Religion III - 5.15.2019
Read the article "Changing the Culture" (handout distributed in class). WRITE YOUR NAME IN THE UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE HANDOUT as you will be turning it in.
FIRST, by the end of the period, I want to you: a) highlight or underline at least FIVE key points in the article.
THEN, write and email me a response of AT LEAST 300 WORDS addressing the content of this article. If you are Catholic, this response should include your own personal reaction to the article, focusing especially on your OWN EXPERIENCE in relation to what you read. If you are NOT Catholic, I simply want you to write a summary of the article in your own words (this also needs to be min. 300 words).
Religion III - 5.13.2019
Read the article linked below ("Catholic Evangelization 101- What Conversion Looks Like"). By the end of the period, I want to you write and email me a response of AT LEAST 300 WORDS addressing the content of this article. I do not want a summary of the article, or a regurgitated version of the content; what I DO want is to see that your response addresses a) your own personal response and b) your ability to apply it to the current Catholic context at Bishop Guilfoyle (you can do this even if you're not Catholic). In other words: what is especially true or striking to you when you read the article? What points are most necessary for Catholic students at BG to understand, respond to, and/or act on? You can use personal examples or general one to make/emphasize your points, but you do need to draw on the content of the article as a starting point. Our discussions on Confirmation the other day in class would be a good guide for what we are looking for. MUST BE COMPLETED BY THE END OF THE PERIOD, so keep your focus and work diligently!!
catholicmissionarydisciples.com/news/conversion
aleteia.org/2019/04/29/catholic-parish-dos-and-donts-from-millennials/
Rel. III - 4.15.2019
Emma Fradd- whyimcatholic.com/index.php/conversion-stories/catholic-reverts/158-catholic-revert-emma-fradd
Scott Wolze-
whyimcatholic.com/index.php/conversion-stories/catholic-reverts/157-catholic-revert-scott-woltze
Discipleship - 4.15.2019
FIRST, take your time and read Emma Fradd's conversion story: whyimcatholic.com/index.php/conversion-stories/catholic-reverts/158-catholic-revert-emma-fradd
SECOND, read Mary Bielski's blog article, "Can God Heal Me?" https://lifeteen.com/blog/can-god-heal-me/
THEN, compose a short reflection (NO LESS THAN 10 SENTENCES) in which you apply the principles of healing that Mary Bielski outlines to the stages of Emma Fradd's conversion. There is no one right answer; I want to see that YOU can make connections between the two.
FINALLY, write a second reflection (at least 5 sentences) in which you discuss whether you relate to either of these articles, or both, in ANY item or experience that they discussed.
This should be emailed to me by the end of the period.
Pre-AP Religion - 4.15.2019
Your assignment for today is to pick any combination of two characters, scenes, stories or settings that we have read about so far in "Death Comes for the Archbishop". FOR EACH, you will compose a poem that accurately describes that person/place/thing, to the best of your ability.
EACH POEM SHOULD BE NO LESS THAN 8 LINES (they can be longer, but NOT shorter), and they MUST follow this rhyme scheme:
ABAB CDCD
Both poems should be TITLED, put on a single file, and emailed to me by the end of the period!!!
Rel. III- 4.2.2019
www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/gay-and-catholic-interview-author-eve-tushnet
www.deseretnews.com/article/865662969/My-view-Catholic-lesbian-celibate-and-the-journey-to-self-acceptance.html
Catholic Discipleship- 3.25.2019
For today's assignment, you will begin with a minute or two of silent prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to enter into your heart and mind to guide you. Be sure to use that time to offer up any parts of your life, good or bad, strong or weak, that might need His loving attention!!
Then, check your email for a list of "15 Bible Verses That Changed My Life", which were posted online by a Christian. Send a RESPONSE EMAIL to me in which you briefly type out beside each verse either a) how God has fulfilled this verse for you in some way in the past, OR b) what God is saying to you in the present through this verse. Only be as detailed as you feel comfortable, but be sure to include a personal element! I will expect a 2-3 sentence MINIMUM for each. Be prayerful & thoughtful as you look at each verse and you should have no problem.
This must be completed and emailed back to me by the end of the period!!!
-in Christ, Mr. Sutton
Religion III- sample- Saint project
rel.iii-projectsample.saints.pptx
Catholic Discipleship- 3.1.2019
.
You will begin our 'Film Project' today and continue in the coming weeks, every Monday.
In a group of three-four people, you will:
Begin by plotting out details of what you will include in outline form, including the amount of time it will take. This should include music, images, skits, scriptures, themes, etc.
Feel free to look at commercials & brief related content online for help in planning—tutorials would apply to this as well.
Keep this on an open file to be submitted at a later date.
If you complete the outline, you should start assembling script details (write lines of dialogue, pick scriptures & images to include, etc.)
Catholic Discipleship- 2.22 & 24.2019
For your assignment, you are going to follow up on the movie "I'm Not Ashamed" with two writing assignments. You will have today and Monday in class to work on both parts, so take your time & do well. The assignment will be due at the end of class on Monday, so if you think you'll need more time than that you should work on it over the weekend.
Both assignments should be emailed to me no later than Monday evening, Feb. 24th. Later than this and points will be deducted.
PART 1 - PERSONAL RESPONSE
Compose a three-paragraph essay response in which you answer the following:
Paragraph 1 - What was your personal reaction to the movie overall, and why? What was your favorite scene and why? If you were asked what lesson that perhaps God was trying to communicate to YOU through this film, what do you think that is?
Paragraph 2 - This is specifically made as a Christian film. What do you think were the most significant parts of the film in terms of communicating "authentic" Christianity, and why?
Paragraph 3 - Rachel spoke of wanting to have a "chain reaction" happen in the lives of others through acts of love, forgiveness, compassion, etc. What are some ways that you believe you might be able to put that philosophy into action right now in your life?
PART 2 - RACHEL SCOTT & ROMANS 8
Begin by reading chapter 8 of the Letter to the Romans.
THEN, compose an essay of no less than 500 words describing how Rachel Scott's life makes this particular chapter of the Bible come to life in a real and relatable way.
You should structure your essay around any THREE scripture verses from Romans 8 (you should have many to pick from!). Address each of the three verses in a separate paragraph, and be specific in how it applies to Rachel's life as portrayed in "I'm Not Ashamed."
Each paragraph will begin with the verse itself (be sure to cite it, chapter & verse); the rest of the paragraph will describe exactly how this verse connects to Rachel's life, being sure to give specifics from her life in order to make that connection (so don't just say "this applies because she was always a good person"-- give details, not generalities!).
Catholic Discipleship- 2.8.2019
For your assignment, begin by silently reading any THREE of the links below. ONCE YOU HAVE FINISHED, form a group of 3-4 students MAXIMUM and discuss your readings. Discussion should include summarizing the articles for your group and what you did/didn't like about them, as well as one positive lesson you drew from each article. Some in the group are likely to have read some of the same readings-- be sure that each person who read a given article gets their chance to talk about it.
