Grades 7-8

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Grade 7
Goal: To have the student understand that God’s saving action in salvation history culminates in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ and in the eternal life He offers us.
Instructional Objectives:

1. Recognize that Jesus is both God and man: divine and human
2. Appreciate and understand central themes in the life and teachings of Jesus: Kingdom of God, Beatitudes, Messianic fulfillment, Paschal Mystery
3. Understand that through the Paschal Mystery, Jesus showed His love and perfect obedience to the Father’s will, and brought the Old Covenant to completion and established the New
4. Recognize the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ and the People of God who extend Christ’s saving work to the world through the sacraments, preaching, teaching, witness, charity, and service
5. Recognize that sin damages our relationship with God. Serious sin is called “mortal”, less serious is called, “venial”
6. To develop a love and reverence for the Scriptures as the Word of God and a foundation for one’s life of prayer

Vocabulary
(new to Grade)
Abortion –the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy
Book of Revelation – the last book of the New testament, containing descriptions of heaven and the end of the World
Contemplation – looking thoughtfully at something for a long time
Discipleship – learning from the life of Jesus and choosing to follow His way of life
Euthanasia – an action that directly causes a person’s death so that his or her suffering may be eliminated
Meditation – spending time with God in quiet thought
Messiah – a title for Jesus that comes from the Hebrew word for “anointed”; also translated Christ
Moderation –the action of making something less extreme, intense, or violent
Mystical Body of Christ –
Omission –the action of excluding or leaving out
Parable – a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels
Prophecy – a prediction
Soul – the spiritual principle in each of us that can never die
Stewardship – the job of supervising or taking care of something
Synoptic Gospels – the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, who describe events from a similar point of view
 
Prayers and Concepts to Know
Prayer to the Holy Spirit
The Angelus
The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
The Regina Coeli
 
Lesson Themes

• Jesus as a Human
• Jesus as Divine
• Learning about salvation through the Gospel teachings of Jesus
• The New Testament – Acts, Letters, Books
• The death and resurrection of Jesus
• The Holy Spirit given at Pentecost, present today
• Planning a Mass
• The components and effects of the 7 sacraments
• The necessity of grace in our lives
• Catholic Social Teaching
• Sin and forgiveness
• The types of Prayer
• Witness, charity, and service – discipleship

 

Grade 8
Goal: to have the student understand the meaning of the Church, its mission in the world, and their responsibility to participate in that mission
Instructional Objectives:

1. Understand the Church as the institution founded by Christ to continue His saving work to the entire world, to teach, govern and sanctify the world
2. To appreciate the characteristics of the early Church as described in the Acts of the Apostles and the Apostolic Letters
3. Show how the Trinity is involved in the work of creation, redemption, and sanctification
4. Understand what is meant by the Communion of Saints
5. Explain the dogmas concerning Mary
6. Understand that all men and women have a vocation to holiness
7. Understanding the Sermon on the Mount as the model for Christian life and service
8. Encountering Christ through prayer

Vocabulary
(new to Grade)
Acts of the Apostles – the fifth book of the New Testament, telling of the founding of the Church
Apostolic Letters – letters written to the early Church communities by the Apostles
Apostolic Succession – the unbroken line of succession, originating with the Apostles and continuing with the Bishops
Assumption – the belief that after her life on earth, the Blessed Mother Mary was taken body and soul into Heaven
Canonization – the official admission of a dead person in to sainthood
Celibacy – the state of abstaining from marriage and sexual relations
Chastity – sexual abstinence
Communion of Saints – the union of all God’s friends, living and dead
Diocese – a group of parishes that has a Bishop as its leader
Dogma – a principle laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true
Hierarchy – the system where the people of the Church, clergy and lay, are ranked one above the other, according to status and authority
Liturgy of the Hours – a collection of daily prayers, songs, and readings used by Church members all around the world, set at different times of the day
Morality – the distinction between right and wrong, or good and bad behavior
Papal Primacy – the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) is the supreme pastor and universal head of the Church
Sermon on the Mount – teachings delivered by Jesus to his disciples and others containing the Beatitudes and lessons of morality
Vice –a fault, negative character trait or unhealthy habit
Virtue- a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good
 
Prayers and Concepts to Know
Be able to write personal petitions for liturgical use
Be able to see the psalms as prayers that express our human needs
 
Lesson Themes

• The life and teachings of Jesus
• The early Church – a model of unity in faith and teaching, charity, devotion to prayer, and celebration of the Eucharist. Study of the Trinity

1. God the Father – usually associated with the work of creation
2. Christ – is perfect God and perfect man
3. Holy Spirit – the gift of strength and inspiration

• Communion of Saints
• Vocations – marriage, priesthood, religious life
• Moral living and the examples of the Saints