NIMIS OF ST PIUS X

“…Christian teaching reveals God and His infinite perfection with far greater clarity
than is possible by the human faculties alone. Nor is that all. This same Christian
teaching also commands us to honour God by faith, which is of the mind, by hope,
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which is of the will, by love, which is of the heart; and thus the whole man is
subjected to the supreme Maker and Ruler of all things.

The truly remarkable dignity of man as the son of the heavenly Father, in Whose
image he is formed, and with Whom he is destined to live in eternal happiness, is also
revealed only by the doctrine of Jesus Christ. From this very dignity, and from man's
knowledge of it, Christ showed that men should love one another as brothers, and
should live here as become children of light, "not of revelry and drunkenness, not in
debauchery and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy."[7]

He also bids us to place all our anxiety and care in the hands of God, for He will
provide for us; He tells us to help the poor, to do good to those who hate us, and to
prefer the eternal welfare of the soul to the temporal goods of this life. Without
wishing to touch on every detail, nevertheless is it not true that the proud man is urged
and commanded by the teaching of Christ to strive for humility, the source of true
glory? "Whoever, therefore, humbles himself. . . he is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven."[8]

From that same teaching we learn prudence of the spirit, and thereby we avoid
prudence of the flesh; we learn justice, by which we give to every man his due;
fortitude, which prepares us to endure all things and with steadfast heart suffer all
things for the sake of God and eternal happiness; and, last of all, temperance through
which we cherish even poverty borne out of love for God, nay, we even glory in the
cross itself, unmindful of its shame.

In fine, Christian teaching not only bestows on the intellect the light by which it
attains truth, but from it our will draws that ardour by which we are raised up to God
and joined with Him in the practice of virtue.”

Objectives and Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding
 Identify the main characteristics of religion
 Describe the origins and history of the Catholic Church
 Identify its principal beliefs, rituals and ethical teachings and influence on the
everyday lives of people
 Recognise the place of its sacred writings
 Account for diversity and change within the Church
Skills
Students should show that they can:
 Describe the ways in which religion fulfils a significant need of people
 Use libraries and other sources of stored knowledge to gather information
 Interview resource people both inside and outside of the school
 Devise methods of gathering, classifying, and interpreting information for a
designated purpose.
 Analyse sources of information, including sacred texts in translation
 Analyse critically ideas, criticisms and points of view on topics being studied
 Determine the relevance of information for the task at hand
 Form opinions about issues and attitudes exposed in the study of different religions
 Apply the information to argue a point of view.
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Students will develop skills in:

 Research and analysis
 Communication
 Share ideas, feelings and information in general discussion with others
 Interpret different symbols (verbal, visual, aural, physical, etc)
 Express opinions on various aspects of these studies in an ordered fashion to the
class
 Use the special terminology and other technical language associated with the
Studies of Religion
 Present a coherent argument written in an objective style (essay).

Students should show that they can:

 Recognise how religion generally is characterised by both continuity and change,
and how to assess the validity of change
 Value the role of religion in the development of Australia’s present social ethos
 Foster a love for the truth in religion
 The ability to judge religious issues rationally and with confidence
 Talk confidently about their own beliefs and values in relation to those being studied
or those expressed by others in the class

4. ASSESSMENT AND REPORTING POLICY

Rationale:
"Assessment" is a process concerned with gathering information about student
competencies. Its' focus is not only on what has been achieved by students, but also
on how they have gone about their learning.
"Learning" is a process of communicating assessment information to assist student
learning.

Assessment of students progress in a particular learning area must reflect the

attainment of the student, the extent of student progress and the weaknesses or errors
in his or her understanding.
The purpose of the assessment is to be able to explain realistically and constructively
to students and parents how the student has progressed in relation to his or her
previous performance, not as against the rest of the class.
Assessment is defined as a process which must be clearly directed at helping students
to improve their learning. Student assessment should provide regular information to
students about their progress, and lead to communications with students and parents
which clearly reflect what students have achieved. These approaches provide
direction to students for their future learning.

Aims and Objectives of Assessment:

Effective Assessment should give an evaluation of all of the following aspects
• Academic achievement, knowledge and understanding of the work taught.
• Skills mastered within the structure of the work taught.
• Attitude of students to class work and required exercises within the work
structure.
• Students degree of consistency of effort and co-operation towards the activities
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entailed in the work either individually or with other students.

Types of Assessment:
1. Formative - continuous throughout the activity/unit course. This stage closely
monitors the specific objectives of the unit and assesses the progress made by
the student in relation to knowledge, skills and attitudes. Information about
each student is collected by formal and informal means.
Assessment should be used to encourage students in their efforts. Use should be
made of checklists, short-term assignments, and descriptive comments.
2. Summative - occurs at the conclusion of a unit, used to give students the
opportunity to show what they can do. It gives evidence of progress to
students, teachers and parents. A final review of a unit etc. - eg., test, major
assignment, report, etc. It presents the teacher with an "overall" view of the
success or failure of a unit of work.

Communicating Assessment to Parents (Reporting):

• In each area of learning, teachers may collect a great deal of information about the
achievement of each student, but in reality only a small proportion of this
information is passed on to parents.
• Parents and students are entitled to know the specific details of a students progress
at any given time in a course of study. Thus it is imperative that staff assessment
records are kept accurately, in detail and up-to-date. Pieces of student work
should be available to illustrate a student's strength or weaknesses.
• In the evaluation of students written or oral work, correction should be thorough
and should include positive ways in which students can improve in similar
exercises in the future.
• The School supports achievement grading based on the class room teachers
records. These records, are not designed for; specific parent information but
provide the teacher with information which will justify and quantify achievement
indications on school reports.
• Effort indications will be based on teacher observation and record keeping in all
key learning areas. All grading will be supported by descriptive assessment.
• Standardised test scores will not be included when assessing achievement. Rather,
a teacher's knowledge of standardised test scores can be used in the reporting
interview when discussing a child's potential. Thus when a child scores highly in
a standardised test, but is not performing at that level in the classroom, the teacher
will take steps to discover possible causes.
• Conversely, a low score in a standardised test married to satisfactory or fair
achievement in classroom work, could support the contention that the child is
performing at or even beyond what might have been expected.
• Checklists, specific test scores, samples of work, marked work, and descriptive
comments will be put into files to provide a profile on each child for the
information of subsequent teachers.
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5. CHIEF TRUTHS
Week 1 Unit 1
Orientation of the course
Story of St. Thomas and the times in
which he lived.
Ask the class to explain why his times
were called the Middle Ages
Week 2 Unit 1
Faith -Importance
God-
Know, love, serve him
Who made us?
Why he made us?
Chief truths taught in the Catholic
Church
Apostles Creed, its different articles,
and importance
Week 3 Unit 1
Examples of faith
St. Paul to the Greeks
St. John in his Gospel of love
The Machabees and their witness to the
Faith
Week 4 Unit 2 Unity and trinity of God
The Mystery of the Trinity
At the Baptism of the Lord
What is a mystery?
What is supernatural?
Week 5 Unit 2 Unity and trinity of God
What is meant by the Blessed Trinity that God’s works are wonderful, and all
Why God is called the father
Why the Dove appeared and it meaning
and symbol explained.
The reason for the son being baptised
Week 6 Unit 3 God and Creation
God the creator of heaven and earth
The reason for creating things
How the world was created
Explanation of evolution of material
things
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Object: To give a reason for life and
life’s purpose, Happiness. To instil in
the student a love for their Patron, their
school and also their country
Object: To realise that God really loves
us and that we must love one another,
as he has commanded us, and as he
gave the wonderful example to us by
Dying on the Cross on Good Friday
Object: to give the students the inner
incentive to witness to their Faith, as
well as a caring and sharing love to
their fellow man.
Object: To realise that God being all
powerful can do wondrous things, not
only in miracles but also in the
beautiful nature we see around us,
which we must look after.
Object: To make the student understand
he does by sign is with meaning.
Object: To explain and make the
students think about the homogeneous
evolution of thing after their first
beginnings.

Week 7 Unit 3 God and Creation
The Angels in general, the choirs etc.
The fall of the Angels, Satan, and the
nature of the angels after their fall.
Their actions on us, for good or ill.
Week 8 Unit 3 God and Creation
The creation of man and woman
The Garden of Eden
The First parents
The Preternatural Gifts
Week 9 Unit 3 God and Creation
The fall of man and woman
The reason why it is passed on.
The stages which lead up to the first sin
The temptation of the devil
Week 10 Unit 4 Actual Sin
What is sin?
The effect of sin on the soul
How to avoid Sin
The different kinds of sin.
Week 11 Unit 4 Actual Sin
What is Mortal Sin
Why it is called Mortal
The necessity of confessing all mortal
sins
Week 12 Unit 4 Actual Sin
What is venial sin
Why it is called Venial
Why we must also avoid venial sin
How venial sin makes us cold to God
and our fellow man
Week 13 Unit 5 The Incarnation
Who is Jesus Christ?
The eternal begetting from all eternity.
The explanation of the Last Gospel
Is Jesus Christ really God?
Week 14 Unit 5 The Incarnation
Explanation of the word
Can man be like unto God?
Can God become really a man?
Solution the Problems
Week 15 Unit 5 The Incarnation Object: To show the student the great
How the historical events of the love and wisdom of God to allow the
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Object: to make the student realise that
he is not alone in this life, that all
around him are spirits of wondrous
natures.
Object: To show how blessed were the
first man and woman, and how it is
easy to fall into sin even though one
has many good gifts.
Object:
To show how the Devil tempted Eve,
and how he still uses the same methods
to tempt man to this very day.
Object: To show the students the
different kinds of sin and how to
distinguish one from the other, so that
confession is made easier.
Object: To show the Student the
importance of going to confession as
soon as one falls into mortal sin, so that
we grow always in the love of God.
Object: To show the Students that even
the smallest sin is a great offence
against God who is infinitely good and
deserving of all our love
Object: to explain and see if Jesus
Christ is really God, or just a great
man as the moderns hold, just the
Historical Jesus of the Gospels.
Object: To show the Students how the
mind blowing problems of God
becoming man are to be resolved.
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incarnation came about. fullness of time to come before

The star and the Wise men. revealing His Son.
Was Christ the saviour of all men?
The two great Commandment given to
man.