Make sure to have one person from the group send me an email (listing all names of the people in your group) that 1) summarizes what you discussed together, 2) what the BEST article each of you read was (and why), and 3) THREE TOPICS you would love to see a Christian-blog article written about, and WHY (for each!). This is due to me TODAY!
"Why A Relationship With Jesus Isn't Safe" - lifeteen.com/blog/relationship-jesus-isnt-safe/
"Common Misconceptions About Jesus" - lifeteen.com/blog/common-misconceptions-jesus/
"When You Can't Escape Loneliness" - lifeteen.com/blog/cant-escape-loneliness/
"Are You In A Toxic Relationship" - lifeteen.com/blog/are-you-in-a-toxic-relationship/
"Praising in Consolation and Praying in Desolation" - lifeteen.com/blog/praising-consolation-praying-desolation/
"Let's Talk About Suicide" - lifeteen.com/blog/lets-talk-suicide/
"Start Living Your Personal Mission Now" - lifeteen.com/blog/start-living-personal-mission-now/
"Why We Have To Stop Saying 'Modest is Hottest'" - lifeteen.com/blog/stop-saying-modest-hottest/
Catechism worksheet
www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1B.HTM
Religion III - "Kintsugi"
digg.com/video/kintsugi-japanese-pottery-repair
Religion III - Abortion reflection
1. www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46994583
2. rel_iii_-_abortion.docx
Religion III- "Creation Foundations"
rel_iii-_genesis1-3.annotated.docx
Religion III- Virtual Day- 11.24.2019
Prager U- www.youtube.com/watch?v=xliyujhwhNM
Sam Harris- www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL0zLED8mpo
Moral Vision - links
The Ethics of Peter Singer- www.bethinking.org/morality/life-after-god-the-ethics-of-peter-singer
Euclid as Founding Father- nautil.us/issue/41/selection/euclid-as-founding-father
Rel. III- MIDTERM NOTES
rel_iii-_midterm.notes.pptx
REL. III- Dr. King & Natural Law
www.summit.org/resources/articles/martin-luther-king-and-natural-law/#2
ONLY AFTER YOU COMPLETE THE PUZZLE, you are to compose a short description of what you think is going on in this painting, based on visual clues alone (symbols, lighting, position, emotion, etc.-- what you would normally use to analyze art). In other words- what is the story of these characters and their relationship based only on your visual analysis of the painting? NO LESS THAN 300 WORDS-- this must be EMAILED to me!!!
REL. III- LifeTeen blogs- YOUR choice
You've already done a few worksheets analyzing specific 'LifeTeen' blogs that I picked out for you to read. Your assignment for today is to navigate the LifeTeen website to find THREE blogs that you are actually interested in. Please note: when you go to the website (linked below!), you will need to click on the 'Blogs' tab. The drop-down menu will give you topic choices: 1) Faith, 2) Prayer, 3) Relationships, 4) Life, 5) Culture and 6) Life Teen. Each of these options lists the two most recent articles under that topic; but if you click 'more', it will give you pages and pages of previous blogs under that topic.
FOR YOUR ASSIGNMENT, scroll through these blog options and pick any THREE blog articles to read; EACH NEEDS TO BE FROM UNDER A DIFFERENT TOPIC HEADING (that is, one blog each from any 3 of the 6 topic headings listed). Take your time and honestly read through them. THEN, email me the following information for EACH blog article you read:
1) The full title of the article & the Topic heading you found it under.
2) THREE FULL SENTENCES summarizing the article.
3) the reason WHY you picked that particular article.
4) What you thought about the article after finishing it, and why.
***This assignment MUST be turned in by the end of the period to receive full credit!
REL. III- Lifeteen Blogs
"Stop Complaining About God When You Don't Know Him" lifeteen.com/blog/stop-complaining-god-dont-know/
"Church is More Than Sunday Mass" lifeteen.com/blog/church-sunday-mass/
"I Didn't Feel Anything: Searching for Christ After Confirmation" lifeteen.com/blog/i-didnt-feel-anything-searching-for-christ-after-confirmation/
"Does Being Catholic Make Me A Bigot?" lifeteen.com/blog/catholic-make-bigot/
'Miracles from Heaven'- link
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3502738/Mommy-just-want-die-little-girl-story-told-Miracles-Heaven-just-wanted-suffering-end-days-later-miraculously-cured-Jesus-fell-hollow-tree.html
Catholic Discipleship- 'Mary, the New Eve'
biblestudyforcatholics.com/mary-new-eve-spiritual-mother/
Pre-AP Religion: Describing Jesus
For this assignment, you will create a short (300-word) description of seeing and hearing Jesus teach, much as Daniel does in chapter 4 of "The Bronze Bow." You don't have to include all the following information, but these would be a good guide for you: what did He look like? Dress like? What was His voice like? His face, His eyes? How did He treat people and how did they react to Him? What did He talk about? What was His manner, His way of speaking, moving, eating, etc?. (feel free to go beyond these questions).
Then, at the END of your writing, write three ADJECTIVES that you feel would best describe this man after the FIRST time you see Him.
Email your descriptions/adjectives to me no later than tonight. You can type your answers right into the body of the email OR send it as a PDF file. Let me know if you have any questions!
Pre-AP Religion: Virtual Day 11.16.2018
For today's Virtual Day assignment, you are going to work to create a Powerpoint entitled "Casting Call." You will create a Powerpoint file (create in slides, but send to ME as a PDF!) in which you try to find real-life people that you feel resemble characters from "The Bronze Bow" as accurately as possible. For each slide, you will have two content areas: 1) a picture that you feel comes closest to looking like this character as you imagine them; 2) three adjectives that you feel most capture this character in the book (so each slide will have a picture, the character's name, and three words). You should end up with 9 slides (1 title slide at the beginning, then 1 for each character listed below; the title slide should have your name and the title 'Casting Call: The Bronze Bow' typed on it). The characters should be in the exact order on the slides that they appear on the list below.
***NOTE!!! PLEASE TRY YOUR BEST to make these pictures truly resemble the character, and be able to explain them as such (you will have to present them later). DO NOT GOOF AROUND OR LOOK FOR FUNNY/SILLY PICTURES on this one; you'll be graded on how WELL you capture the character, not on originality, for this project. Take it seriously!
Have fun!!
