Religion 9

Students beginning their high school career need continuity with the past, but also a fresh and deeper look at themselves, their world and their God. By exploring their own development and values, by deepening their love for God and their knowledge of the divine plan for humankind in the Scriptures, they will come to a more personal relationship with God. In quiet times of thought and prayer, they will find greater meaning in their lives and their baptismal consecration, and grow in their desire to live more fully their life in God. They will find security in the Creator's abiding and transforming presence among us, and enter more fully into their own covenant with God.

MAJOR TOPICS: Conscience and Moral Decision-making; Living the Ten Commandments today; Revelation and the Bible; the Hebrew Scriptures.

Religion 10

As sophomores, the students build on their Scriptural foundation, now encountering Jesus through their study of his life and personality, message and mission as presented in the Gospels. They will deepen their appreciation of the great privilege of joining in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus through the liturgy and sacraments, and desire to respond to Christ by giving his message a place in their lives and then sharing it with others. As followers and disciples of Jesus, they will integrate his teachings with their relationships, especially their developing understanding of sexuality.

MAJOR TOPICS: Jesus: his personality, his times, his family and followers, his teachings, his Passion, Death, and Resurrection; the Sacraments, especially Baptism, Reconciliation and Eucharist; the Church's liturgical year; human sexuality, dating and relationships.

Religion 11

The Junior Religion program recognizes that our students are already members of the Church community and their personal commitment is ever-deepening. By studying world religions, students can recognize their role in a pluralistic world, secure in their faith, yet respectful of other religious faiths. As they study the Catholic Church, they will come to see it as the family established by Christ to continue his work of preaching the Good News, building up a community of love and worship, and serving the needs of others. This will lead them to desire to contribute their share to this community, learn the

skills necessary for effective witness, and grow in response to the Spirit within them, calling them to personal prayer, holiness and service, especially in the areas of peace and justice.

MAJOR TOPICS: World Religions; The Catholic Church; the nature and mission of the Church, its history from Acts of the Apostles through Vatican II; holiness and prayer; Social Justice Issues.

Religion 12

Because our students are called to live as committed Christians in a world progressively insensitive to Christian values, they must as seniors begin taking responsibility for their own lives. In senior religion, they will confront some of the current crucial moral and social issues and be able to articulate as well as live out a Christian response. Their own lives should grow more and more integrated around a deeper love of Christ and Mary and openness to the Holy Spirit, thereby becoming more surely directed toward their eternal destiny.

MAJOR TOPICS: Growing as a Person; Maturing Faith; Christian Life-styles, including single life; the Sacrament of Marriage: choice and preparation, challenges and problems; the Church's ministry to the married and divorced; Eschatology - attitudes toward death and dying and the afterlife, dealing with loss and grief, Christian death and burial, the Sacrament of Anointing and the healing ministry of the Church, Eschatology and continuing existence after death; Bioethics and Life Death issues and decisions.