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.
The students in this course will study the nature of the Church, that is, how She is in the “nature of a sacrament” (Lumen Gentium), along with all of her other aspects. Jesus Christ as the Bridegroom of His Bride, the Church, extends Himself through time via the Church who holds the “Deposit of Truth and the Deposit of Grace” through the Liturgy and the Sacraments and the Teaching Office. Such topics serve as a great segue into Mariology, a study of the Mother and Paradigm of the Church. Indeed, Pope John Paul II, whose motto “Totus Tuus” is directed toward Our Lady, continues to lead the Church into the “threshold of hope” for the new millennium; therefore, we will do a careful study of his thought in much of the corpus of his writing. Finally, we will examine the thoughts of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, who has written extensively on the Church and on the Liturgy.
Total classes: 11
Prerequisite: None
Suggested grade level: 10th to 12th
Suggested credit: 1/2 semester credit in Theology. For a full semester credit, you may proceed with Theology of the Body or other theology courses.
Description
The students in this course will study the nature of the Church, that is, how She is in the “nature of a sacrament” (Lumen Gentium), along with all of her other aspects. Jesus Christ as the Bridegroom of His Bride, the Church, extends Himself through time via the Church who holds the “Deposit of Truth and the Deposit of Grace” through the Liturgy and the Sacraments and the Teaching Office. Such topics serve as a great segue into Mariology, a study of the Mother and Paradigm of the Church. Indeed, Pope John Paul II, whose motto “Totus Tuus” is directed toward Our Lady, continues to lead the Church into the “threshold of hope” for the new millennium; therefore, we will do a careful study of his thought in much of the corpus of his writing. Finally, we will examine the thoughts of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, who has written extensively on the Church and on the Liturgy.
Course Goal: The final goal of this course is for each student to glorify the Father as a person “fully alive” (Ireneas) growing in intimacy with Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church and His Body, the Church through the power of the Holy Spirit—the Soul of the Church.
Materials and Homework
Required Reading:
The Bible—The Institution of the Last Supper in all 3 synoptic Gospels and John’s Washing of the Feet; all of the book of Ephesians; Hebrews 5-13
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Documents of Vatican II, especially Sacrosanctum Concilium and Lumen Gentium
Ecclesia de Eucharistia (Pope John Paul’s encyclical on the Eucharist and Its relationship to the Church—Read 6 paragraphs a week)
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.
Please read and download the Syllabus below.
Course Work:
- Weekly Online Computer-graded Quizzes (Be finished before you start the next class) (25%) Note: After quizzes over each class, there will be one more quiz, which is cumulative, around 100 questions and will be worth 3 quizzes.
- Major Project (Grading Rubric is posted beneath the syllabus) (25%)
- Weekly Reflections (Minimum-1 page; Maximum-2 pages; Times New Roman; 12 font)—These should be considered informal, though proving that the student has reflected on diagrams and learning in class. It needs to be submitted to the student’s parent before they star the next week’s class. (30%)
- Assigned Reading (Honor policy—Read and fill out the form provided for assigned reading. The student should give it to their parent before the next class). (20%).
- Extra Credit—Parent can give extra credit if student has read Dr. Kreeft’s and/or Dr. Little’s book. (3 points per book added to final grade).