REL. III- Virtual Day- 11.15.2018
For Virtual Day today, watch the video linked below ("The Confession"); then, type a short essay in the body of an email to me (it should be typed right into the body of the email-- do NOT send as a separate attached file) according to the guidelines listed below.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz4GIecaA-o
In a short ESSAY (NO LESS THAN 300 WORDS, though you can certainly have more), respond to this video by addressing these three areas:
REL. III- Lifeteen Blogs
"That's True Love" lifeteen.com/blog/thats-true-love/
"The 6 Things I Learned When I Took a Class on Forgiveness" lifeteen.com/blog/6-lessons-learned-took-class-forgiveness/
"The Emptiness of Me, Myself and I" lifeteen.com/blog/the-emptiness-of-me-myself-and-i/
"Learning I Was Made for Love" lifeteen.com/blog/learning-made-love/
Christian Discipleship- 11.13.2018
For Thursday's block schedule class, Catholic speaker/evangelist Maggie Craig will be our guest. Maggie will be doing a presentation for us and will have some time for Q & A.
For your assignment today, go to Maggie's website ( www.maggie-craig.com/ ). She has a brief bio near the top, and if you scroll waaaaaay down to the bottom, you'll find that she wrote four blog entries on various topics (the first one being 'After Retreat Ends').
The FIRST part of today's assignment is to read through these four blog entries.
The SECOND part of the assignment is to come up with ONE question you'd like to ask Maggie about her life, faith or ministry (you can quickly see examples of it, including where all she's been recently, by scrolling & scanning the rest of her page). EMAIL THAT QUESTION TO ME BY THE END OF THE PERIOD.
The THIRD part of the assignment is to compose your OWN 'blog entry' that might fit on a page like this. Pick any Christian topic you'd like to talk about, and use an example from your own life to illustrate the point. It should be roughly the length of one of Maggie's posts; use hers as a reference point in terms of tone & structure. This will be HOMEWORK, but should be emailed back to me (as a PDF file) no later than TOMORROW (Wednesday).
REL. III- Letter From Birmingham Jail
web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Letter_Birmingham_Jail.pdf
Christian Discipleship- 10.30.2018
For your assignment, begin by silently reading any THREE of the links below. ONCE YOU HAVE FINISHED, form a group of 2-3 students MAXIMUM and discuss your readings. Have one person send me an email (listing all three of your names) that 1) summarizes what you discussed together, 2) what the BEST article each of you read was (and why), and 3) any THREE questions you/people in your group have about Catholic belief about confession, sin, or forgiveness. This is due to me TODAY!
"Why I Tell My Sins to a Person: In Defense of Confession" lifeteen.com/blog/tell-sins-person-defense-confession/
"The Harshest Thing You'll Hear in Confession" lifeteen.com/blog/harshest-thing-youll-hear-confession/
"How to Prepare for the Confession of a Lifetime" lifeteen.com/blog/prepare-confession-lifetime/
"If You're Broken, You Belong" lifeteen.com/blog/youre-broken-belong/
"Mistakes You Need to Let Go Of" lifeteen.com/blog/mistakes-need-let-go/
"Mercy is the Refuge in my Storms" lifeteen.com/blog/mercy-refuge-storms/
"How to Make a Good Confession" lifeteen.com/blog/make-good-confession/
Christian Discipleship- Journal Entry
For your journal, write a reflection (directed towards the Lord) on how He has worked in your life during this first quarter of school, and where your relationship is at with Him now. What good things has He put in your life in the last few months? What challenges has He given you? Did you have any 'moments of closeness' where you felt Him present, either in or out of school? What do you want His help with during the 2nd quarter? What are some things you can ask Him to do in your life right now?
Rel. III Assignment
Read the short story by Flannery O'Connor ("Everything That Rises Must Converge") that is linked below. WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED, take a copy of the worksheet based on the story to complete.
www.thomasaquinas.edu/pdfs/alumni/everything-that-rises.pdf
Catholic Discipleship Assignment
Read the 2 articles linked below. Then get into groups of 3-4 people and make a short PowerPoint together in which you summarize the key points of both. Each slide should have at least 1 picture, and bullet point notes that you would be able to do a presentation from. When you are finished, you should email the assignment to me AS A PDF FILE.
bulldogcatholic.org/old-testament-laws/
zondervanacademic.com/blog/jesus-in-the-old-testament/
REL. III- Dorothy Day Assignment
In-class worksheet- dorothydayguild.org/
"Day By Day: The Letters and Journals of Dorothy Day" - www.uscatholic.org/church/2010/09/day-day-letters-and-journals-dorothy-day
"Timeline/Pictorial Memoir" - dorothydayguild.org/about-her-life/timeline/
Religion III- UNIT 1 NOTES
reliii.morality.firstprinciples-pt.1.students.pptx
reliii.morality.firstprinciples-pt.2.students.pptx
Religion III - 'Famous Last Words'
Read the article below entitled "Famous Last Words". Answer the related questions on the worksheet provided by the teacher, & turn it in by the end of the period. International students ONLY may complete it for homework.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
Not quite a decade into the 2nd century A.D., a Roman ship was slowly making its way along the Mediterranean coast from the Middle East back to Rome. On board was a Christian prisoner with a band of soldiers guarding him. The prisoner, a bishop, knew very well that at the end of the journey he was to be thrown to the animals in the Roman arena. Yet, he maintained his calm and prayerful demeanor; and fortunately for him as well as for us, he was allowed access to quills, ink and parchment along the gradual voyage to his death.
The bishop’s name was Ignatius, and his pedigree was impressive. It is reported that he was a disciple of the apostle John, and likely met at least one of the other apostles as well. He was made bishop at Antioch in Syria, which might not mean much to you or I today but which, in the first centuries of Christianity, was one of the most important cities where the faith had taken root. The Acts of the Apostles describes the proclamation of the Gospel there within only a few decades of Jesus, and reports that it was in that city that people first started using the word “Christian” to describe His followers (cf. Acts 11:26). St. Peter is said to have been bishop there before moving on to Rome, with which his ministry is much more associated today. The fact that Ignatius was made bishop of a city as important as Antioch says much about what the Apostles and their successors thought of his quality. He appears to have been only the second or third bishop of Antioch (perhaps directly following St. Peter himself!), ministering there for some four decades to some of the earliest Christians in our history.
By 100 A.D., the last of the twelve Apostles had just died, and the Church was now in the hands of their successors. These men were bishops at a time when even being baptized could cost you your life in certain times and places in the Roman Empire. They were not popular except in Christian communities, and these were still a tiny, tiny part of the population. When the Emperor Trajan came to rule the Empire, he ordered one of the occasional-but-persistent persecutions of Christians therein. Ignatius was arrested in Antioch at that time and marked for deportation to Rome, where he would be executed. Because we know the dates of this persecution from historical records, we can narrow down the dates of Ignatius’ journey and his death to somewhere between 107-110 A.D.— only about 75 years after the resurrection of Jesus and maybe a dozen after the Apostles.
