Resources

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Empathizing (Religion in the Modern World)

This article provides several suggestions of ways to help students reflect on their experiences with people from different forms of religion in the modern world.

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Empathizing (Islam)

This handout provides several suggestions to help students draw connections between Islam and Christianity.

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Empathizing (Shinto)

This article provides several possible ideas of ways to help students see, experience, and better understand the Shinto religion.

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Empathizing (Zen Buddhism)

This short article provides questions, reflections, and suggestions to help students empathize with Zen Buddhism.

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Empathizing (Taoism)

This short article provides questions, reflections, and suggestions to help students empathize with Taoism.

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Worldviews: Religions and Their Relatives

This article explores two examples of modern worldviews and how they different from traditional religions.

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Buddhist and Judeo-Christian Understandings of God

This article compares and contrasts the Buddhist and Judeo-Christian understanding of God.

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What Harm Is in Our Sun Dance?

This short article provides the point of view of a Blackfoot Indian about the illegalization of the Sun Dance.

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To Know Another

An individual worksheet where students rank the importance of discovering specific types of information about another person

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Who Is Your God?

This handout presents a list of different definitions and identities for God. Students are asked to choose ones that resonate with them.

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Our Culture, Our Selves

This handout asks students to rank a list of items in life and society according to their importance.

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Communication in My Family

This handout helps students to explore the communication and relationship they have with their parents by asking a series of reflective questions for students to answer.

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Telling Our Body's Story

This handout helps teens reflect on their body image and the influences on their attitudes towards their bodies.

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Relationships in Marriage

This handout presents numerous questions about healthy, life-long marriages for students to think about and answer.

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Cases to Examine: Changing Roles

This handout presents several real-life family situations about which students must evaluate and make a decision.

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Cases to Examine: Parenting Dilemmas

This handout provides several examples of parenting dilemmas. Students are to read the situations, choose a course of action, and explain their thoughts.

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Paths to Marriage

This handout gives a brief explanation for several types of relationships that end in marriage. Students are then asked to evaluate the reading and complete a journal prompt.

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Facts About Sexually Transmitted Diseases and AIDS

This article gives information about common STDs and AIDS.

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Cases to Examine: Dealing with Conflict

This handout provides three situations for students to read and evaluate. Students must give a suggestion for how to respond to the conflict in each scenario based on the strategies in the book.

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Perspectives on Sex

This handout provides several comments from teenagers about sex. It can be used as a discussion starter or writing prompt.

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Three Perspectives on Drugs

This handout provides three different comments from teens about their drug and alcohol usage. This can be used as a discussion starter.

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What Can a Person Do?

This article gives several suggestions of how an individual can bring about distributive justice.

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Life Issues B Summary: God, Where Are You?

A nice summary of the ways God promises to be with us always.

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Life Issues A Summary: Dealing with Peer Pressure

A good summary on dealing with peer pressure.

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Life Issues B Summary: Friends in Jesus

A summary of Life Issues B: Friends in Jesus from the Catholic Connections Handbook for Middle Schoolers, Second Edition.

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Life Issues A Summary: Who Am I?

A summary of Life Issues from the Catholic Connections Handbook for Middle Schoolers, Second Edition.

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Dialogue with Others

Excerpts from the address of Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at the John Paul II center in Washington D.C.

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The Council of Trent

An article about The Council of Trent, excerpted from The Catholic Church: A Brief Popular History, by Cynthia Stewart.

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Handout: Morally Good or Morally Suspect

For each situation, determine whether the action is right, neutral, or wrong; whether the intent is good or not good; and whether the circumstances allow you to decide freely or keep you from deciding freely.

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Letters in Paul's Day

An article that discusses the format of Paul’s letters and how they are different from letters today.

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In Mary's Voice

A reading that tells the story of Mary’s relationship with Jesus through her perspective.

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Human Rights

Several articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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Ignatian Discernment of Spirits

An article that breaks down the differences between good and evil spirits.

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What Do Sisters Do?

An article that discusses the roles and responsibilities of religious sisters.

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“To Brother”: A Personal Story

An article written by Br. Armand Alcazar FSC, who discusses his view of his vocation as a verb, “to brother”, or “brothering” in teaching and community life.

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The Future of Marriage

An article on the eschatological perspective of marriage.

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Conversion's Impact on Marriage

An article about the ways that a married individual is called upon to be converted; as an individual, within the marriage, and as one called to live in the image of God.

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The Witness of One

An article about how the greatest testimony to the faith comes not from famous and influential people, but through you and me, as we face the challenges that come to us each and every day.

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"You Have Heard…But I Say"

An article about Jesus’ command to love everyone, even those who society has deemed unlovable.

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Living God's Call

A reading, with reflection questions, on living out God’s Call of unconditional love, agape, for all.

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Revelation: A New Testament Apocalypse

An article on the Book of Revelation.

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Christian Persecutions in the Roman Empire

An article on the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.

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Pauline and Deutero-Pauline Letters

An article on the Pauline and Deutero-Pauline letters.

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The Passion According to John

An article on the Passion according to John.

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Jesus and Judaism

An article on Jesus and Judaism.

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Oral Tradition

An article on oral tradition.

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Non-canonical Gospels

An article on the non-canonical Gospels.

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New Testament Christologies

An article on New Testament Christologies.

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How to Teach Biblical Research

An article on how to teach students to conduct biblical research.

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How Should We Interpret Scripture?

An article on how we should interpret Scripture.

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A Brief History of Catholic Biblical Interpretation

A reading that gives a brief history of Catholic biblical interpretation.