Week 16 Unit 6 The Redemption Object:

Why only God could pay the price for To show the students the reason for
man, and not just an Angel. God alone becoming man and not an
The meaning of the word Redemption Angel or even all of Creation being
Christ as mediator between God and us enough to pay the price.

Week 17 Unit 6 The Redemption Object:

The sufferings of Christ To make the student appreciate the
Explanation of the way of the Cross sufferings that Christ underwent for the
How one dies when Crucified sins of the world and the great
Why Christ chose to die this way. sufferings he suffered.

Week 18 Unit 6 The Redemption Object:

The sacrifice of the Mass To show the students the real meaning
As a re-enactment of the death at of the Mass so they may grow to love it
calvary more and avoid the errors of the Novus
Who is the principal Priest Ordo.
the purposes and ends of the Mass

Week 19 Unit 7 The Resurrection & Ascension Object:

The Resurrection of Christ To explain the circumstances of the
Man’s Resurrection resurrection, its prediction, the fear of
The Assumption the Apostles, and the false stories about
Christ’s Ascension it.

Week 20 Unit 7 The Resurrection & Ascension Object:

The Particular Judgement To explain to the students and let them
The General Judgement imagine the final judgement and the
The sins that precede it power of God finally expressed for all
The remaking of the earth to see and honour.

Week 21 Unit 7 The Resurrection & Ascension Object:

What heaven will be like To explain to the Students the nature of
What purgatory will be like Limbo, Hell heaven and why there are
What is Limbo and who goes there different places for the different
What hell will be like reactions of man’s will to God’s grace.

Week 22 Unit 8 The Holy Spirit and Grace Object:

The proceeding of the Holy Ghost To explain to the students what grace is
What is grace ? and how God gives it to us and a brief
The Church introduction to the means of obtaining
Prayer and its proper use it.

Week 23 Unit 8 The Holy Spirit and Grace Object:

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Confirmation To give to the students a brief summary

Extreme unction of the sacraments of Confirmation
Matrimony Extreme unction and Matrimony

Week 24 Unit 8 The Holy Spirit and Grace Object:

Holy Orders To give the students a brief introduction
Baptism to the sacraments of Holy orders and
The kinds of Baptisms Baptism, and the different kinds of
Of Desire and Blood Baptisms.

Week 25 Unit 9 The Virtues and Gifts of the Object:

Holy Ghost
The Theological Virtues
The Virtue of Faith
The Virtue Of Hope
The Virtue of Charity
To give the students a brief summary of
the three Theological Virtues and how
to practise them in everyday life. There
will be more emphasise on the Virtue of
True love

Week 26 Unit 9 The Virtues and Gifts of the Object:

Holy Ghost To give the students the most sure way
Prayer and devotion to pray so that they do not pray from
Mental Prayer mere feeling or emotion but with their
Vocal Prayer and chant heart and soul, so that they love to
Their necessity pray, and not find it a burden

Week 27 Unit 9 The Virtues and Gifts of the Object:

Holy Ghost
The Cardinal virtues
Prudence, Fortitude
Gifts of the Holy Ghost
Fruits of the Holy Ghost
To give the students a brief introduction
to the two important Cardinal virtues
and the gifts and fruits of the Holy
Ghost, which give us that extra push
when we need it.

Week 28 Unit 11 The one true Church and Object:

other churches
The marks of the Church
The oneness of the Church
The holiness of the Church
The Catholicity of the Church
To give the students a love for the
Church to which they belong and the
realisation that even though there is a
crisis in the Church she will never fail.

Week 29 Unit 11 The one true Church and Object:

other churches To give the students the correct and
the Infallibility of the Church sound idea of the indefectibility of the
The Infallibility of the Pope Church and especially that of the Pope
The indefectibility if the Church and when it is invoked, and for what
The Mystical Body of the Church purpose.

Week 30 Unit 11 The one true Church and Object:

other churches To give the students an appreciation of
The faiths of other churches the other religious traditions, so as to
The Protestants, Lutherans, understand their way of living out their
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Moslems, Hindus, Buddists, faiths

and other smaller sects.

Week 31 Unit 12 The means of grace Object:

Revision of the true notion of Prayer To give the students an appreciation of
The Pater noster of St. Thomas prayer and to give them a love of the
The first petition very basic prayer which was given to us
The second petition by God himself

Week 32 Unit 12 The means of grace Object:

The third petition To give the students an appreciation of
The forth petition prayer and to give them a love of the
The fifth petition very basic prayer which was given to us
The sixth petition by God himself

Week 33 Unit 12 The means of grace Object:

The Blessed Virgin Mary as Mediatrix To give the students an appreciation of
of all grace prayer and to give them a love of the
The Petitions of the Hail Mary prayer which was given to us by God
by the Angel Gabriel

6. BIBLE HISTORY
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SACRED SCRIPTURE CURRICULUM

YEAR 7 – 10
YEAR 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE WHOLE BIBLE
TEXTS: LAUX “INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE”
YEAR 2 PENTATUECH AND JOSUE
TEXTS: SCHUSTER “BIBLE HISTORY”
YEAR 3 HISTORICAL AND PROHETICAL BOOKS
YEAR 4 THE NEW TESTAMENT

REFERENCE TEXTS;
• HAYDOCK COMMENTARY OF THE BIBLE
• NELSON COMMENTARY
• CORNELIUS A LAPIDE
• STAGING THE BIBLE F. CASEY
• SUMMA THEOLOGICA OF ST THOMAS AQUINAS
• CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLE VIA INTERNET.
• 735 BAFFLING BIBLE QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY L. RICHARDS
• NELSON’S COMPLETE BOOK OF BIBLE MAPS AND CHARTS

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
KNOWLEDGE:
• FOUR SENSES OF SCRIPTURE
• MEANING OF KEY FIGURES AND STORIES
• SUPPLEMENT CATECHISM

ACTION:
• GROWTH IN FAITH AND CHARITY
• CONSTRUCTION OF A TIME-LINE
• ABLE TO RE-TELL BIBLE STORIES.

KEY TEXT:
INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE

JOHN LAUX, M.A. (TAN BOOKS C. 1990)

PART 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE

1. DEFINITION AND DIVISION

2. DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE; PROOFS OF INSPIRATION
3. PURPOSE OF THE BIBLE
4. CANON OF THE BIBLE
5. LANGUAGES OF THE BIBLE: HEBREW ARAMAIC, GREEK
6. OLDEST MANUSCRIPTS
7. IMPORTANT VERSIONS; WHY AND HOW CATHOLIC BIBLE DIFFER
FROM PROTESTANT ONES

8. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION AND THE
MAGISTERIUM
9. BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION
10. READING OF THE BIBLE
11. CHARACTERISTICS OF HEBREW POETRY
PART 2 SPECIAL INTRODUCTION OLD TESTAMENT
1. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF BOOKS
2. HISTORICAL CREDIBILITY AND INTEGRITY OF OT BOKS
3. HISTORICAL BOOKS IN DETAIL: GENESIS – MACHABEES
4. DOCTRINAL BOOKS: JOB-CANTICLES
5. PROPHETICAL BOOKS: AMOS - MALACHIAS
PART 3 SPECIAL INTRODUCTION THE NEW TESTAMENT
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
1. GOSPELS: MATTHEW MARK LUKE JOHN ACTS
2. EPISTLES: ROMANS – 3JOHN
3. APOCALYPSE
WEEK TOPIC
1 INTRODUCTION, DEFINITIONS,
INSPIRATION, PURPOSE, CANON
AND LANGUAGES OF BIBLE
2 MANUSCRIPTS AND
TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE,
RELATION WITH TRADITION AND
MAGISTERIUM, INTERPRETATION
AND READING.
3 CHRONOLOGY AND PENTATEUCH
EXPLAINED.
4 JOSUE, JUDGES AND KINGS. THE
ADVENTURES OF THE
ISRAELITES AND GROWTH OF
THE KINGDOM
5 CHRONICLES, ESDRAS, TOBIAS,
JUDITH, ESTHER, MACHABEES
6 WISDOM BOOKS, JOB. USE
“STAGING THE BIBLE” BY F.
CASEY pg 13 ff SHORT PLAY FOR
TEN STUDENTS
7 PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES,
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LEARNING OUTCOMES
To be grateful for how close
our God desires to be with
us, and how He loves us. To
know these key definitions.
To be aware of God’s
Providence guiding our
lives, and to know how we fit
in to His plan. Daily reading
of Bible encouraged.
To appreciate Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. To follow
Moses in his pointing to
Christ. Some memorising.
To see the rise and fall of the
great ones of Israel, and be
familiar with the key men
and women of this period.
Appreciate the sacrifices our
heroes in the Faith made to
keep the original Revelation
alive in God’s People.
To introduce the children to
the Israelite mentality
regarding suffering, and how
the Scriptures help us deal
with this mystery fruitfully.
Sowing the value of poetic
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WISDOM expression in religious

8 ECCLESIASTICUS & PSALMS
9 PSALMS & CANTICLES
thought and feelings
properly ordered.
Counteracting the influence
of Rock music. Many lessons
of life and faith.
Appreciating how the psalms
give an overview of the
entire bible history.

