Religion High School
Faith Charts: Catholicism at a Glance
5. You shall not kill (CCC 2318-30) - Commands us to respect the lives of others and our own, honoring our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit. - Prohibits murder, abortion, suicide, euthanasia, sterilization, mutilations and non-therapeutic amputations, kidnapping, gluttony, drug use, drunkenness, seeking revenge, anger, hatred, and illegitimate war.Nicely illustrated with images of stained glass windows.
Faith Charts: The Bible at a Glance
Faith Quest: Deepening Your Knowledge and Faith in the Person of Jesus Christ
The course is divided into three modules. The first one aims to increase knowledge about the life and character of Jesus Christ, the second one focuses on the Lord's Prayer and getting to know God as Father, the third one focuses on Jesus's teachings in the Sermon on the Mount and how to live as Christians in the world. Each module has three or four lessons, for a total of 10 lessons. There is also a supplementary CD-ROM on the Ten Commandments.
The structure of the course is much like Faith Quest: The Basics. The curriculum is based on the CD-ROM which comes along with the Facilitator's Guide. You open the program and pick the lesson you are working on from the main menu. You can begin from the middle of a lesson if you left off without finishing. The first section of each lesson is on Vocabulary; the second section requires that you read the Youth Update, and the third section is a comprehension check to reinforce and review the information given in the Youth Update. For the first and third steps, there is a writing element as you write down the vocabulary or q&a on the reproducible sheets provided in the Guide.
When you have completed these steps, you can take the lesson Quiz. The quiz has true or false questions, a vocabulary bank, and multiple choice style questions. When a Module is completed, there is a paper crossword puzzle to review vocabulary, then a practice test on the computer, and then a Unit Test on paper.
The Facilitator's Guide contains instructions for how to install and use the software, a glossary of all the vocabulary words used in the curriculum, reproducible worksheets and quizzes, an answer key and "Youth Update" articles for each section of the course. The content of the course is based on these Youth Updates, which are nicely done several-color reprints of articles from St Anthony Messenger Press and have an Imprimatur. If you are using the program with more than one student, you need to get additional copies of these articles, and the address for ordering is in the Guide.
Both the paper material and the computer material are very nicely laid out, attractive without being flashy or distracting. The Youth Updates tie contemporary youth concerns and topics in with truths of our faith. The structure of the computer and paper parts of the course is designed to let the student work at his own pace and to provide plenty of review and practice. Since every lesson and module have an identical structure, once the student understands the method there are no surprises. He is free to work on mastering the actual content.
There is a supplementary Ten Commandments CD-ROM which covers the commandments and the vocabulary associated with them.
A complete religious education program needs to include some time for students to interact with real people, in discussion and involvement in the community and the church. This program in itself doesn't provide that. What it does provide is something that is often lacking in religious education nowadays: mastery of essential doctrine. This resource would work well as one component of a religious education class that had the technology: computer stations with WIN95 or higher and headphones. It takes most of the guesswork and dullness out of ensuring that every student knows basic terminology and concepts. Each student can work at his own pace, and each student must master the vocabulary and concepts before proceeding.
Father McBride's Teen Catechism
Teen Catechism is a nice entry point into the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In spite of its name, Teen Catechism could be used by an adult convert or any person who wants a solid introduction to or review of our Catholic faith. It follows the topic sequence of the Catechism, covering the Creed, the Sacraments, Morality, and Prayer in its 36 chapters.
Each chapter begins with a passage quoted from another source which is selected as a lead-in to the chapter's topic. The purpose is to raise questions in the reader's mind, or make him aware that there is a question involved. This is followed by a "Some Say" section which is a wrong or incomplete version of the answer. Then there is a "The Catechism Teaches" section which contains quotes from the Catechism on that topic, and "We Catholics Believe" which translates the CCC quotes into everyday language. The "Reflection" is a quote from Scripture or a saint's writings which allows one to meditate further on the topic. Each chapter concludes with "In my Life" a series of open-ended questions which lead the reader to ponder how to apply the stated truths of the chapter to his life. Finally, there is a Prayer and a glossary of theological terms used in the chapter.
The layout is very clear and easy to follow. A variety of fonts are used to distinguish the different parts of the chapter from each other. Brief Scripture verses introduce and conclude the meditations. There is at least one black and white illustration per chapter, either a photograph or a sketch related to the topic. The strategy within the chapters is somewhat similar to St Thomas Aquinas's layout in the Summa Theologicae — a question, some objections, then a reply to the objections. This approach is well suited to the world we live in today, where we often hear a multiplicity of different opinions on a topic, and it is difficult to sort out which is closest to the traditional teachings of the Church.
The book could easily be used in a discussion group, or even as topics for personal devotions. It would be easy to plan "extensions" or further study on a given topic, either by looking into what the Catholic Catechism says in full, or by doing further research on the saints and other people mentioned within the book.
So much of the time, the word "teen" is associated with trendy, lightweight resources, but this book is quite the opposite. It is a solid and thoughtful introduction to the basics of our Catholic faith. One caution for younger readers: in the sections on the 6th and 9th Commandments, the opening stories are of St Maria Goretti, and the story of Susannah and the wicked judges. While the stories are not unnecessarily graphic, they do cover the topic of rape and violence, and may need to be discussed by parents with their younger teenagers.
Fishers of Men
DVD
Fit for Eternal Life
Guerilla Apologetics for Catholics
How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization
How-to Book of the Bible
Editorial Review: Perhaps you know very little about the Bible … or enough to realize there’s so much more to discover! Maybe your previous attempts to read the Bible have not been fruitful, and you don’t get much out of the readings at Mass. You observe the role the Bible plays in the lives of others and feel that you’re missing something. The How-To Book of the Bible, by Karl A. Schultz, is your key to unlocking this treasure. Unlike other Bible-related books, this one not only introduces you to the Scriptures but also helps you develop a deep, fulfilling, and lasting bond with the Bible. I believe this would make a fantastic choice for a high school homeschool student who needs a year of Bible. The format and language will appeal to the young student and in comparison with the dryness of the texts available to homeschoolers, this will shine. I would love to see a workbook companion for this, complete with tests and an answer key!