Along the way, Ignatius wrote seven letters, copies of which have survived down to this day. They were widely read and treasured in the early centuries of Christianity, and their beauty continues to win admiration today. Five of the letters were pastoral letters written to Christian communities in Ephesus (a ‘Letter to the Ephesians’ that you won’t find in the Bible!), Magnesia, Smyrna, Tralles, and Philadelphia (that was a city in Asia Minor, so don’t be afraid that he was an Eagles fan). These letters were written as a bishop to Christians, exhorting them to keep the faith and giving advice for how they should live and act accordingly. One letter was also written to a relatively young bishop named Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna (to whose people he had addressed one of the other letters), speaking to him as an older bishop to a younger one and likewise advising and encouraging him going forward. Polycarp, himself also a direct disciple of John the Apostle and then only in his thirties, would himself give his life as a martyr some fifty years later. The final letter Ignatius would write was addressed to the Christians of Rome, and is usually his most talked-about letter because of the intensely personal expressions faith and emotion that Ignatius makes in it.
In that ‘Letter of St. Ignatius to the Romans’ (written about 50 years after St. Paul’s New Testament letter), Ignatius makes an extended plea to the Christians Rome not to try to prevent his martyrdom. He appears to have heard that the Christians in Rome planned on making some plea for his release or perhaps buy his freedom; whatever their plan, he didn’t like the rumor. He tells them that this manner of death is the final seal on his discipleship, a way of imitating Christ that goes beyond all others, and a means by which he can share fellowship in a special way with the apostles and other martyrs of the early Church. These are quotes from the Penguin Classics translation of Ignatius’s Letter to the Romans in Early Christian Writings:
“I shall never have a better chance than this of getting to God; and you on your part will never have a finer piece of work to your credit, if only you will keep your lips sealed… Leave me to imitate the Passion of my God.”
“...pray leave me to be a meal for the beasts, for it is they who can provide my way to God. I am His wheat, ground fine by the lions’ teeth to be made purest bread for Christ. Better still, incite the creatures to become a sepulcher (tomb) for me; let them not leave the smallest scrap of my flesh, so that I need not be a burden to anyone after I fall asleep. When there is no trace of my body left for the world to see, then I shall truly be Jesus Christ’s disciple.”
“How I look forward to the real lions that have been got ready for me! All I pray is that I may find them swift. I am going to make overtures to them, so that, unlike some other wretches who have been too spiritless to touch, they may devour me with all speed. And if they are still reluctant, I shall use force to them [to try to get them to attack me]… Fire, cross, beast-fighting, hacking and quartering, splintering of bone and mangling of limb, even the pulverizing of my entire body— let every horrid and diabolical torment come upon me, provided only that I can win my way to Jesus Christ!”
Ignatius’s letters are worth reading, and it is easy nowadays to find them online. He has a simple teaching style with lots of imagery, as when he uses imagery from ancient construction sites to describe Christians as being “stones for the Father’s Temple, stones trimmed ready for God to build with, hoisted up by the derrick of Jesus Christ (the Cross) with the Holy Spirit for a cable; your faith being the winch that draws you up to God, up the ramp of love.” But given the simple beauty of his faith, it is good to close with another of his quotes that sums up the love that he continued to feel for the world (and his executioners!) even when being unjustly put to death: “Regarding the rest of mankind, you should pray for them unceasingly, for we can always hope that repentance may enable them to find their way to God. Give them a chance to learn from you, or at all events from the way you act. Meet their animosity with kindness, and their abuse with your prayers… and if they grow violent, be gentle instead of wanting to pay them back in their own coin.”
Ignatius's Letter to the Romans is also striking for its revelation of his attitude towards death, with which he turns to poetic imagery, like a man looking forward more to a wedding than a funeral:
How good it is to be sinking down below the world’s horizon towards God, to rise again later into the dawn of His presence!... Here and now, as I write in the fullness of life, I am yearning for death with all the passion of a lover. Earthly longings have been crucified; in me there is left no spark of desire for mundane things, but only a murmur of living water that whispers within me, ‘Come to the Father.’ There is no pleasure for me in any meats that perish, or in the delights of this life; I am fain for the bread of God, even the flesh of Jesus Christ, who is the seed of David; and for my drink I crave that Blood of His which is love imperishable...
One of the most striking details in the lives of many saints, in fact, is their approach to death when they know its approach. It’s not that they are not prey to the fears that each of us has when we realize our time on earth is soon coming to a close, and it’s certainly not that they enjoy pain and suffering of any sort more than we do. Rather, the strength of their friendship with God affords their hope a nearly unsinkable life preserver when they otherwise seem all alone in a dark ocean. Their fear is offset by their faith in what awaits them— a faith so well tried during their lives that it functions more as a matter of fact than of grasping at straws (as all faith should!). Some decades before Ignatius, St. Paul was awaiting his own execution in Rome, and expressed similar faith-filled resignation to his fate: “I am already being poured out like a [sacrifice], and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day” (2 Tim. 4:6-8). Though Paul expressed no doubts about his destination after death, he follows these rather sure sentiments by sharing with Timothy that he also feels loneliness and temptation all the same: “Try to join me soon… everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength… the Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to His heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:9,16-18).
Some of the final words of the saints are less poetic than Ignatius, of course, or less proclamatory than Paul. St. Teresa of Avila, as was her wont, expressed her thoughts simply as her final illness drew to its end: “After all, I die as a child of the Church. My Lord, it is time to move on. Well then, may Your will be done. O my Lord and my Spouse, the hour that I have longed for has come. It is time for us to meet one another.” More famously, St. Lawrence the deacon, while being burned alive on a grill, expressed his faith by maintaining his sense of humor; his last recorded words were spoken to the soldiers charged with this gruesome execution: “You can turn me over; I’m done on this side.”
St. Thomas More, the famous English martyr who was condemned to death for refusing to consent to his king’s break with the Catholic Church, also maintained a sense of humor on his way to execution. More, a husband and father, suffered greatly due his separation from his wife and daughter during the imprisonment beforehand, as well as due to the rough conditions of the prison. He had not been allowed to shave during that period of more than a year, and so when he was led to the public square to be beheaded, he did so with a long beard. Coming to the steps leading up to the scaffold, he joked to a nearby soldier: “Pray, sir, help my body up the steps; it will find its own way back down.” When he got to the platform, he asked the assembled crowd to pray for him, knelt down, and prayed one of the psalms aloud. He went to the block and when the executioner asked his forgiveness, Thomas told him to cheer up so that he could focus on his job instead— after all, he explained, he had a short neck and so the man would need to concentrate to do the job right. Thomas then admonished the man with the axe not to strike immediately when he put his head on the block, but to wait until he moved his beard aside, “for I am losing my head for treason; but my beard didn’t do anything wrong!” Aside from these little jokes, though, it was St. Thomas More’s more serious line just before his execution that has echoed down through the centuries: “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” It i
Read the article "Changing the Culture" (handout distributed in class). WRITE YOUR NAME IN THE UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE HANDOUT as you will be turning it in.
FIRST, by the end of the period, I want to you: a) highlight or underline at least FIVE key points in the article.
