Religion

GRADE 7 RELIGION

Our mission as a Catholic school is to pass on the Catholic faith so that it is understood, valued, and integrated into the whole student’s life. Throughout the curriculum, students are taught the Gospel values of love, forgiveness, honesty, compassion and service, as well as the difference between right and wrong. While learning about Jesus this year, we seek to awaken students to a personal relationship with Jesus.

Our text for Grade Seven is We Live Our Faith As Disciples of Jesus, Sadlier) . This course centers on the person and the mission of Jesus as they are presented in the Gospels. Students have heard the Gospels at Mass and in earlier religion classes. They now will have the opportunity to study the Gospels from beginning to end. The story of Jesus is divided into four units with the following themes:

1. Who Is God?
2. Who Is Jesus?
3. How Is Jesus Christ Alive in the Church Today?
4. How Does the Church Live As the Body of Christ?

Our school worships together at Mass each month on Holy Days and on particular Saint’s Feast Days. Seventh graders assist at a monthly Mass as readers, servers, and gift bearers . We gather together for prayer on occasions of thanksgiving, celebration, sadness and joy. Each morning, we begin our day with prayer, scripture reading, and respect for our country led by students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

As the family of St. Mary School, an important goal is to help students to be aware of the opportunities and needs of others around them. We encourage them to follow Jesus’ call to serve one another. Some of the ways that children have served others are: donating food to St. Anne’s Food Pantry; collecting winter coats, hats, and mittens for people in need. During Lent, students have earned, saved and donated money to ‘adopt’ students in Haiti to provide them with the opportunity to attend school and to receive one meal a day. One class has made and given baskets of personal items to patients at the Notre Dame Nursing Home as well as making birthday cards for the residents. Another class does the school-wide paper recycling. Last year, students collected items and sent Care Packages to people serving in the military overseas.