10 PROHETICAL BOOKS; WOMEN & Learning how God raises

MEN; AMOS people up from varied
backgrounds to restore faith.
11 OSEE; ISAIAS, Lessons in fidelity and
integrity of faith.
12 ISAIAS, MICHEAS Lessons in how religion and
politics join forces for the
good of the people if done in
the right order.
13 JONAS, JEREMIAS Thinking of one’s own
vocation, and how to hear
and respond to the call.
14 JEREMIAS, LAMENTATIONS Showing that the sins of a
people can effect the future
of the world
15 BARUCH – EZECHIEL Love the Word of God and
learn the right interpretation
16 EZECHIEL, DANIEL See the connections between
these men and the Catholic
Church.
17 MINOR PROPHETS How the world of the
scattered Israelites were
warned and prepared for the
coming Saviour.
18 PREPARE A DEBATE ON THE Girls and boys will compete
VALUE OF THE OLD TESTMENT in a healthy and polite
FOR CHRIATIAN FAITH TODAY discussion in the format of a
debate.
19 NEW TESTAMENT: DIVISION, To get a clear idea of the
LANGUAGE, CHRONOLOGY, role of the New Testament in
GOSPELS our lives and in the Church.
20 ST. MATTHEW & MARK To know the life and words
of our Saviour.
21 ST. LUKE To see the role of the Blessed
Virgin Mary
22 ST JOHN To learn Christ’s love and
battle with the enemies of
truth.
23 PREPARE SEVERAL CLASS SKITS To gain skills in
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ON A GOSPEL THEME interpretation of the Sacred

Text.
24 ACTS Appreciating the history of
the early Church.
25 THESS, GALATIONS, Knowing some of the ways
CORINTHIANS and needs of the early
churches.
26 ROMANS COLOSIANS, EPHESIANS Grasp the developing
theology of the early
Church.
27 TIM, TITUS, HEBREWS Seeing the role of the priest,
bishop and deacon.
28 CATHOLIC EPISTLES: JAMES – How charity should rule in
3JOHN our spiritual lives
29 REVIEW PLAY 1 BOYS: PETER & Skills enhanced in
THE EARLY CHURCH pg 144 ff communicating the truth.
30 APOCALYPSE 1 First way of interpretation:
literal
31 APOCALYPSE 2 Second way of
interpretation: faith
32 APOCALYPSE 3 Third way of interpretation:
hope
33 APOCALYPSE 4 Fourth way of
interpretation: Love
34 REHEARSE AND SHOW PLAY Building confidence

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE

CURRICULUM FOR SACRED SCRIPTURE

THE WORD OF GOD IN THE BIBLE

FOUR YEAR COURSE FOR YEARS 7-10

YEAR 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE WHOLE BIBLE

YEAR 2: PENTATEUCH AND JOSUE
YEAR 3: HISTORY; JUDGES-MACHABEES
YEAR 4: GOSPELS - APOCALYPSE
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BIBLE HISTORY CURRICULUM

KNOWLEDGE AIM:
The Bible is God's own word. Make sure that inspiration does not seem like the Holy
Spirit physically dictating to the human author. God uses his instruments according to
their natures. When He chooses a human instrument He uses it in a human way; the
man does God's work by his mind and will, imagination and memory and speech, and
whatever other faculties he uses. The Biblical writers were, in the full sense, human
authors. Our pupils can already begin to see the difference among them, e.g., how
different Matthew is from Luke, and Luke from John.

The students will know the four senses of Scripture as descibed by the popes and
fathers of the Church; they will memorise key persons and events of the Bible, and
see how they apply to their Catholic faith today.

AFFECTIVE AIM:
Again, joy in God's word, gratitude and the feeling of security, not "Here's another
hard book that we've got to know something about". Now that so many of our pupils
receive secondary education we should aim at producing a Biblical-literate laity. We
can begin with the pupils of this age group. (year 7-10)

BOOKS OF THE BIBLE

The list of books of the Bible is meant for reference, not to be learnt by heart. The
pupils will gradually come to know the main divisions of the Old and New
Testaments, and something about each of the books.

At the beginning they will need help to find their way around the Old Testament.

Tell the pupils that in the lists of both Old and New Testaments the books are grouped
according to their types, and not set out in chronological order. In the Old Testament
Wisdom was the last to be written, but appears among the group of Sapiential Books
(books about Wisdom).

Even within the same group there can be sub-divisions, e.g., the twelve minor
prophets appear after the major prophets, although some of the minor prophets, e.g.,
Amos and Osee, were among the earliest of the prophets whose prophecies appear in
the Bible.

The teacher should be aware of the meaning of some words commonly used. The
Septuagint is the Old Testament in Greek, most of it translated into Greek, Wisdom
certainly written in Greek.
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The Jews of the Diaspora, that is the Jews living outside Palestine for whom the
Septuagint was made, accepted as Scripture Baruch, Wisdom, Ecelesiasticus, Tobias,
Judith, I and II Machabees, and parts of Daniel and Esther, which the Pharisees at
Jerusalem rejected. These books are accepted by the Church as Scripture, and are
called the deuterocanonical books: Most Protestants reject them and call them the
Apocrypha.

The translation of the Bible into Latin, largely done by St. Jerome, is called the
Vulgate.

Our own enlightened and earnest prayer is our best help to teaching our pupils about
God Himself. God simply is; He is existence; He is all being. He has, actually and
without any possibility of change, all perfection. Everything that exists, all power,
goodness, intelligence, beauty in any being whatsoever, is a faint faraway reflection of
the infinite being of God. We do not tell our pupils that in those words: but we
communicate it in a way adapted to their stage of development; or rather we help
them to strengthen the virtue of faith they have from Baptism.

GOD ALL-WISE, ALMIGHTY

KNOWLEDGE AIM:
1. God knows everything, everyone, not from an infinite vigilance or curiosity
(that impression can be given), but because everything comes from Him. He has this
knowledge of things in His own mind, knows them in His mind before they exist. We
get our knowledge of things from the things themselves or from other agencies,
people, books, pictures, etc. God's knowledge is entirely independent of everything
else; we depend on other persons and things for our knowledge.

The fact that God knows everything can be used in a calm and sensible way to help
our pupils to fight temptations. They can become more and more conscious that they
are always in God's presence. But make sure that we emphasise that it is a fatherly,
loving, protecting, forgiving presence. God's all-seeing eye can be made to seem like
detective work, and a wrong emphasis in this matter can give a lad who is troubled
with sexual temptations a kind of obsession about God's incessant watchfulness, an
obsession that at the same time does not prevent him from yielding.

2. God really knows best, He is wise. Knowledge and wisdom are not always
combined in men; but God is knowledge and wisdom.
3. God is all powerful. Again wisdom and power are not always in the same
man. We tend these days to think of unlimited power as menacing, e.g., new atomic
weapons. God's goodness is equal to His power. His power and goodness are
identified with Himself. God is without limit.

AFFECTIVE AIM:
Wonder, reverence, awe, yet combined with joy, confidence.

GOD HOLY AND JUST

That God is infinitely good, that He cannot sin, that evil cannot touch Him, all that is
obvious to children that have received the training our pupils have. The Holy One
must loathe what is evil must detest sin. In the Bible the All Holy is presented as the
 17

"Utterly Other" altogether above and beyond all creatures, of His nature completed
separate from them.

He arouses in them fear, awe. Perhaps we should rather say to our pupils : He is the
God who manifests Himself in majesty, the burning bush, the storm on Sinai, the
pillar of cloud and of fire, the throne Isaias saw in the Temple. Our pupils know that
He is the all loving Father, ready to forgive all sins; but they must have that awe, that
reverence, or their attitude to Him will be unbalanced, they will be spiritually self-
centred. We all exist for God's sake, not He for our sakes. We are bound to give Him
that special reverence we call adoration; of ourselves we are nothing.

KNOWLEDGE AIM:
1. The awe-inspiring holiness of God, but combined with loving care.

2. The perfect justice of the All-Wise, All-Good, but combined with the loving
giving of grace.

AFFECTIVE AIM:
As already suggested, awe, reverence, but the awe that impels us to come to Him in
adoration and hope, not to shrink from Him in fear.

If the pupil has this sense of reverence for God he will have it for men as God's
creatures and Christ's brothers (actually or potentially); he will have it for himself
because God has given him some of His own holiness, given even to his body. This
reverence for the holiness of his body can help greatly at puberty and during
adolescence.

THE LIVING GOD

The Semites were not a philosophically gifted people. They did not think of God as
eternal existence. Their minds did not consider abstract notions like existence. They
said the same thing in their way when they called Him the Living God; and their way
is the child's way today.