THEN, write and email me a response of AT LEAST 300 WORDS addressing the content of this article. If you are Catholic, this response should include your own personal reaction to the article, focusing especially on your OWN EXPERIENCE in relation to what you read. If you are NOT Catholic, I simply want you to write a summary of the article in your own words (this also needs to be min. 300 words).
Religion III - 5.13.2019
Read the article linked below ("Catholic Evangelization 101- What Conversion Looks Like"). By the end of the period, I want to you write and email me a response of AT LEAST 300 WORDS addressing the content of this article. I do not want a summary of the article, or a regurgitated version of the content; what I DO want is to see that your response addresses a) your own personal response and b) your ability to apply it to the current Catholic context at Bishop Guilfoyle (you can do this even if you're not Catholic). In other words: what is especially true or striking to you when you read the article? What points are most necessary for Catholic students at BG to understand, respond to, and/or act on? You can use personal examples or general one to make/emphasize your points, but you do need to draw on the content of the article as a starting point. Our discussions on Confirmation the other day in class would be a good guide for what we are looking for. MUST BE COMPLETED BY THE END OF THE PERIOD, so keep your focus and work diligently!!
catholicmissionarydisciples.com/news/conversion
aleteia.org/2019/04/29/catholic-parish-dos-and-donts-from-millennials/
Rel. III - 4.15.2019
Emma Fradd- whyimcatholic.com/index.php/conversion-stories/catholic-reverts/158-catholic-revert-emma-fradd
Scott Wolze-
whyimcatholic.com/index.php/conversion-stories/catholic-reverts/157-catholic-revert-scott-woltze
Discipleship - 4.15.2019
FIRST, take your time and read Emma Fradd's conversion story: whyimcatholic.com/index.php/conversion-stories/catholic-reverts/158-catholic-revert-emma-fradd
SECOND, read Mary Bielski's blog article, "Can God Heal Me?" https://lifeteen.com/blog/can-god-heal-me/
THEN, compose a short reflection (NO LESS THAN 10 SENTENCES) in which you apply the principles of healing that Mary Bielski outlines to the stages of Emma Fradd's conversion. There is no one right answer; I want to see that YOU can make connections between the two.
FINALLY, write a second reflection (at least 5 sentences) in which you discuss whether you relate to either of these articles, or both, in ANY item or experience that they discussed.
This should be emailed to me by the end of the period.
Pre-AP Religion - 4.15.2019
Your assignment for today is to pick any combination of two characters, scenes, stories or settings that we have read about so far in "Death Comes for the Archbishop". FOR EACH, you will compose a poem that accurately describes that person/place/thing, to the best of your ability.
EACH POEM SHOULD BE NO LESS THAN 8 LINES (they can be longer, but NOT shorter), and they MUST follow this rhyme scheme:
ABAB CDCD
Both poems should be TITLED, put on a single file, and emailed to me by the end of the period!!!
Rel. III- 4.2.2019
www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/gay-and-catholic-interview-author-eve-tushnet
www.deseretnews.com/article/865662969/My-view-Catholic-lesbian-celibate-and-the-journey-to-self-acceptance.html
Catholic Discipleship- 3.25.2019
For today's assignment, you will begin with a minute or two of silent prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to enter into your heart and mind to guide you. Be sure to use that time to offer up any parts of your life, good or bad, strong or weak, that might need His loving attention!!
Then, check your email for a list of "15 Bible Verses That Changed My Life", which were posted online by a Christian. Send a RESPONSE EMAIL to me in which you briefly type out beside each verse either a) how God has fulfilled this verse for you in some way in the past, OR b) what God is saying to you in the present through this verse. Only be as detailed as you feel comfortable, but be sure to include a personal element! I will expect a 2-3 sentence MINIMUM for each. Be prayerful & thoughtful as you look at each verse and you should have no problem.
This must be completed and emailed back to me by the end of the period!!!
-in Christ, Mr. Sutton
Religion III- sample- Saint project
rel.iii-projectsample.saints.pptx
Catholic Discipleship- 3.1.2019
.
You will begin our 'Film Project' today and continue in the coming weeks, every Monday.
In a group of three-four people, you will:
- 1) design a 2-minute commercial for faith in Jesus
- 2) design a 10-minute documentary on how to find and/or encounter Christ as a teen
- 3) design a 30-minute film presenting the message of Christ to BG
Begin by plotting out details of what you will include in outline form, including the amount of time it will take. This should include music, images, skits, scriptures, themes, etc.
Feel free to look at commercials & brief related content online for help in planning—tutorials would apply to this as well.
Keep this on an open file to be submitted at a later date.
If you complete the outline, you should start assembling script details (write lines of dialogue, pick scriptures & images to include, etc.)
Catholic Discipleship- 2.22 & 24.2019
For your assignment, you are going to follow up on the movie "I'm Not Ashamed" with two writing assignments. You will have today and Monday in class to work on both parts, so take your time & do well. The assignment will be due at the end of class on Monday, so if you think you'll need more time than that you should work on it over the weekend.
Both assignments should be emailed to me no later than Monday evening, Feb. 24th. Later than this and points will be deducted.
PART 1 - PERSONAL RESPONSE
Compose a three-paragraph essay response in which you answer the following:
Paragraph 1 - What was your personal reaction to the movie overall, and why? What was your favorite scene and why? If you were asked what lesson that perhaps God was trying to communicate to YOU through this film, what do you think that is?
Paragraph 2 - This is specifically made as a Christian film. What do you think were the most significant parts of the film in terms of communicating "authentic" Christianity, and why?
Paragraph 3 - Rachel spoke of wanting to have a "chain reaction" happen in the lives of others through acts of love, forgiveness, compassion, etc. What are some ways that you believe you might be able to put that philosophy into action right now in your life?
PART 2 - RACHEL SCOTT & ROMANS 8
Begin by reading chapter 8 of the Letter to the Romans.
THEN, compose an essay of no less than 500 words describing how Rachel Scott's life makes this particular chapter of the Bible come to life in a real and relatable way.
You should structure your essay around any THREE scripture verses from Romans 8 (you should have many to pick from!). Address each of the three verses in a separate paragraph, and be specific in how it applies to Rachel's life as portrayed in "I'm Not Ashamed."
Each paragraph will begin with the verse itself (be sure to cite it, chapter & verse); the rest of the paragraph will describe exactly how this verse connects to Rachel's life, being sure to give specifics from her life in order to make that connection (so don't just say "this applies because she was always a good person"-- give details, not generalities!).
Catholic Discipleship- 2.8.2019
For your assignment, begin by silently reading any THREE of the links below. ONCE YOU HAVE FINISHED, form a group of 3-4 students MAXIMUM and discuss your readings. Discussion should include summarizing the articles for your group and what you did/didn't like about them, as well as one positive lesson you drew from each article. Some in the group are likely to have read some of the same readings-- be sure that each person who read a given article gets their chance to talk about it.
