Chapter Goals

In this chapter the children will learn:

• To understand that God created us to know him, reveals who he is, and gives us the gift of faith
• To accept that Jesus Christ is the fullness of God’s Revelation
• To respond to the gift of faith by following Jesus as members of the Church.

Share and Discover
Explain to your child that God created him or her to reflect who he is. With a  handheld mirro, a sk the child to look in the mirror.   Encourage them to describe himself or herself.   Ask:  What are qualities that make you special and unique?  You may want to give a few examples. Explain that when we look in a mirror, we see our  reflection.   Tell the child that God made every person in his own image, to be a  reflection  of him.

• Ask: How are you a reflection of God?
• Have your child to use art supplies to draw his or her reflection on the mirror

Scripture Discovery: What's the Word
Use your Bible to read an account of creation as found in Genesis 1:1—2:4. Identifying each day’s act of creation and the passages from Scripture that describe it.

Online Assessment: Due for Completion by 9/21/2020
Direct students to the Sadlier Connect website:  https://religion.sadlierconnect.com/@PAR70079
Using the username and password assigned to you, log in and take the online assessment for Chapter 1: HOW DO I KNOW GOD IS PRESENT IN MY LIFE?. Please have your student complete and submt the assessment by the end of Monday, 9/21/2020.

Chapter Goals

In this chapter the children will learn:

• To understand that God reveals the truth, his Divine Revelation, to us through Scripture and Tradition
• To trust that Scripture and Tradition can guide us in knowing how to live
• To listen to God’s word in Scripture and follow the guidance of Tradition.

Share and Discover
We live in a society today that is often fast-paced and over-stimulating. With information technology at our fingertips, a formidable challenge for people today is to get people to take time to listen. In a conversation or discussion, share your story of faith and encourage other family members to share as well.

Taking the shared story as a staring point, explore how listening to the stories of our
faith guides us in understanding our faith tradition—how we put the word into the action of belief.
We must be attuned to these stories. In the handing down of the faith story, we see how each
generation passes on the truth in its own words.

Scripture Discovery: What's the Word
Read each psalm. Discuss the questions that follow.
Psalm 143:10
“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.
May your kind spirit guide me on ground that is level.”
Question: What does it mean to be on “ground that is level”? What things make life uneven? How does God provide a steady hand?

Psalm 51:12
“A clean heart create for me, God; renew in me a steadfast spirit.”
Question: What does it mean to have a “clean heart” and a “steadfast spirit”?
What distracts us from setting our hearts on God? How does God bring us strength and encouragement?

Psalm 139:14
“I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works!”
Question: Think about the wonderful works of God. Which ones make you thankful?
How has God made each of us “wonderfully”?

Online Assessment: Due for Completion by 9/28/2020
Direct students to the Sadlier Connect website:  https://religion.sadlierconnect.com/@PAR70079
Using the username and password assigned to you, log in and take the online assessment for Chapter 2: IN WHAT WAYS CAN I FIND THE TRUTH?. Please have your student complete and submt the assessment by the end of Monday, 9/28/2020.

Chapter Goals

In this chapter the children will learn:

• To understand that God reveals the truth, his Divine Revelation, to us through Scripture and Tradition
• To trust that Scripture and Tradition can guide us in knowing how to live
• To listen to God’s word in Scripture and follow the guidance of Tradition.

Share and Discover
Junior high school students tend to define themselves, their world, and God based on their own
experience of relationships. This age group spends much of their time delving into what can be
called the mystery of relationships—trying to understand themselves and others.

Discuss with your child that the sign of healthy faith is that it calls us to truly loving relationships. You may discuss what truly loving relationships entail: trust, honesty, self-sacrifice, etc. Suggest that this might be a glimpse of the mystery of the Blessed Trinity—the mystery of the loving relationship of one God in three Divine Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Scripture Discovery: What's the Word
Narrator: Let’s listen to two disciples who are talking about the teachings of Jesus. They know the words of the Great Commandment, which calls them to love God, their neighbors, and themselves, but they are now trying to figure out the cost of such love.

Joshua: It’s strange. All my life I heard the commandment, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). When I listen to Jesus teach us, I feel excited but also a little afraid. Do you know what I mean?

Anna: I am so relieved to hear you say that. I feel the same way. I am inspired by the love that I feel when I listen to Jesus. I find it hard to hear the second part of the Great Commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). Some people are difficult to love.

Joshua: I know what you mean. There is someone in our town who told a terrible lie about my father. How am I supposed to love him? It is sometimes hard to love others, especially if they hurt my friends or family.

Anna: It helps to talk to someone else about this. When I see how Jesus reaches out to those around him, I feel encouraged. He inspires me to try to live the Great Commandment each day.

Narrator: The two disciples decided to meet each week to talk about what they learned from Jesus, and to offer each other support. They decided that, even if living a life of love is sometimes difficult, it is worth the cost.

Reflect on the words of the Great Commandment. What motivates you to live the words of Jesus? Where do you find support and encouragement?