If our pupil sees God as life without any limit he will come to a real understanding of
infinite. He is capable, too, of some understanding at this stage of what spirit means,
and that spirit is a higher kind of being than matter. In all this it is important that the
teaching seem as vivid, as real as possible.

Often expressions are used about God that cannot be literally true of one who is
infinite, unchangeable Spirit, but which are man's way of expressing a reality. Many
are used in the Bible which we still use readily, God's eye, (e.g., Psalm 33, 16) to
mean that He knows everything; His hands (e.g., Luke 1, 66) to mean His power, His
arms to mean His protecting care (e.g., Deuteronomy 33, 27).

Anger is attributed to Him; it is another way of saying that He does not love sin and
will punish sin when the sinner does not repent. God is said to look with favour on the
good, to turn away from the sinner. We know that God literally does not look, nor
turn away. These expressions mean His approval of good, His disapproval of evil.
 18

There are others which were used by the earlier Hebrews and are inserted in the Bible,
but which seem to us now to be crude. Before the flood, we are told He repented of
having made men on the earth (Genesis 6, 6). It is impossible for God to repent of
everything He has done; when the Bible speaks of God in this human way it means
that men's wickedness was such as to merit punishment.

The general term used to cover all attributions to God of human ways of acting is
anthropomorphism. When it is merely a human way of trying to express a spiritual
reality it is legitimate, (the Liturgy, as well as the Bible, gives many instances of it).
When it is really attributed to God a human action or feeling it is denial of His infinite
protection.

KNOWLEDGE AIM:
1. God as living, as infinite life.
2. God as spirit.

AFFECTIVE AIM:
Still reverence, wonder, with joy and gratitude to God for lifting us up to a share of
His life in Christ.

God's attitude to us. God's fatherhood (without any human deficiencies) is

fundamental to all our catechetics.

Love is widely used and sung about and shown on the screen as primarily an emotion.
The teacher, without going into the different philosophical distinctions of love, will
give in a vivid concrete way the real meaning of love. Love in the full sense is
seeking the good of the one loved, not with a mere feeling of goodwill, but
effectively. God's love for us is so perfect that He not only seeks our good (and
eternal good), but He made all the good that there is in us. He made us to share His
goodness, holiness, happiness.

The emotion of love, merely as an emotion, seeks rather self-satisfaction than the
good of another. Of course the emotion of love can be combined with the love of
seeking the good of the beloved. In most human relationships it is natural that it
should be so. But emotions come and go, can help or can hinder real love in seeking
the good of the loved one. As God is spirit without body He has no emotions. The
son of God should know that sometimes his emotions will help him to give himself to
God, sometimes not; but his real love will be shown in what he does.

GOD OUR FATHER

KNOWLEDGE AIM:
God's love that gives really wise care.
AFFECTIVE AIM:
1. Return of love in deed as God's love is in deed.
2. Reliance on that providence in anxieties, worries, dangers (Do all teachers
realize the worries that so many of their seemingly happy and even irresponsible
pupils have, at least intermittently?)
 19

GOD BRINGS GOOD OUT OF SUFFERING, EVIL AND SIN

This poses what is to many moderns the great problem, the chief argument against
God and religion. We must have sympathy for those without our foundation of faith
who are saddened and bewildered by the sufferings, the malnutrition, the horrible
casualties that abound. These people in their humanitarian pity view the problem
from the human end, and cannot see any solution. We know that the answer lies at the
other end, at God's end. He does bring good out of evil.

Our pupils can see that they are honouring God by believing, by accepting His will.
There are instances in the Bible, or in the lives of the saints. in which, post factum, we
can see that what seemed simply an evil at the time it happened, was used by God to
bring about good, e.g., Joseph's slavery in Egypt; and the teacher will use them to
illustrate the doctrine. But, for the most part, we shall be careful not to attempt to
explain falsely contemporary events, and above all, to remind the children that in the
Old Testament God sent trials frequently as punishment for people's sins, whereas in
the New Law of Christ, we see the redeeming value of suffering even for the
innocent.

To say that sufferings can be accepted in union with Christ’s sufferings and can be
offered up in loving atonement for sin, is another matter. It is the Cross that really
gives meaning to suffering.

In speaking of suffering coming from sin, we have to avoid seeming pharasaical

seeming to talk about other people's sins only. Our pupils can see, without
embarrassment, that their minor feelings, bad temper, jealousy, Quarrels, etc., can
cause minor sufferings and temporary unhappiness, and that, if afterwards they sinned
in more serious ways, they could cause much greater sufferings. For them it will be
important to see that sufferings that are caused by men come mostly from failure in
charity.

KNOWLEDGE AIM:
1. God's pattern is beyond our full understanding; but it is all-wise, all-good, and
can bring good even out of evil through the Cross of Christ.
2. Most evil comes from men choosing to be evil.

AFFECTIVE AIM:
1. Acceptance of God's plan in faith.

2. Acceptance of any suffering that comes to us in union with Christ.

3. Determination not to cause suffering-

It is important that any lessons on this chapter should avoid being a harrowing
plumbing of the depths of human sufferings, and should emphasize the notes of joy
and hope, as well as faith and love.

Joy in suffering is a mark of Christian holiness, in spite of some of the "holy"

pictures.
 20

GOD THE CREATOR

There was a time when teachers approached this topic with a sense of embarrassment.
They were troubled by the problem of endeavouring to reconcile the expanding
knowledge of the universe that physical sciences were presenting with the story of
creation as given in the Bible. Sometimes they tried to achieve a concordance
between the two. A better understanding of the function of both the Bible and science
has removed that sense of embarrassment.

We realize now that the author in the early chapters of Genesis was not attempting to
give, even in broad outline, a scientific explanation of the development of the
universe. He knew nothing about it. He accepted all the scientific views of his own
day, naturally. He thought, and all the men of the Bible thought, that the earth was
floating on waters, the waters of the abyss, that the firmament was a dome over the
earth with floodgates through which the rain came. He and the other writers of the
Bible could have known facts discovered by scientists thousands of years after his
time only by revelation. And St. Augustine reminded us long ago that God does
not reveal things that are of no use to salvation.

Nor could the writer have given us a detailed historical account, such as a writer
might give of the Battle of Trafalgar. The great event of creation was obviously
before all history.

In 1948 the Biblical Commission in Rome made this statement,

The question of the literary form of the first eleven
chapters of Genesis is far more obscure and
complex [than that of the Pentateuch as a whole].
These literary forms do not correspond to any of
our classical categories and cannot be judged in
the light of Greco-Latin or modern literary types.

It then proceeds to encourage careful and patient study, and points out, they relate in a
simple and figurative language, adapted to the understanding of mankind at a lower
stage of development, the fundamental truth underlying the divine scheme of
salvation as well as a popular description of the origins of the human race and of the
Chosen People.

What then does the Bible give us? Simply the traditions of the Chosen People that
had been preserved by the Holy Ghost.

In Genesis there are two accounts of creation. The first is from 1, 1 to 2, 40 (to the
word "fashioning" in the Knox version). It is a dignified account of the making of
things by God in their order and beauty, leading to the making of man. This whole
story is divided into six days of work and a day of rest, to remind the People of the
obligation of the Sabbath. It is not intended that the work be taken as done in six
actual days. The author knew that days were taken from the sun; yet he puts the
making of the sun on the fourth day.

He begins with a general statement in verse 1, which summarises the whole of God's
work (Heaven and earth can be taken as the completed organized universe).
 21

Then he gives a series of pictures, put together in order. First there is the dark, chaotic
mass, the raw material so to speak; but already the breath of God is stirring. (The
Hebrew word breath, like the Greek and the Latin, is used also to mean spirit; and this
expression, while not of course a full revelation of the Holy Spirit, may well be taken
as an early hint of what is later to be clearly revealed of the work of the Spirit of God
in re-creating the world through the waters of Baptism).

Then there is what some authors have called the opus distinctionis, the work of
differentiation (v. 3-10), light as against darkness, the firmament, the sky, the
separation of land and water in the earth.

"God said" in each case is a way of expressing His will. The Hebrews thought that
even human words did something; so powerful is the word of God that it creates.
"God found it good" is a vivid way of putting the great fact that everything has
goodness of being because it came from, and is a reflection of, God. There have been,
of course, religions that taught doctrines which ultimately meant that matter is
essentially evil, and that it was created, not by the good God, but by the principle of
evil.

Then follows the work of beautifying and giving life to the world, the opus ornatta, as
some of the older writers called it, (v. 11-31), vegetation on the earth, the sun, moon
and stars in the sky, living things in the water and in the air, animals on the earth, and
finally man.

The second account of creation is from 2, 4 (from "When Heaven and Earth" in the
Knox version) to 2, 25. It is not divided into days, and it tells of the making of man
before the plants.
The Bible puts these two traditional accounts together and gives us the great truths
that are profitable to salvation.
1. Things did not always exist; God began the universe.
2. He created the beginnings.
3. He made them in order and beauty; they are good.
4. Man is the lord of the visible universe; it was made for him.

These are the truths. The question of evolution of the universe through countless ages
does not come into the scope of the Bible. Our pupils are at an age in which their
interest in science is awakening; elementary astronomy, a little physics, simple
chemistry experiments, all these can absorb their attention, and all these can be used
to teach this chapter.

KNOWLEDGE AIM:
God's power, wisdom, goodness shown in His making of things.

