Our catalog of courses is complete. We will occasionally adjust the course listing to reflect the addition of new courses and the retirement of others.
This course will attempt to focus upon the moral life, first of all, within the context of man’s vocation in Christ, the model of holiness, who took the form of a slave, emptied himself, and learned obedience through suffering; secondly, within the context of man’s natural endowments, his capacity for virtue; and finally, within the context of charity as the form of the virtues and the goal of all man’s strivings since “God is love” (1Jn 4:8).
Total classes: 12
Prerequisite: None
Suggested grade level: 9th to 12th
Suggested credit: 1 full semester credit in Theology
Description
Every human person is called to the perfection of charity (cf. LG #40). This vocation has been revealed through Jesus Christ and can be accomplished only in and with Jesus Christ, whose Paschal Mystery is made present in the Church’s liturgy—the “great work in which God is perfectly glorified and men are sanctified” (SC #7). To further man’s sanctification, the Second Vatican Council has asked that “. . . special care should be given to the perfecting of moral theology. Its scientific presentation should draw more fully on the teaching of Holy Scripture and should throw light upon the exalted vocation of the faith in Christ and their obligation to bring forth fruit in charity for the life of the world” (OT #16).
Therefore, this course will attempt to focus upon the moral life, first of all, within the context of man’s vocation in Christ, the model of holiness, who took the form of a slave, emptied himself, and learned obedience through suffering; secondly, within the context of man’s natural endowments, his capacity for virtue; and finally, within the context of charity as the form of the virtues and the goal of all man’s strivings since “God is love” (1Jn 4:8). The course will investigate concretely those challenges to the Catholic Church’s teachings and respond with solid, pastoral answers.
Course Goal
Each student, having been challenged intellectually with various doctrinal teachings, will be challenged to be open to ongoing conversion so as to offer himself along with Jesus, the Sacrificial Victim, to the Father in the love of the Holy Spirit both now and for all eternity. Concretely, this will manifest itself in life in Christ through virtuous living and a deeper understanding of and participation in the Liturgy, opening the student to receive and give love.
Materials and Homework
Course Reading: The reading assignments give the student the flavor of the Church’s understanding of moral theology and life in Christ; rarely will we discuss the reading assignments. Rather, I give the readings to help the students bolster their understanding of what we are learning in class, as well as giving students good resources for their own growth. For the first day’s class: please read the required reading from the Bible.
Required Reading:
The Bible—Matthew 5 (The Beatitudes) and all of the book of Romans
The Catechism of the Catholic Church #’s 1691-2557 (Read 67 paragraphs a week, that is 8 a night; this is quite a bit of reading so the student needs to be diligent)
The Documents of Vatican II, especially Gaudium et Spes #’s 1-52 (4 ½ paragraphs a week)
Veritatis Splendor (Pope John Paul’s encyclical on morality—This is hard reading so some will be discussed in class)
The short essay “The Weight of Glory” in the longer collection with the same name: The Weight of Glory and short essay “Man or Rabbit”, both by CS Lewis.
Optional Reading for those who want to earn extra credit:
Hayes, Hayes, Kelly, & Drummey’s Catholicism and Ethics: A Medical/Moral Handbook, C.R. Publications, Inc. (and for those interested—Leader’s/Catechist’s Manual of the same name and publisher).
Peter Kreeft’s Snakebite Letters, Ignatius Press.
Course Work:
Weekly Online Computer-graded Quizzes (To be finished before the start of the next class) (25%)
Major Project (Grading Rubric will be posted) (25%)
Weekly Reflections (Minimum-1 page; Maximum-2 pages—These should be considered informal, though proving that the student has reflected on diagrams and learning in class. These need to be submitted to your parent before you start the next week’s class) (30%)
Assigned Reading (Honor policy—Keep a Timesheet/notation of what you finished reading. At the 10th Week, give it to your parent to show what you’ve read) (20%).
Extra Credit—Parent can give extra credit if the student has read Hayes, Hayes, Kelly, & Drummey’s, and Dr. Kreeft’s book. (2 points per book added to final grade).
Time Commitment to Study: A minimum of 3 hours a week (30 minutes a day) for reading, study, doing quizzes, working on and completing the project, and writing the weekly reflection.