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Why the Second Vatican Council Really Is That Important

An article on the importance of the Second Vatican Council.

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The Domestic Church

An article on family life and the domestic Church.

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War and Peace in Catholic Social Teaching

An article on war and peace in Catholic social teaching.

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The Challenge of Peace

An article on the foundations for a justified war and the just war doctrine.

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Principles of Catholic Social Teaching for Business Ethics

An article on the principles of Catholic social teaching for business ethics.

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Using Music in Teaching

An article on incorporating music in teaching.

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The Christian Sacraments

A reading on the Christian Sacraments.

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A Sacramental People

A reading on Sacraments and symbols.

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The Whip Around

A reading on a quick and participative assessment tool called the whip-around.

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Premarital Sex

An article on premarital sex, from "Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love."

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Chastity

An article on chastity, from "Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love."

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Reproductive Technology

This article presents a general overview of the Church’s teachings on reproductive technology, and then considers the ethical ramifications of some of the most common forms of reproductive technology available today.

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What Is Discipleship?

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It offers a brief introduction to the concept of discipleship as the Christian vocation.

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Community in the Catholic Church

This article is from the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the social nature of the Catholic Church, especially with reference to community and salvation.

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The Church, Social Ethics, and Politics

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It is a great introduction to the Church, social ethics and politics in the United States.

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Discipleship versus Citizenship

This is a short article from the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the differences between citizenship and discipleship.

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Applying Church Teachings in the Process of Making Moral Decisions

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Where Does the Church Say?

This handout is part of the Living in Christ Series. It is a good resource for identifying the differences between various Church documents.

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Christian Unity and Ecumenical Dialogue

This article is from the Living in Christ Series. It is about the relationship between the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations, and uses Church documents and scripture to discuss this relationship.

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Catholicism and World Religions

This article is from the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the relationship between the Catholic Church and other world religions through various Church documents.

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The Domestic Church: Catholic Families

This article is part of the Living in Christ series. It discusses the domestic church, that is, the home of Catholic families, and uses Church documents to affirm the important role families play in the life of the Church.

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Evangelization: Rally for the Gospel

This short article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It describes evangelization preaching as a sort of pep rally for the Gospel and discusses the need for all types of people to get involved in evangelization efforts.

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The Church Is One

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It offers an overview of the 4 marks of the Catholic Church, focusing especially on the characteristic of One.

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The Church as the Body of Christ and Sacrament

This article is from the Living in Christ Series. It offers an overview of two images of the Catholic Church: the Church as the Body of Christ, and the Church as a Sacrament.

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WebQuest

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the value of using WebQuests as a classroom learning tool.

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Creating Photo Stories

This article is from the Living in Christ Series. It gives ideas for using PhotoStory in the classroom, available for free download.

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The Marks of the Church

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the 4 marks of the Catholic Church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.

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The Visible and the Invisible Church

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the Catholic Church and the key features of its visible and invisible nature.

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Using the A to Z Method

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the value of using the A-Z Method of pre- and post- assessment.

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The Holy Spirit

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It offers a brief introduction to the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.

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Biblical Covenants

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The Essential Goodness of God's Creation and of Humanity

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the problem of evil, original sin, human freedom and the goodness of God's creation.

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Using Small Group Hands On Experiences

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the value of using small group, hands-on activities in the classroom.

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Media Literacy

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses several modes of communication and the importance of media literacy education.

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The Two Basic Sacraments: Christ and the Church

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. The article discusses the two most fundamental sacraments: the person of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.

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The Church

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Key Events in Church History

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Models of the Church Chart

This chart is part of the Living in Christ Series. It is a great resource for understanding Avery Dulles' information on the Models of the Church in an organized chart.

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Written Conversations

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It explains the use of written conversations to facilitate classroom learning and dialogue.

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Critical Questioning Method of Engaging with Texts

This article is from the Living in Christ Series. It discusses methods for encouraging students to engage texts they are reading on a deeper level to benefit their learning and the classroom dialogue. This worksheet is helpful for students who …

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Service and Justice: A Conversion of Heart

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses 5 stages in introducing service learning to a classrooom setting.

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Called to Holiness: Holiness in Modern Church Teaching

This article from the Living in Christ Series discusses holiness: what it is, who is called, and how to live it out. Both the Church and the people in it are holy.

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Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience

This article is from the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience that all religious take as part of their vocation.

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Overview of the Liturgy of the Hours

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Treating Sensitive Topics

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses and gives tips on how to approach sensitive topics in a classroom environment.

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Understanding Suffering

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It gives a thorough introduction to the concept of suffering in the Bible using scripture passages.

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A Walk through the Mass

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The Eucharistic Prayers

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the Eucharistic prayers historically, theologically, spiritually, pastorally, devotionally, liturgically, cosmically and celestially.

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The Interfaith Classroom

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses techniques and challenges for teaching Catholic themes in an interfaith classroom environment.

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Resurrection: Past and Present Reality

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the significance of the Resurrection, including how it was viewed in ancient Judaism, in the time of Jesus and the early Christians, and its importance for Christians today.

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Written Conversations

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the value of classroom discussions as well as suggesting new styles of this method.

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Political and Religious Structure in Jesus' Time

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It offers an extensive overview of the political and religious structures and influences at work in Jesus' time.

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Understanding Parables

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the parables, including definitions, uses, and interpretations.

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Miracles: Signs of the Kingdom of God

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses miracles as signs of the Kingdom of God, including how to reflect on, interpret and make sense of several examples.