AFFECTIVE AIM:
Joyful and grateful acceptance of what God has made for us, at a more mature level of
intelligence than in previous years.
 22

GOD CREATED THE ANGELS

Many Catholics go through life with a Grade II idea of angels; many, because their
view of angels was not brought to maturity, abandon altogether any devotion to angels
in their adult life, or, when they do not go so far, feel rather ill at ease in praying to
angels, as an adult would be if seen playing childish games.

Our pupils' minds are beginning to develop; they are becoming more conscious of
their power of choice in their free-will. We can ensure that their childish idea of
angels, quite appropriate to children, grows into something deeper and stronger, that
they begin to realize what the angels'power of mind and strength of will mean.

Our pupils with their expanding vision of the world can see the devil as Christ's great
adversary, "the prince of this world", and can strengthen their determination to fight
with the Great Hero, to live faithfully the life He gives them.

Remember that, while we never minimize the devil's power, we always insist that he
cannot force anyone. Grave sin is a fully deliberate act of the person's own free will.
Boys faced with sexual temptations, and puzzled and ignorant, sometimes adopt a
fatalistic attitude to the devil's power.

Use Apocalypse 12, 7-12 to teach the angels fighting with Christ.

The child gains great security from the thought of the guardian angel. Our pupils are
reaching a stage in which they are beginning to assert their independence and tend to
resent protection and supervision.

Present the angel as a wise and really strong friend, who really understands and is
always ready to help when called upon, even before being called upon, who has real
love, the unobtrusively helpful love that our pupils will value. Above all, avoid ever
suggesting the accusing angel who knows your hidden sins, your most secret
thoughts, etc.

The expression Good Angel is accurate, but can conjure up a picture of almost
offensive piety, like the "good child" or, still more, the "good boy". Their positive
goodness most be emphasized, the greatness of their choice for God.

The liturgy makes it clear that the angels in some way join with us in our worship of
God. We can teach this to our pupils, it will expand their idea of prayer, or liturgical
prayer, above all, of the Mass.

KNOWLEDGE AIM:
1. What an angel is, his might reflecting the infinite nature of God.
2. The joy of the angels in heaven.
3. The help they give.
4. The devil working against the Kingdom of God.

AFFECTIVE AIM:
1. Interest and joy in knowing about these other beings.
2. Reliance on them, love for them, in a riot too emotional way, as for
companions of greater age and experience. (Sometimes a boy or girl of the age of-our
 23

pupils finds help in the friendship of someone not too many years older, e.g., a young
uncle or aunt.
3. A healthy realization of the danger of giving way to the devil, and a quiet
determination to defeat him.

GOD CREATED MAN

Both accounts of creation in Genesis tell of man in a beautiful and dignified way.
This chapter discusses man as he is naturally. We shall use the opportunity to deepen
our pupils' understanding of themselves.
Man is the crown of God's visible creation, not something that missed being an angel,
but planned by God and given wonderful natural powers by Him.
Examples of great scientific discoveries, of thought, of great works of art, music,
poetry, can be used in a vivid way to show man's powers of mind, imagination,
examples of heroic choice and determination, of great love, to show his power of will
and love.
Our pupils are beginning to become aware of their power; reason is developing in
__them, and a greater deliberateness in their free wills. We will ensure that they
appreciate these faculties God has given them. We will teach also in a concrete way
the nature of imagination and the work it does in making thinking and all human
activity possible.

Their studies will probably include elementary physiology, once more an opportunity
to teach the wisdom and goodness of God; "I praise Thee for my wondrous
fashioning" (Psalm 138).

We will ensure that our pupils are convinced of the unity of man. "To save your soul"
is an expression that has become traditional; but it can be misleading. Through the
grace of Christ we are to save the whole man, body and soul. When God made man
He united body and soul into one complete being; neither is complete without the
other. This one being (body + soul = man) has wonderful powers, all good, all given
by God. At puberty pupils, boys especially, need to be reassured of this fundamental
fact. Some of the negative moralizing talk of past did not reassure them, but had the
opposite effect.

The word Adam is probably connected with the Hebrew Adamah, earth; Eve is
probably a form of the Hebrew word for life.

The making of the woman in the second account of creation (Genesis 2, 20, 25) is
meant to emphasize-
1. That woman is by nature equal to man; she is as fully a human being as he,
and has the same essential human rights. In pre-Christian times woman's status was
rarely recognized. Her equality by nature with man is not contradicted by the other
doctrine, that he is first in authority in the family (Ephesians 5, 22-24).
2. That man and woman are complementary to one another, and are meant for the
close companionship of marriage.
3. The goodness of sexuality as used rightly in marriage.
The question of evolution may occur. The Bible does not give us a scientific account
of the origin of man; it gives us the great theological truths.
 24

1. Man was made by God, like Him.

2. The soul is directly created by God.

The teaching authority of the Church does not yet forbid the examination or the theory
of evolution, in so far as it seeks for the origin of the human body out of pre-existing
matter, by means of research and discussion among scientists and theologians who are
learned in both fields; the Catholic faith, however, bids us hold that souls are
immediately created by God. Pins XII, Humani Generis, 1950.

Your pupils can see in a simple way what doctrines a Catholic could not hold, e.g., a
view of evolution which would attribute the present state of development solely to
chance; and afterwards, they will be saved from the sense of hostility between
Catholic truth and scientific research.

KNOWLEDGE AIM:
The greatness of man with the natural gifts God gave him.

AFFECTIVE AIM:
Joyful appreciation of oneself as God's creature, of the growing, developing powers
that one is conscious of, and a determination to use them for God.

WHAT GOD GAVE THE FIRST MAN

Discuss gifts God gave man above and beyond his nature. In theological language
they are sanctifying grace, integrity and immortality. Integrity, in this use of the word,
means perfect control over impulses and appetites.
Christ Himself afterwards had similar integrity- It does not mean an inhuman
coldness, an iron control possible because the person has no sympathy with others;
such a state of being would be a defect, not a perfection.
Our pupils can see this loss of integrity in their own lives. Examples can be discussed
without personal embarrassment, e.g., we know that we should do our homework, but
the impulse to rest tempts us to be lazy; or someone says something that we do not
like, the impulse to resist or repel anything that seems to us to be an attack on us
tempts us to be angry. Make sure that our pupils see that these impulses in themselves
are necessary to us; if we did not have the impulse to rest, we should work until we
dropped; if we did not have the impulse to resist attack, we should never survive.

The word integrity is used here because it is the technical expression of the
theologians. It may be wise not to use it in school, as integrity in this sense has not
come into common use. It would sugg6st to our pupils' integrity of character, rather
than of nature; and we would wish to avoid giving the impression that they, living the
life of children of God, lack integrity of character.

The great doctrine of man's creation and the gifts God gave him is put in the garden
setting. Try tactfully to prepare our pupils so that they will ultimately be able to
distinguish between the doctrine and its setting. A life literally led in a garden could
be very boring, and not even Milton's genius could prevent giving that impression in
Paradise Lost. His descriptions of the garden and of Adam and Eve themselves are
 25

magnificent; but no one would want to stay with them long, certainly not voun folk
with a keen sense of the adventure and the challenge of life.

KNOWLEDGE AIM:
The gifts, with the emphasis on sanctifying grace.

AFFECTIVE AIM:
Realization of God's love, of all He gave.

The first great fact in Christian revelation is the creation, the second, the fall.

OUR FIRST PARENTS SINNED

Here a percipient teacher has great opportunities at this age level. He can first of all
help his pupils to see the truth

(a) that the man and the woman with full deliberation sinned against God,
(b) that they were tempted by the devil,
(c) that they lost all the special gifts God gave them.

We can help them to see how terribly deliberate the mortal sin was; Adam was not
tempted by the onrush of anger, or any other such impulse rising up against his will.

They will see it as a sin of pride. Adam and Eve thought so much of themselves that
they put themselves before God; they wished to obtain knowledge in a way God did
not will them to. Our pupils are old enough to begin to appreciate the fundamental
evil of pride, of seeking self first.

The greatness of the loss, not only for the original pair, but for all men, can be made
real. In treating this matter it is helpful to make clear that since the fall, man has no
longer perfect control over his imagination. It can be illustrated by distractions at
prayers, and in class, by inability to recall what we really know, e.g., someone's name.
It is important that before puberty our pupils are convinced that we have not this
control, not merely over our bodily impulses, but over the workings of the
imagination which so often arouses the bodily impulses, that they accept
unhesitatingly the limitations of their present existence. Otherwise they will suffer
unnecessary anxieties when they find their imagination reacting so quickly and
vividly to sexual stimuli.

Often the word passions is used about the bodily impulses when unruly. In the past it
was often coupled with sinful, sinful passions. A passion, in the philosophical and
theological sense, is simply a motion of the bodily impulse and appetite. In that sense
Christ Himself had passions; He was hungry, thirsty, felt fear. All His passions were
perfectly under the control of His will. There was no unruliness.

The expression sinful Passions means that these impulses, which, as the result of
original sin, rise up prior to any act of the will, can seek something which the mind
knows to be wrong and can continue to seek it When the will has said "no", and
therefore can easily lead to sin.
 26

Adolescents however, and even adults, think of sinful passions almost exclusively in
terms of sex. The expression can give the wrong emphasis. They may come to think
that they carry within themselves a fearful power of terrific intensity that can sweep
them into mortal sin, almost in spite of themselves, or they can even come to think
that the spontaneous physical excitement that sexual images arouse is in itself a sin,
and confess it as such, and as, of course, a mortal sin.