Make sure to have one person from the group send me an email (listing all names of the people in your group) that 1) summarizes what you discussed together, 2) what the BEST article each of you read was (and why), and 3) THREE TOPICS you would love to see a Christian-blog article written about, and WHY (for each!). This is due to me TODAY!
"Why A Relationship With Jesus Isn't Safe" - lifeteen.com/blog/relationship-jesus-isnt-safe/
"Common Misconceptions About Jesus" - lifeteen.com/blog/common-misconceptions-jesus/
"When You Can't Escape Loneliness" - lifeteen.com/blog/cant-escape-loneliness/
"Are You In A Toxic Relationship" - lifeteen.com/blog/are-you-in-a-toxic-relationship/
"Praising in Consolation and Praying in Desolation" - lifeteen.com/blog/praising-consolation-praying-desolation/
"Let's Talk About Suicide" - lifeteen.com/blog/lets-talk-suicide/
"Start Living Your Personal Mission Now" - lifeteen.com/blog/start-living-personal-mission-now/
"Why We Have To Stop Saying 'Modest is Hottest'" - lifeteen.com/blog/stop-saying-modest-hottest/
Catechism worksheet
www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1B.HTM
Religion III - "Kintsugi"
digg.com/video/kintsugi-japanese-pottery-repair
Religion III - Abortion reflection
1. www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46994583
2. rel_iii_-_abortion.docx
Religion III- "Creation Foundations"
rel_iii-_genesis1-3.annotated.docx
Religion III- Virtual Day- 11.24.2019
Prager U- www.youtube.com/watch?v=xliyujhwhNM
Sam Harris- www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL0zLED8mpo
Moral Vision - links
The Ethics of Peter Singer- www.bethinking.org/morality/life-after-god-the-ethics-of-peter-singer
Euclid as Founding Father- nautil.us/issue/41/selection/euclid-as-founding-father
Rel. III- MIDTERM NOTES
rel_iii-_midterm.notes.pptx
REL. III- Dr. King & Natural Law
www.summit.org/resources/articles/martin-luther-king-and-natural-law/#2
ONLY AFTER YOU COMPLETE THE PUZZLE, you are to compose a short description of what you think is going on in this painting, based on visual clues alone (symbols, lighting, position, emotion, etc.-- what you would normally use to analyze art). In other words- what is the story of these characters and their relationship based only on your visual analysis of the painting? NO LESS THAN 300 WORDS-- this must be EMAILED to me!!!
REL. III- LifeTeen blogs- YOUR choice
You've already done a few worksheets analyzing specific 'LifeTeen' blogs that I picked out for you to read. Your assignment for today is to navigate the LifeTeen website to find THREE blogs that you are actually interested in. Please note: when you go to the website (linked below!), you will need to click on the 'Blogs' tab. The drop-down menu will give you topic choices: 1) Faith, 2) Prayer, 3) Relationships, 4) Life, 5) Culture and 6) Life Teen. Each of these options lists the two most recent articles under that topic; but if you click 'more', it will give you pages and pages of previous blogs under that topic.
FOR YOUR ASSIGNMENT, scroll through these blog options and pick any THREE blog articles to read; EACH NEEDS TO BE FROM UNDER A DIFFERENT TOPIC HEADING (that is, one blog each from any 3 of the 6 topic headings listed). Take your time and honestly read through them. THEN, email me the following information for EACH blog article you read:
1) The full title of the article & the Topic heading you found it under.
2) THREE FULL SENTENCES summarizing the article.
3) the reason WHY you picked that particular article.
4) What you thought about the article after finishing it, and why.
***This assignment MUST be turned in by the end of the period to receive full credit!
REL. III- Lifeteen Blogs
"Stop Complaining About God When You Don't Know Him" lifeteen.com/blog/stop-complaining-god-dont-know/
"Church is More Than Sunday Mass" lifeteen.com/blog/church-sunday-mass/
"I Didn't Feel Anything: Searching for Christ After Confirmation" lifeteen.com/blog/i-didnt-feel-anything-searching-for-christ-after-confirmation/
"Does Being Catholic Make Me A Bigot?" lifeteen.com/blog/catholic-make-bigot/
'Miracles from Heaven'- link
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3502738/Mommy-just-want-die-little-girl-story-told-Miracles-Heaven-just-wanted-suffering-end-days-later-miraculously-cured-Jesus-fell-hollow-tree.html
Catholic Discipleship- 'Mary, the New Eve'
biblestudyforcatholics.com/mary-new-eve-spiritual-mother/
Pre-AP Religion: Describing Jesus
For this assignment, you will create a short (300-word) description of seeing and hearing Jesus teach, much as Daniel does in chapter 4 of "The Bronze Bow." You don't have to include all the following information, but these would be a good guide for you: what did He look like? Dress like? What was His voice like? His face, His eyes? How did He treat people and how did they react to Him? What did He talk about? What was His manner, His way of speaking, moving, eating, etc?. (feel free to go beyond these questions).
Then, at the END of your writing, write three ADJECTIVES that you feel would best describe this man after the FIRST time you see Him.
Email your descriptions/adjectives to me no later than tonight. You can type your answers right into the body of the email OR send it as a PDF file. Let me know if you have any questions!
Pre-AP Religion: Virtual Day 11.16.2018
For today's Virtual Day assignment, you are going to work to create a Powerpoint entitled "Casting Call." You will create a Powerpoint file (create in slides, but send to ME as a PDF!) in which you try to find real-life people that you feel resemble characters from "The Bronze Bow" as accurately as possible. For each slide, you will have two content areas: 1) a picture that you feel comes closest to looking like this character as you imagine them; 2) three adjectives that you feel most capture this character in the book (so each slide will have a picture, the character's name, and three words). You should end up with 9 slides (1 title slide at the beginning, then 1 for each character listed below; the title slide should have your name and the title 'Casting Call: The Bronze Bow' typed on it). The characters should be in the exact order on the slides that they appear on the list below.
***NOTE!!! PLEASE TRY YOUR BEST to make these pictures truly resemble the character, and be able to explain them as such (you will have to present them later). DO NOT GOOF AROUND OR LOOK FOR FUNNY/SILLY PICTURES on this one; you'll be graded on how WELL you capture the character, not on originality, for this project. Take it seriously!
Have fun!!
- Daniel
- Rosh
- Samson
- Joel
- Daniel’s grandmother
- Thace
- Leah
- Simon (the zealot)
REL. III- Virtual Day- 11.15.2018
For Virtual Day today, watch the video linked below ("The Confession"); then, type a short essay in the body of an email to me (it should be typed right into the body of the email-- do NOT send as a separate attached file) according to the guidelines listed below.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz4GIecaA-o
In a short ESSAY (NO LESS THAN 300 WORDS, though you can certainly have more), respond to this video by addressing these three areas:
- Your overall reaction to this video, with an explanation of WHY that is your reaction
- What the main idea of this theme was (in your opinion) in terms of a religious or faith-based theme, describing how the video tried to make that theme come to life
- What message you think this video is trying to give about the sacrament of confession specifically
- Whether or not you think it was wrong for the priest to lie, and why/why not.
