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Religion 9A - Catholic Christianity

Grade: 9
Credits: 5
The Freshman Religious Studies Course (Religion 9A) presents an introduction to the Catholic faith. We begin our course by focusing on the foundress of the Presentation Sisters, Nano Nagle, and the history of the order. The freshmen will then explore the basic tenets of the Catholic faith in the Creed, paying particular attention to the Gospel values of Jesus Christ. We move from what we believe to how we celebrate our faith with a focus on the sacraments and the Church. We will conclude the semester with an examination of the basics of Catholic morality.

Religion 9B - Hebrew Scriptures

Grade: 9
Credits: 5
The Freshman Religious Studies Course (Religion 9B) focuses on the Bible, the living word of God, as revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures. The course will follow the Old Testament story of God’s love and faithfulness through the stories of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, God’s desire for justice in the Exodus, Israel as a nation, and the Prophets as spokespersons for God’s justice. The course will conclude with a discussion of God as a loving creator.

Religion 10 - The Gospels

Grade: 10
Credits: 5
There are many questions we can ask about Jesus of Nazareth: Who was he? Why did he live? Why did he die? These and other questions about Jesus and the New Testament will be answered by using biblical criticism to analyze each of the four gospels for their audience, theme, Christology and spirituality. Special attention will be given to material that is unique to each Gospel. There are many questions we can ask about our relationship with Jesus of Nazareth. For example, what does Jesus’ life, death and resurrection have to do with us? The relationship that Jesus calls his followers to is one that is committed to building the kingdom of God. Students will be challenged to explore Jesus’ call to relationship through prayer and spirituality rooted in and arising from Scripture. Lastly, the course will address a selection of New Testament letters, which give insight into the triumphs and challenges of the early Christian communities.

Moral Theology

Grade: 11, 12 (This course is required for graduation.)
Credits: 5
This course studies and reflects upon the moral life. Christians experience the moral life as the way of Christ, which is above all the way of faith, hope and love. The class examines the common yearning of all human beings for happiness, and recognizes that the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount lead to authentic happiness. This course will explore moral issues in contemporary society and evaluate them from a Catholic Christian moral perspective.

Social Justice

Grade: 11, 12 (This course is required for graduation.)
Credits: 5
The basic premise of Social Justice is that we have been called by God to love one another in justice and righteousness. Our model for loving others and acting with justice is Jesus Christ, who offers us the gift of peace. The course centers on the Christian vocation to build a society of love and justice. We will explore the Catholic notion of justice, and key themes in Catholic Social Teaching, beginning with the fundamental moral ideal of human dignity. We will examine moral principles of Catholic Social Teaching as we study social injustices, including discrimination, racism, sexism, poverty, hunger, violence, and war.

Catholic Identity

Grade: 12 only
Credits: 5
Note: This class is only open to seniors.
This course is a synthesis of all religious studies courses at Presentation. In the heart of this course is the question: “Who am I as a Catholic and what do I do now?” This course will attempt to demystify the myths and misconceptions of being Catholic to reveal that it is not just about doctrines, dogmas, and current criticism. The challenge of this course is to steer away from the media’s portrayal of Catholicism and what is wrong with the Catholic Church to reveal the many aspects of Catholicism that should make us proud by uncovering our rich history and tradition. By the end of this course, it will be the student’s responsibility to ask herself the question, “What does it all mean to me?”

Christian Lifestyles

Grade: 11, 12
Credits: 5
Young adulthood is an important transitional period in every person’s life. This course is designed to help juniors and seniors define their lifestyle choices about whom they want to be, their work, money and possessions, sexuality, love, friendships and communication skills after they graduate from high school. Topics will include the following: Changes Ahead, Work, Loss and Healing, Love, Communication, Single Life, Money and Possessions, Sexuality, Friendship, Dating, Growth for Life, Religious Life/Vocations, Marrying and Aging.

World Religions

Grade: 11, 12
Credits: 5
In our diverse local and global communities, it is increasingly important to have an understanding of the religions of the world. Understanding and appreciation is especially necessary in light of the number of conflicts that involve religion. The richness of religious variety, customs and culture can broaden and strengthen our own faith. This course surveys the world’s great religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Zen Buddhism, Shintoism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It examines their history, literature, beliefs and personalities in a comparative way, so qualities, both unique and shared, may be discovered.

Human Sexuality

Grade: 11, 12
Credits: 5
This elective course is an exploration of the study of human sexuality as a gift of God to each and every human being. The units will take students from the physical (biological and psychological) through the spiritual (moral) points of view. The course will deal with sexuality as it is dealt with in modern science, contemporary society, scripture, and the teachings of the Church. Emphasis will be placed on helping students develop a healthy appreciation of their own sexuality and stress the importance of integrating values that promote self respect and integrity in both the way they reason and ultimately in the way they choose to live through each and every developmental stage. The course ideally will provide students with the accurate information needed to enable them to make healthy decisions in the face of the unrealistic and often unhealthy messages that bombard them in our society. The integration of students’ religious beliefs into their everyday life will be examined through case studies and Church documents such as Humane Vitae, The Truth and Morality of Human Sexuality, The Bishops Encyclical: Always Our Children and Catechetical Formation in Chaste Living.

Church in History

Grade: 11, 12
Credits: 5
The most significant mention of the word ‘church’ by Jesus is directed towards the Apostle Peter when Christ states, “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church” (Mt 16:18). Today, over one billion people call the Catholic Church home and over two billion are followers of Christ. The development of this Church has taken over two thousand years and has undergone a vast evolution in how the Church understands her mission, her structure, her nature, and her role in temporal affairs. Larger than life martyrs, theologians, saints, popes, heretics, and lay people have influenced and changed the way the Church has related to the world around itself. This class seeks to understand the Church and its role in history from its beginnings as a persecuted Jewish sect, its influence outside the spiritual realm during the Middle Ages, the breaks and schisms of unity within the Church in the second millennium, the Vatican Councils in the past two centuries, and how the Church understands herself today in the modern world. This is an upper division elective course.

Into Narnia: Spirituality in the 20th Century

Grade: 11-12
Credits: 5
What do people mean when they say spirituality? What should my spiritual life look like? Should my personal relationship with God interact with Church teaching? What does that look like? The Catechism of the Catholic Church proclaims that “a distinct spirituality can arise at the point of convergence of liturgical and theological currents, bearing witness to the integration of the faith into a particular human environment.” This class aims at developing a spirituality based on modern liturgical styles (e.g. prayer) and modern theological concepts and applying them to our current lives. The twentieth century has produced a wealth of spiritual witnesses who have helped individuals converge their personal beliefs, modern society, and a distinctive modern spirituality with the Tradition of the Church into our current environment. This class seeks to explore some of these witnesses and how their distinctive Christological beliefs and prayer methods can help to form our own spiritual lives in both faith (belief) and prayer.

We will be conversing with the fiction of C.S. Lewis and Flannery O’Connor engaging in how other worlds and challenging characters view creation, redemption, incarnation, forgiveness, death and the after-life, asceticism, grace, and sacrifice. The meditations of Thomas Merton, Mother Theresa, and Henri Nouwen will guide us into a challenging view of contemporary society and the role that contemplation and prayer play. The poetry of T.S. Eliot manifests these beliefs in artistic fashion forcing the reader to examine an image of God unfamiliar and awe-inspiring. These spiritual witnesses offer a unique perspective on a tradition two thousand years old; each offering a look at how to incorporate the living work of the Holy Spirit into our lives.