KNOWLEDGE AIM:
1. The terrible nature of their sin.
9. The greatness of their loss.
3. The effects on all men.
AFFECTIVE AIM:
Real determination to keep faithful.

THE PROMISE
The third great fact of revelation is that God promised a Saviour.

No one would teach the fall without the Redemption. But it is possible to emphasize
the evil results of the fall as to minimize the good results of the Redemption. St. Paul
makes clear that the Redemption was greater than the fall, that Christ's power to
achieve good for men and in men was greater than Adam and the devil's to cause
evil. Can we, without overlooking, or.boggling at, the terrible evils brought by the
fall, bring our pupils to a genuine Christian optimism, the optimism of the Exultet in
the Easter Vigil? It will be built up gradually through the later parts of our course.

KNOWLED(;E AIM
God's promise.

AFFECTIVE AIM:
Gratitude.

THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL

God's revealed religion is an historical religion. He worked out redemption in time
and place, and He has revealed to us the history of that salvation.

The details of the long history of the Chosen People will not be given, but the key
events, and above all, the right theological outlook.

On the face of it, it is the history of a Semitic clan or tribe that established themselves
as a small and unstable kingdom in Palestine, a history of ups and downs, of
seemingly fortuitous successes and failures set in the world of the near East, but only
on the face of it

Our pupils can see God's guiding and protecting hand working through the rapidly
changing events of history. This small Semitic clan, merely a family, migrated to
 27

Egypt, as so many Semites did at that time. They lost favour in Egypt, as Sernites
did; but they survived and went back to Canaan. There they were one group among
many in what seems to us the lawless confusion of these little groups that we can
hardly dignify with the name of city-states.

There, in the endeavour to achieve some kind of national unity, they established a
kingdom. But the union had so little real unity that, after the prestige of the great
warrior king and the great king of peace and extravagant building projects, a breach
occurred, and the small kingdom became two smaller kingdoms.

World powers were around them and overwhelmed them. Always there was Egypt to
the south, a menace not so much through threat of invasion, but because there was
always the temptation to ally oneself with Egypt against whatever great power may be
threatening from the north-east. There was the might of the Assyrian Empire which
swept away the Northern Kingdom and deported those Jews east. Assyria was
destroyed bv Babylon, to the savage joy of the prophet Nahum.

It was Babylon which destroyed the Southern Kingdom and deported most of those
Jews east. What thoughtful outsider watching the captives going off in 587 B.C.
would ever have thought that those people would have any more history? Humanly
speaking they should have been absorbed in the peoples of Babylonian Empire, as
other captives were. But they retained their identity. Babylon was destroyed by the
Persian Empire, and Cyrus allowed some of the Jews to return and to re-build their
city, a small group, "the remnant" of the prophecies.
Yet the people lived on. Alexander the Great broke through the near and middle East,
brought the Greek language and the influence of the Hellenistic culture. After his
death his empire was divided among his generals, and Israel found itself between the
two powers, the Ptolemy dynasty in Egypt and the Seleucid dynasty in Antioch.

The Seleucids tried to hellenize the Jews and persecuted them bitterly in their
attempts. The reaction was the great religious and national revolt of the Machabees
which established an independent state. Then the Romans took Jerusalem, and Israel
became a subject people under the new world power.
A marvellous story of survival and an equally marvellous story of preparation. When
"the appointed time came" (Galatians 4, 4) the Jews were scattered over the civilized
world, the Diaspora, as it was called. (Think of the Jews who were at Jerusalem when
the Holy Spirit came, Acts 2, 9-11). Some of the Jews of the Diaspora may have been
the descendants of those who were taken off in the great deportations and who did not
return. Others had in more recent times migrated, e.g., to Rome.

The Jews of the Diaspora spoke Greek, the language commonly used in the lands that
had come under the influence of Alexander and his successors, and in Rome itself and
among the more educated classes everywhere. The Old Testament had been translated
into Greek, the version we call the Septuagint. Some of the Jews were given Roman
citizenship, as were many subject peoples. When God wished to raise up His great
apostle to take His message to the Gentiles He chose Saul, a Jew born in the great
commercial city of Tarsus in Cilicia, a Jew who was in religion a strict Pharisee
educated at Jerusalem, bait who spoke and wrote Greek, and was a Roman citizen.
These people are God's People, called by Him, believing Him, loving Him, insofar as
they were not sinning against Him.
 28

They were redeemed by Christ; all grace from the grace given to Adam to repent was
won by Christ's Sacrifice that would be offered.

The Chosen People are in a true sense one with the Church, the root from which the
Church would spring. That, historically, the leaders of the People and many of the
rank and file failed to accept the Redeemer when He came does not invalidate that
fact. We have St. Paul's word for it that God has not finally disowned His People, and
that at the end "the whole of Israel will find salvation" (Romans 11, ')6).
The Chosen People did not, however, have the fullness of God's truth. Revelation was
progressive throughout the Old Testament and reached completion in the Son. Under
the New Covenant revelation is not progressive; nothing can be added to the deposit
of faith left with the Church by the time of the death of the last of the apostles.

To take a point, immortality such as we know it, full life after death, came to be
believed very late in the history of Israel, so much so that the Sadducees of Christ’s
time, who were conservative in their theological views, did not believe it. Other
truths of course were not known, or barely known until revealed by Christ. Similarly
with the moral law. There was a gradual progression. For most of the history of the
People polygamy was practised, and even at the time of Christ divorce was permitted.

The full realization of the obligation of charity, of its all embracing nature, came only
with Christ; even the great prophets speak of their enemies in a way which a Christian
now would realize to be wrong (e.g., Jeremias 18, 18-23).

The sense of moral responsibility, too, grew in precision and refinement. In the
earlier centuries of its history Israel, like other peoples of the times, had a sense of
corporate responsibility and of corporate guilt and punisment. It was not until the
time of the prophets that a sense of individual personal relation with God in religion
grew.

The question of the blood-thirstiness of the Chosen People and the picture that they
tend to give of Yahweh exacting vengance may be raised by a pupil. Many well-
meaning people are disconcerted by this element in the Old Testament. It is a
complex question on which the teacher should have clear ideas so as to be able to
remove any anxieties that his pupils may feel. Actually the amount of blood and
vengeance in the Old Testament is often exaggerated, and the problem may never
occur to any of our pupils.

These points may help us to make a balanced judgment.

1. We frankly admit that the law of love of enemies and forgiveness of injury
was not fully understood in the Old Testament. It was a Christian revelation; and we
Christians who know it from the teaching and example of Christ, find it perhaps His
most difficult law.

2. The following factor mitigates somewhat the harshness of the attitude of Israel
to its enemies. Israel identified itself with Yahweh; it was His People; its enemies
were His enemies. In seeking to destroy its enemies it was seeking to destroy the
power that was opposing Him. If ever (which we all pray most earnestly may never
 29

happen) a power that was Christian found itself attacked by an antichristian power,
the Christians would distinguish between the antichristian doctrine which was evil,
and the antichristians themselves, who were made by God for Heaven. The Semitic
mind which saw persons rather than ideas or causes, did not make that distinction. (In
practice, when Christians become involved in a war, they tend rather quickly to forget
the distinction).

3. In such a hypothetical war the Christians would pray for victory. Even if the
Christian leaders attacked only legitimate military objectives the Christian in praying
for victory would be praying for something that would be achieved only by soldiers
dying, ships sinking, airmen being shot down in flames, ammunition works and their
workers being bombed, etc. The Christian would try not to think of the suffering that
his victory will mean. The Semite felt no squeamishness about it and put it into his
prayer. Thus the beautiful psalm of exile, 136, ends with a prayer for deliverance,
which means the destruction of Babylon, with the slaughter customary in such wars.

4. We distinguish between what God wills, and what God permits, but can bring
good from. We distinguish between God, the first cause, and secondary causes, either
natural, like floods or earthquakes, or human wills. The evil that comes from these
secondary causes is permitted by God. The Hebrew made no such distinction, and
attributed everything directly to God. It is significant that the ordinary Hebrew
expression for thunder was simply "the voice of God". Exodus tells us literally that
God hardened Pharoah's heart so that he would not let the Israelites go. In our
theological language it would be rather that God permitted Pharoah to reject the grace
given him and to refuse to let Israel go.
5. Because he tended to leave secondary causes out of consideration, the Semite
sometimes spoke of his thoughts, desires, intentions, as if they had been put into his
head by a kind of direct inspiration from God.

6. Similarly, we distinguish clearly between a wish or desire, and a statement of

what we believe will happen. The Semite tended to make both the same way.

d. Israel was a small people in a savage world. The methods used in establishing
itself in Canaan and in maintaining itself against its enemies could well have been the
only possible way of surviving, given the conditions of the country and the times.
This may well explain the extermination of certain captured cities.

In a word, God took them as He found them, a Semite people of their world, their
time and place, surrounded in Canaan by other Semite tribes, being under the pressure
of the great powers of their world. They tended to have the ideas and practices of
their time.

He revealed Himself to them, and gradually purified their ways of thinking and
acting. But, because they were affected by original sin, like the rest of us, because
they lived in that Semite world, God's work on them had to be a gradual process going
counter continually to the environment in which they lived, the ideas and ways of
acting of their neighbours and fellow Semites.