REL. III- Lifeteen Blogs
"That's True Love" lifeteen.com/blog/thats-true-love/
"The 6 Things I Learned When I Took a Class on Forgiveness" lifeteen.com/blog/6-lessons-learned-took-class-forgiveness/
"The Emptiness of Me, Myself and I" lifeteen.com/blog/the-emptiness-of-me-myself-and-i/
"Learning I Was Made for Love" lifeteen.com/blog/learning-made-love/
Christian Discipleship- 11.13.2018
For Thursday's block schedule class, Catholic speaker/evangelist Maggie Craig will be our guest. Maggie will be doing a presentation for us and will have some time for Q & A.
For your assignment today, go to Maggie's website ( www.maggie-craig.com/ ). She has a brief bio near the top, and if you scroll waaaaaay down to the bottom, you'll find that she wrote four blog entries on various topics (the first one being 'After Retreat Ends').
The FIRST part of today's assignment is to read through these four blog entries.
The SECOND part of the assignment is to come up with ONE question you'd like to ask Maggie about her life, faith or ministry (you can quickly see examples of it, including where all she's been recently, by scrolling & scanning the rest of her page). EMAIL THAT QUESTION TO ME BY THE END OF THE PERIOD.
The THIRD part of the assignment is to compose your OWN 'blog entry' that might fit on a page like this. Pick any Christian topic you'd like to talk about, and use an example from your own life to illustrate the point. It should be roughly the length of one of Maggie's posts; use hers as a reference point in terms of tone & structure. This will be HOMEWORK, but should be emailed back to me (as a PDF file) no later than TOMORROW (Wednesday).
REL. III- Letter From Birmingham Jail
web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Letter_Birmingham_Jail.pdf
Christian Discipleship- 10.30.2018
For your assignment, begin by silently reading any THREE of the links below. ONCE YOU HAVE FINISHED, form a group of 2-3 students MAXIMUM and discuss your readings. Have one person send me an email (listing all three of your names) that 1) summarizes what you discussed together, 2) what the BEST article each of you read was (and why), and 3) any THREE questions you/people in your group have about Catholic belief about confession, sin, or forgiveness. This is due to me TODAY!
"Why I Tell My Sins to a Person: In Defense of Confession" lifeteen.com/blog/tell-sins-person-defense-confession/
"The Harshest Thing You'll Hear in Confession" lifeteen.com/blog/harshest-thing-youll-hear-confession/
"How to Prepare for the Confession of a Lifetime" lifeteen.com/blog/prepare-confession-lifetime/
"If You're Broken, You Belong" lifeteen.com/blog/youre-broken-belong/
"Mistakes You Need to Let Go Of" lifeteen.com/blog/mistakes-need-let-go/
"Mercy is the Refuge in my Storms" lifeteen.com/blog/mercy-refuge-storms/
"How to Make a Good Confession" lifeteen.com/blog/make-good-confession/
Christian Discipleship- Journal Entry
For your journal, write a reflection (directed towards the Lord) on how He has worked in your life during this first quarter of school, and where your relationship is at with Him now. What good things has He put in your life in the last few months? What challenges has He given you? Did you have any 'moments of closeness' where you felt Him present, either in or out of school? What do you want His help with during the 2nd quarter? What are some things you can ask Him to do in your life right now?
Rel. III Assignment
Read the short story by Flannery O'Connor ("Everything That Rises Must Converge") that is linked below. WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED, take a copy of the worksheet based on the story to complete.
www.thomasaquinas.edu/pdfs/alumni/everything-that-rises.pdf
Catholic Discipleship Assignment
Read the 2 articles linked below. Then get into groups of 3-4 people and make a short PowerPoint together in which you summarize the key points of both. Each slide should have at least 1 picture, and bullet point notes that you would be able to do a presentation from. When you are finished, you should email the assignment to me AS A PDF FILE.
bulldogcatholic.org/old-testament-laws/
zondervanacademic.com/blog/jesus-in-the-old-testament/
REL. III- Dorothy Day Assignment
In-class worksheet- dorothydayguild.org/
"Day By Day: The Letters and Journals of Dorothy Day" - www.uscatholic.org/church/2010/09/day-day-letters-and-journals-dorothy-day
"Timeline/Pictorial Memoir" - dorothydayguild.org/about-her-life/timeline/
Religion III- UNIT 1 NOTES
reliii.morality.firstprinciples-pt.1.students.pptx
reliii.morality.firstprinciples-pt.2.students.pptx
Religion III - 'Famous Last Words'
Read the article below entitled "Famous Last Words". Answer the related questions on the worksheet provided by the teacher, & turn it in by the end of the period. International students ONLY may complete it for homework.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
Not quite a decade into the 2nd century A.D., a Roman ship was slowly making its way along the Mediterranean coast from the Middle East back to Rome. On board was a Christian prisoner with a band of soldiers guarding him. The prisoner, a bishop, knew very well that at the end of the journey he was to be thrown to the animals in the Roman arena. Yet, he maintained his calm and prayerful demeanor; and fortunately for him as well as for us, he was allowed access to quills, ink and parchment along the gradual voyage to his death.
The bishop’s name was Ignatius, and his pedigree was impressive. It is reported that he was a disciple of the apostle John, and likely met at least one of the other apostles as well. He was made bishop at Antioch in Syria, which might not mean much to you or I today but which, in the first centuries of Christianity, was one of the most important cities where the faith had taken root. The Acts of the Apostles describes the proclamation of the Gospel there within only a few decades of Jesus, and reports that it was in that city that people first started using the word “Christian” to describe His followers (cf. Acts 11:26). St. Peter is said to have been bishop there before moving on to Rome, with which his ministry is much more associated today. The fact that Ignatius was made bishop of a city as important as Antioch says much about what the Apostles and their successors thought of his quality. He appears to have been only the second or third bishop of Antioch (perhaps directly following St. Peter himself!), ministering there for some four decades to some of the earliest Christians in our history.
By 100 A.D., the last of the twelve Apostles had just died, and the Church was now in the hands of their successors. These men were bishops at a time when even being baptized could cost you your life in certain times and places in the Roman Empire. They were not popular except in Christian communities, and these were still a tiny, tiny part of the population. When the Emperor Trajan came to rule the Empire, he ordered one of the occasional-but-persistent persecutions of Christians therein. Ignatius was arrested in Antioch at that time and marked for deportation to Rome, where he would be executed. Because we know the dates of this persecution from historical records, we can narrow down the dates of Ignatius’ journey and his death to somewhere between 107-110 A.D.— only about 75 years after the resurrection of Jesus and maybe a dozen after the Apostles.