Online Assessment: Due for Completion by 10/05/2020
Direct students to the Sadlier Connect website:  https://religion.sadlierconnect.com/@PAR70079
Using the username and password assigned to you, log in and take the online assessment for Chapter 3: WHY DO RELATIONSHIPS MATTER TO ME?. Please have your student complete and submt the assessment by the end of Monday, 10/05/2020.

Chapter Goals

In this chapter the children will learn:

• To understand that God has shown his love for humankind throughout the ages
• To appreciate God’s love for all of us
• To respond to God’s love by following Jesus.

Share and Discover

• Take your child for a short walk outside
• Point out all that you see that God has created. Be sure to include people. 
• As you point out each object or living thing, talk with the child about ways he or she can help to care for creation, including other people.
• Tell the child that God wants us to care for his creation and for one another. 
• Share ways that you care for creation each day.

Scripture Discovery: What's the Word
Download Activity Sheet

Online Assessment: Due for Completion by 10/19/2020
Direct students to the Sadlier Connect website:  https://religion.sadlierconnect.com/@PAR70079
Using the username and password assigned to you, log in and take the online assessment for Chapter 4: HOW DO I KNOW GOD LOVES ME? Please have your student complete and submt the assessment by the end of Monday, 10/19/2020.

Chapter Goals

In this chapter the children will learn:

• To recognize the good news that God sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to save us and to show us how to live
• To trust that the four Gospels will help us to come to know Jesus
• To share the good news with others.

Share and Discover
How did you first encounter the good news about Jesus Christ? Tell your own story to answer this
question. In your sharing, highlight any highs and lows you experienced. Young people strongly
respond to a story told from the heart.

Scripture Discovery: What's the Word
After reading the leatter below, read Mark 10:17–31. Talk about the rich young man. What opportunity did he miss in not choosing to follow Jesus?

Dear Stephen,
Since I last wrote to you, life has been pretty exciting. My brother, John, and
I continue to travel with Jesus. Each day something different happens that
is often hard to understand. Yesterday, for example, we were getting ready
to leave Capernaum when a young man threw himself on the ground before
Jesus and asked what he needed to do to receive eternal life. The man is very
rich and famous in this area so it drew the attention of the people in the
marketplace. Soon a small crowd gathered around us, eager to hear what
Jesus had to say. You should have been there. Everyone was surprised when
Jesus told the man to “Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor and you
will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me” (Mark 10:21). This was not
the news a man with lots of money and land wanted to hear. He turned and
walked away.

John and I spent the night talking about the whole thing. After the rich man
left, Jesus told us “…how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:24).
We have no land and very little money, and yet Jesus seemed to say that
we, too, would have to give up all that we have to follow him. Our reward,
he assured us, would be great. I believe him. It might sound crazy, but I feel
sorry for the rich young man. He turned his back on the greatest opportunity
of his life.

Your friend,
James

Online Assessment: Due for Completion by 10/26/2020
Direct students to the Sadlier Connect website:  https://religion.sadlierconnect.com/@PAR70079
Using the username and password assigned to you, log in and take the online assessment for Chapter 5: WHAT IS THE GOOD NEWS FOR ME? Please have your student complete and submt the assessment by the end of Monday, 10/26/2020.

Chapter Goals

In this chapter the children will learn:

• Tto understand that the Holy Spirit is present and active in God’s plan of salvation
• To trust the Holy Spirit to guide the life and teachings of the Church
• To rely on the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Share and Discover
Everybody in one sense or another has gotten lost at one time in their lives! One can be “lost”
physically, morally, spiritually, or intellectually. Emphasize that this chapter’s Big Question is an
important question for everyone.

The contemporary youth culture is very connected technologically but can be very disconnected in terms of relationships. Social networking sites allow young people to have cyber “friends” whom they have never met or spoken to face to face. And many modern modes of communication—instant messaging, e-mailing, and texting—further remove the personal connection from many
relationships. It is easy for young people to feel disconnected and lonely—and perhaps without a guide—in today’s world.

Talk with young people about the Holy Spirit. Scripture affirms that the Holy Spirit is present
and active in the Church community. Explain that the Holy Spirit can be a guide in finding one’s way in a society that is often more technological than personal. Share your own story or another’s story about ways we can rely on the Holy Spirit.

Scripture Discovery: What's the Word
Use your Bible to look up the following passages. Then discuss Holy Spirit’s action in each of these accounts.
1. Luke 1:26–38
2. Luke 3:21–22
3. Acts of the Apostles 2:1–4
4. Acts of the Apostles 9:1–18
5. Acts of the Apostles 9:31​​​​​​​

Online Assessment: Due for Completion by 11/02/2020
Direct students to the Sadlier Connect website:  https://religion.sadlierconnect.com/@PAR70079
Using the username and password assigned to you, log in and take the online assessment for Chapter 6: HOW DO I FIND MY WAY? Please have your student complete and submt the assessment by the end of Monday, 11/02/2020.