There was much failure to rise to God's call, much falling away into pagan practices.
Each little people had its God, and Israel tended to think of Yahweh as their tribal god
 30

more than the only God. They often worshipped the other gods as a kind of insurance
policy; they fell into ways of worship like fertility cults, human sacrifice and ritual
prostitution. They were men, and tempted by their world, to be like their world, as
men of our time are tempted to be like our world.

God, too, allowed their ways of acting to prevent worse evils. He allowed divorce
because of their "hard hearts" although "it was not so at the beginning of things"
(Matthew 19, 1-9) but ordered it to be controlled so that it was stricter than among
Israel's neighbours. The famous "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" was not a
licence to take revenge, but rather the restricting of the punishment to DO more than
the equivalent of the injury caused, (see Leviticus 24, 20). In both these cases and in
others, Christ taught a higher law to men who would receive greater graces. He had
not come "to set aside the law and the prophets ... but to bring thein to perfection"
(Matthew 5, 17).

Have all this in mind, then when you treat of the great figures in Israel. Abraham was
not a St. Thomas More; the way he let his wife be taken in Genesis 20, would be
impossible to any Christian saint. Nor was David a St. Louis; read his death-bed
commands to his son in 3 Kings 2. These actual incidents will hardly come into your
Christian Doctrine course; but the combination in the great men of the Old Testament
of genuine faith and real service of God with ways of acting which are contrary to
Christian law will, and will give an opportunity to show how God was gradually
leading his tough Semites to a better understanding of the way to love Him.

Our pupils will hardly need reminding that grace was not given in such abundance in
the Old Law as in the New. We have the Mass and the sacraments that are essentially
more powerful than their sacrifices and sacraments. "Through Moses the Law was
given to us, through Jesus Christ grace came to us, and thruth" (John 1, 17).

OUR FATHER ABRAHAM

KNOWLEDGE AIM:
1. God's unique act, His call of Abraham, and him alone, to found His People,
the People of whom we in the Church are the fullness. "Our Father Abraham"
(Romans 4, 12). There is a direct line from the day God called Abraham to your
classroom.

2. Abraham's great response, in living faith. Explain, the faith we have is

Abraham's brought to its fullness by Christ, but essentially the same response to the
same God revealing Himself, and calling; a response made, let us not forget, in each
case, through the grace of the same Redeemer.

AFFECTIVE AIM:
1. An intelligent and joyful appreciation of God's plan beginning in Abraham.
2. A response in faith like Abraham's. His faith showed itself in what he did.

Here, and again and again in these chapters, we have the opportunity to emphasize
that answering God's call is not a soft option. He asks us to do what is hard; He issues
a challenge to us, and gives us the grace to respond. He does not treat us as babies
(our pupils like to think that they are growing up to adult responsibility).
 31

A teacher may wish to devote considerable time to the history of Israel, as leading up
to, and typifying Christ and His Church. That being so, make sure that the emphasis
is fundamentally the history of salvation, and not just interesting adventure stories.
The story interest will attract, and will be used i-o the full, but within the pattern.

Most teachers will find the opportunity to use the magnificent incident of Abraham's
prayer in Genesis 18. Sodom and Gomorrah can be referred to as an example of
punishment for sin; they are a kind of typical case and are used as such by Jesus (see
Matthew 11, 20-24).

How to treat the other patriarchs?

Isaac is overshadowed by his father at one end of his life and his son at the other end;
but the choosing of a wife for him is a vivid and natural scene (Genesis 24).
lf Jacob is treated Genesis 27 gives an opportunity of showing how the Semite
standard of morality was not the full Christian one. This occasion (and it is not the
only one in the story of Jacob) shows that they thought clever what we should
consider sharp practice and straight, dishonest lying (the fact that the inspired writer
puts this or any other incidents into the Bible without comment does not mean that he
approves of the way of acting he is recording).

The vision in Genesis 28 is important, and grips the imagination. Joseph is a key
figure and the hero of an intensely interesting story. Make sure that his significance in
the history of salvation is not lost in the exciting details of his adventures. (See
Genesis 50, 19-20).

THE COVENANT
The Exodus is fundamentally important both in itself and in what it typifies.

The word covenant was not used in Book 1. Here it is emphasized, God's treaty with
His People leading to the New, eternal Covenant. For a pupil to leave school thinking
of Moses only in terms of law received would be less than half the full reality. God
pledged Himself to His People.

To Moses God revealed His name. Literally translated Exodus 3, 14, would read "I
am who am"... "I am has sent me to you". What does it mean? We know that God is,
that His nature is being in its fullest sense, that to use technical terms, His existence is
His essence. But such a way of thinking implied a philosophical outlook foreign to
the Semitic mentality. We may take God's name to mean all that to us; but when God
spoke to Moses, He was giving His name which would be significant to the people of
Israel. Some scholars would say that His name meant His constant, ever-active
presence; He is the living God, not just nothing, as were the gods of the pagans.

Other scholars think that God is deliberately refusing to reveal more about Himself,
('1 am who am") and is emphasizing the mystery, the incomprehensibility, His
transcendence, the God who cannot be named in the wav a creature can be named,
because He is above and beyond all creatures.
 32

All, however, would agree that the words spoken to Moses were meant to signify
God, and both His being and His transcendence will be taught in a way adapted to our
pupils.

"I am", is the way God spoke of Himself; the Jews took the third person singular
Yahweh, "He is", as God's name. They wrote it, but, at least in later times, out of
reverence did not speak it, but substituted Adonai, My Lord, for it. (Jehovah is a
misunderstanding; the word never existed).

KNOWLEDGE AIM:
The fundamental aim will be God makes a covenant with His People. According to
the time that is given to this chapter all these knowledge aims may be considered.

If the sacraments are being done in detail in the same year some of these may be just
touched on here, and elaborated when Baptism or the Eucharist is treated.

If the sacraments are not being done in detail in the same year the typology of the
topics will give opportunities of reference to the sacraments. It would be a loss for
pupils to see the typology of the individual sacraments, and not the great fact that the
whole Exodus typifies the Church, and that Moses himself typifies Christ.

1. God calls Moses for a work, to save the people.

2. Moses answers, reluctantly, fearfuly, but ultimately wholeheartedly.
3. Saving from death and departure from Egypt through tl-ie Paschal Lamb.
4. Saving through the crossing of the sea.
5. The giving of the Law and the actual Covenant in the desert with Moses as
mediator.
6. The setting up of priesthood and sacrifice.
7. The presence of Yahweh with His People, the Pillar of Fire and of Cloud.
8. His care for them, Manna, quail (Exodus 16), water (Exodus 17).
9. Their weakness, complaints and desertions, e.g., the waters of Mara (Exodus
15, 22-27) Cold Calf (Exodus 32), etc.
10. Moses’ union with God by prayer, (Exodus 33, 12-23).
These topics we should all wish a Catholic to have some understanding of, by the age
of fourteen.

AFFECTIVE AIM:
In general
1. Realization of God's goodness, care.
2. Gratitude.
3. Determination to respond loyally.
The detailed treatment of points above will involve in each case a more specific
affective aim.
When there is a more detailed course events of the Exodus will be used as well as
those already suggested. The brazen serpent is irnportant (Numbers 21, 4-9), the story
of Balaam is impressive (Numbers 22-24), and the death of Moses outside the
promised land (Deuteronomy 34).
 33

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE KINGDOM

The history of the Kingdom, (soon the two Kingdoms) is intricate and can be
burdensome, if done in detail. It is the history of God's dealings with His People, and
ultimately, with us, that we wish to teach. Again the amount of detail will depend on
the time devoted to the history of Israel in your course. (Third Year)

The centuries between the death of Moses and the Kingdom seem confused and
blood-stained, and few figures stand out; but Josue cannot be neglected. losue 4 gives
the crossing of the Jordan, and josue 6 the taking of-Jericho.
The call of Gedeon (judges 6) and the victory God won with the small army (judges
7) have an appeal, and can be made to illustrate God's power fighting in us.

Something on Samuel also, his birth, his call (1 Kings 3).

Saul will be mentioned; his call (1 Kings 9-10) is a vivid narrative. His rejection can
be just mentioned, and attributed, rightly, to disobedience, without any discussion of
the problem of the command that he disobeyed (1 Kings 15). His visit to the witch (1
Kings 28), his death (1 Kings 31).

For David the temptation will be to give too much detail. The teacher will have to
choose; many incidents will present themselves, his call (1 Kings 16); Goliath (1
Kings 17); his friendship with Jonathan (1 Kings 18, 1; 19, 1-8; 20); his sparing of
Saul (1 Kings 24); his taking of Jerusalem (2 Kings 5). His sin can be treated simply.
He saw a married woman that he wanted for himself, and he ordered her husband to
be put in the front of an attacking party in the war, and to be deserted by the other
men, so that he would be able to take the woman as his wife. Nathan was sent by God
to denounce the king and David repented (2 Kings 11-12). His sufferings from
Absalom, and his leaving the city barefoot and reviled (2 Kings 15-16), his lament
over Absalom (2 Kings 18, 28-33) are interesting in themselves, and for their
typology; and no boy should miss the great incident in 2 Kings 29, 13-18.

Solomon will be presented as the King of wisdom, peace, splendour. His real wisdom
in 3 Kings 3, the dedication of the Temple in 3 Kings 8; and 2 Paralipomena, 5-7, his
wisdom praised by the Queen of Saba (3 Kings 10); the terrible story of this wise and
great man being led to idolatry in 3 Kings 11.