Along the way, Ignatius wrote seven letters, copies of which have survived down to this day. They were widely read and treasured in the early centuries of Christianity, and their beauty continues to win admiration today. Five of the letters were pastoral letters written to Christian communities in Ephesus (a ‘Letter to the Ephesians’ that you won’t find in the Bible!), Magnesia, Smyrna, Tralles, and Philadelphia (that was a city in Asia Minor, so don’t be afraid that he was an Eagles fan). These letters were written as a bishop to Christians, exhorting them to keep the faith and giving advice for how they should live and act accordingly. One letter was also written to a relatively young bishop named Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna (to whose people he had addressed one of the other letters), speaking to him as an older bishop to a younger one and likewise advising and encouraging him going forward. Polycarp, himself also a direct disciple of John the Apostle and then only in his thirties, would himself give his life as a martyr some fifty years later. The final letter Ignatius would write was addressed to the Christians of Rome, and is usually his most talked-about letter because of the intensely personal expressions faith and emotion that Ignatius makes in it.
In that ‘Letter of St. Ignatius to the Romans’ (written about 50 years after St. Paul’s New Testament letter), Ignatius makes an extended plea to the Christians Rome not to try to prevent his martyrdom. He appears to have heard that the Christians in Rome planned on making some plea for his release or perhaps buy his freedom; whatever their plan, he didn’t like the rumor. He tells them that this manner of death is the final seal on his discipleship, a way of imitating Christ that goes beyond all others, and a means by which he can share fellowship in a special way with the apostles and other martyrs of the early Church. These are quotes from the Penguin Classics translation of Ignatius’s Letter to the Romans in Early Christian Writings:
“I shall never have a better chance than this of getting to God; and you on your part will never have a finer piece of work to your credit, if only you will keep your lips sealed… Leave me to imitate the Passion of my God.”
“...pray leave me to be a meal for the beasts, for it is they who can provide my way to God. I am His wheat, ground fine by the lions’ teeth to be made purest bread for Christ. Better still, incite the creatures to become a sepulcher (tomb) for me; let them not leave the smallest scrap of my flesh, so that I need not be a burden to anyone after I fall asleep. When there is no trace of my body left for the world to see, then I shall truly be Jesus Christ’s disciple.”
“How I look forward to the real lions that have been got ready for me! All I pray is that I may find them swift. I am going to make overtures to them, so that, unlike some other wretches who have been too spiritless to touch, they may devour me with all speed. And if they are still reluctant, I shall use force to them [to try to get them to attack me]… Fire, cross, beast-fighting, hacking and quartering, splintering of bone and mangling of limb, even the pulverizing of my entire body— let every horrid and diabolical torment come upon me, provided only that I can win my way to Jesus Christ!”
Ignatius’s letters are worth reading, and it is easy nowadays to find them online. He has a simple teaching style with lots of imagery, as when he uses imagery from ancient construction sites to describe Christians as being “stones for the Father’s Temple, stones trimmed ready for God to build with, hoisted up by the derrick of Jesus Christ (the Cross) with the Holy Spirit for a cable; your faith being the winch that draws you up to God, up the ramp of love.” But given the simple beauty of his faith, it is good to close with another of his quotes that sums up the love that he continued to feel for the world (and his executioners!) even when being unjustly put to death: “Regarding the rest of mankind, you should pray for them unceasingly, for we can always hope that repentance may enable them to find their way to God. Give them a chance to learn from you, or at all events from the way you act. Meet their animosity with kindness, and their abuse with your prayers… and if they grow violent, be gentle instead of wanting to pay them back in their own coin.”
Ignatius's Letter to the Romans is also striking for its revelation of his attitude towards death, with which he turns to poetic imagery, like a man looking forward more to a wedding than a funeral:
How good it is to be sinking down below the world’s horizon towards God, to rise again later into the dawn of His presence!... Here and now, as I write in the fullness of life, I am yearning for death with all the passion of a lover. Earthly longings have been crucified; in me there is left no spark of desire for mundane things, but only a murmur of living water that whispers within me, ‘Come to the Father.’ There is no pleasure for me in any meats that perish, or in the delights of this life; I am fain for the bread of God, even the flesh of Jesus Christ, who is the seed of David; and for my drink I crave that Blood of His which is love imperishable...
One of the most striking details in the lives of many saints, in fact, is their approach to death when they know its approach. It’s not that they are not prey to the fears that each of us has when we realize our time on earth is soon coming to a close, and it’s certainly not that they enjoy pain and suffering of any sort more than we do. Rather, the strength of their friendship with God affords their hope a nearly unsinkable life preserver when they otherwise seem all alone in a dark ocean. Their fear is offset by their faith in what awaits them— a faith so well tried during their lives that it functions more as a matter of fact than of grasping at straws (as all faith should!). Some decades before Ignatius, St. Paul was awaiting his own execution in Rome, and expressed similar faith-filled resignation to his fate: “I am already being poured out like a [sacrifice], and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day” (2 Tim. 4:6-8). Though Paul expressed no doubts about his destination after death, he follows these rather sure sentiments by sharing with Timothy that he also feels loneliness and temptation all the same: “Try to join me soon… everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength… the Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to His heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:9,16-18).
Some of the final words of the saints are less poetic than Ignatius, of course, or less proclamatory than Paul. St. Teresa of Avila, as was her wont, expressed her thoughts simply as her final illness drew to its end: “After all, I die as a child of the Church. My Lord, it is time to move on. Well then, may Your will be done. O my Lord and my Spouse, the hour that I have longed for has come. It is time for us to meet one another.” More famously, St. Lawrence the deacon, while being burned alive on a grill, expressed his faith by maintaining his sense of humor; his last recorded words were spoken to the soldiers charged with this gruesome execution: “You can turn me over; I’m done on this side.”
St. Thomas More, the famous English martyr who was condemned to death for refusing to consent to his king’s break with the Catholic Church, also maintained a sense of humor on his way to execution. More, a husband and father, suffered greatly due his separation from his wife and daughter during the imprisonment beforehand, as well as due to the rough conditions of the prison. He had not been allowed to shave during that period of more than a year, and so when he was led to the public square to be beheaded, he did so with a long beard. Coming to the steps leading up to the scaffold, he joked to a nearby soldier: “Pray, sir, help my body up the steps; it will find its own way back down.” When he got to the platform, he asked the assembled crowd to pray for him, knelt down, and prayed one of the psalms aloud. He went to the block and when the executioner asked his forgiveness, Thomas told him to cheer up so that he could focus on his job instead— after all, he explained, he had a short neck and so the man would need to concentrate to do the job right. Thomas then admonished the man with the axe not to strike immediately when he put his head on the block, but to wait until he moved his beard aside, “for I am losing my head for treason; but my beard didn’t do anything wrong!” Aside from these little jokes, though, it was St. Thomas More’s more serious line just before his execution that has echoed down through the centuries: “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” It i