After Solomon the details of the Kingdom between Roboam and the Exile would be
confusing.

We can make clear that the people were often unfaithful to God, both by worshipping
Him in forbidden ways copied from their neighbours, and by worshipping their
neighbours' gods. It is good to mention also that social injustice, combined with
luxury on the part of the rich, was denounced vehemently by the prophets.

The two Kingdoms were destroyed; God punished His people. (Some of the
lamentations of Jeremias can be used to express the exile). But He forgave them, and
the remnant returned to rebuild the City and the Temple.

The scene of Esdras reading the Law to the People and the Covenant being renewed
(2 Esdras 8-9) may be used.
 34

KNOWLEDGE AIM:
God made His People into a kingdom. Because they were unfaithful to Him their
kingdom was destroyed; but He forgave them and restored them.

That is the fundamental aim.

AFFECTIVE AIM:
God's call is given with love and accompanied by His help, but demands a response.

There is punishment for failure, but forgiveness on repentance. Wholehearted self-

giving, then, to God, and sorrow for any failure.

THE PROPHETS
We have always recognized the formative value of the Gospels. There has long been
a growing appreciation among us of the value of St. Paul and the other New
Testament writings. But only gradually, in our century, is the great message of the
prophets coming into our lives. Most of us would still feel more at home with A
Kempis and Marmion, and even Faber, than with Isaias or Jeremias.

We wish to bring the new generation of our people to the whole of God's word. At
this stage in their development we can begin to make the prophets actual to them. It is
a work that has to be done delicately; too much matter, or matter beyond their powers
of assimilation, will make them loathe the prophets.

Make clear that a prophet is not primarily one who foretells the future; he is one who
speaks on behalf of, in this case, on behalf of God. Some foretelling of the future was
included in his message, but only insofar as it was necessary to carry God's message
to the people in their existing state. God does not foretell the future merely to satisfy
curiosity.

Perhaps the best approach is to select a few prophets and teach them as persons. They
were called by God to do His work, called to a hard task, 3 Kings, 17; Amos 7, 14-i7;
Isaias 6; Teremias 1; Ezechiel 1-2; jonas 1, 1-3; a task so hard that even Elias wished
to die (3 Kings 19), jeremias shrank in fear (jeremias 1), and was often discouraged
(jeremias 9-0, 7-18), jonas ran away (1, 3-4), Arnos could not resist it (Arnos 3, 3-8).

We, whom recent history has instructed on dictators and ruthless elimination of all
opposition, all criticism even, can realize better than our immediate ancestors the
greatness of the task Yahweh laid on His prophets, and the greatness of their courage
in obeying Him.

The work they were called to do gives the opportunity of teaching sacred history more
effectively than ly lists of kings. They were sent with God's message, a message of
denunciation of sin, and warning of punishment, but often also a message of
forgiveness and restoration, sent to the people of their own time. So their message
necessarily involves history.
 35

The prophets' messages were not just the handing on of colourless instructions
dictated by Yahweh. Th'at is not the way God works; He uses men as men. Their
message was part of their lives. They lived it; they gave it out their way so that the
great prophecies reveal the different personalities of their authors, just as, say, the
poems of the great English Romantics reveal their different personalities.

The prophets were seers; they saw visions which they gave with breath-taking
vividness. Most of them were poets, some great poets, and their oracles have the
immediacy of great poetry. Sometimes they dramatized their message in symbolical
actions, which are described in their books.

The prophecies, as we have them, are all, except the very short ones, collections of
poems and prose, of messages and laments, of pieces of history.

Unfortunately, the chapter divisions of the Bible were made at a time when the
literary composition of the prophets was not well understood, when Hebrew itself was
little known in the West (about 1200 A.D.). Sometimes the chapter heading runs right
through a poem, e.g., the fourth Servant Song. Sometimes more than one piece is
included in the one chapter. It is helpful to consult a Bible in which modern scholars
divide the prophets in an intelligible way (e.g., the Confraternity Bible or the
Jerusalem Bible).

As to individual prophets, again the teacher will have to decide what time he can give
to them, and what ones he will choose. Here are some suggestions.

The story of Elias (about 850 BC) is a magnificent saga (3 Kings 17, 1 - 4 Kings 2,
18). It shows the idolatry of the Northern Kingdom (3 Kings 18) and the terrible
social injustice (3 Kings 21). It contains magnificent examples of God's power, told
with great dramatic skill, e.g., the widow (3 Kings 17), the breaking of the drought (3
Kings 18, 41-45).

Amos was also sent to the Northern Kingdom (about 750 BC). Notice his
condemnation of injustice 2, 6-16; 8, 4-8; of luxury, 4, 1-3; of merely exterior
worship, 5, 21-27; his threats of punishment, e.g., 6, 8-14.

Isaias began his prophetic work about 740 BC. The book of Isaias is divided into
three sections, 1-39, which considers mostly events of the prophet's life time, 40-55,
about the exile, 58-66, about the time of the restoration. (Modernist scholars hold that
the second and third parts were not written by Isaias himself, but much later. There is
no point in discussing this question with our class). In this long book we may make a
few choices. See how even in Chapter 1, the abuses denounced by Amos appear in
Isaias, the failure to listen to God, 1, 2-3; religious hypocrisy, 1, 10-20. See the
denunciation of women's fashions, 3, 16-24; the vine that would not produce grapes,
5, 1-7; the social evils, 5, 8-24. Other messages will be created, the sign of
Emmanuel, 7, 10-25 (at least the earlier part); the Promised One, 9, 1-8; the Just King,
11, 1-9; the remnant that will be saved, 4, 2-5. There are great poems of the return
from exile, e.g., Chapters 35; 60-62. The Servant Songs are referred to, page 55 of
Catechism, and should not be neglected.
 36

Some of the passages of isaias could well be used for versespeaking in a rhythmical
version which keeps the parallelism of the Hebrew verse, Confraternity, Jerusalem or
Kissane.

Jeremias was the prophet of the last years of the Southern Kingdom, of the siege and
destruction of Jerusalem. He, more than others, has revealed his soul, the soul of a
sensitive man weighed down by his task. Very interesting to adults are his self
revelations, his Confessions, as they are called, and we may make some use of some
of them with our class (11,18 - 12,6; 15, 10-21; 17, 14-18; 18, 18-23; 20, 7-18). In the
life and sufferings of Jeremias the Cross of Christ is foreshadowed more than in most
of the Old Testament. His message was manifold, condemnation of evil, warning of
punishment, the terrible message of surrender during the siege, and the message of
hope and restoration. The sign of the cincture, 13, 1-1 1, or of the broken fug, 19-1 -
20,7; his sufferings 36,1 - 42,15, the great Book of Consolation, 30,1 - 31,40, above
all, 31, 81-34, can be used.

Ezechiel was taken into exile in the attack on ' Jerusalem ten years before its
destruction. His message is again a combination of denunciation of sin and
announcement of punishment with forgiveness and hope. He acted his message in
several ways, 3,22 - 5,17; 12, 1-20. In choosing topics consider his vision of the glory
of God, the Shekinab, leaving the Temple, 10, 18-22; then leaving Jerusalem, 11, 22-
25; his insistence oi personal responsibility, 14, 12-20; 18, 1-32; the shepherd theme
in C iapter 34; the dry bones of Chapter 37; the strearn of water from he Temple 47, 1-
12.

The book of Jonas is not a collection of messages like the other prophets; it is a
narrative. It is rich in meaning,

1. Obedience to God's call,

2. God is the real ruler who achieves what He decrees,
3. God is merciful, not only to His Chosen People, but to pagans,
4. Jonas symbolizes the death and Resurrection of Christ.

Whatever prophets are treated the Baptist must be put before our class as the last and
greatest. God's special preparation, the call in the desert, the message, the deliberate
receding into the background when he had pointed out the Lamb of God, the great
courage of the man, the splendour of his death, all this can make him a real and heroic
figure to our pupils. At present he is not so much deliberately neglected as just not
thought about.

The Liturgy will help, especially the two Masses of June 24 and August 29.

KNOWLEDGE AIM:
1. God sending His message of guidance, warning, encouragement, forgiveness,
through His prophets, with whatever detail we choose to give to their missions.
2. God's final preparation for His Son through the Baptist, the Baptist as the last
and greatest of a long line, not as an isolated messenger.
 37

AFFECTIVE AIM:
1. Gratitude and sense of responsibility for God's message of which we have the
fullness. The prophets are God's witnesses; remember that Confirmation has made
our pupils witnesses also.
2. Desire to be faithful to call as prophets were, to have their courage.

JESUS ANNOUNCED THE KINGDOM

Jesus announced the Kingdom. All the messengers God sent lead up to the sending of
His Son. His message was not primarily a personal invitation to each individual to
follow Him by leading a good life. It was the message that the Kingdom is to be
established, a command to join the Kingdom, to lead the good life in the Kingdom.

Our pupils are old enough to have some understanding of the way Jesus announced
the Kingdom. They should see the miracles, the acts of forgiveness, the discourses
and parables, not so much as separate acts or exhortations, but as part of one great
plan. The Gospels are not primarily lives of Christ giving accounts of His activities;
they are the writing down of the Christian message.

It is important that we view the Kingdom actively, rather than passively, the rule of
God over people, over the world, rather than the place or people ruled over. The reign
of the Heavens, of God, would express the truth more forcibly to those who were
accustomed to the word reign.