Page 14 - Confirmation Junior High

Teaching the Lesson
Step 6 (5-10 Minutes)
Have the young people work in pairs to complete Activity 1 on page 4. Explain that this activity will help them practice making good moral decisions. Invite the pairs of young people to discuss the scenario, answer the questions, and, if there’s time, share their responses with the larger group.
Step 7 (10-15 Minutes)
Read the text about virtues on page 6. Review the human virtues and theological virtues, discuss ways each of the human virtues can help the young people live as followers of Christ.
Have the young people complete Activity 2 to learn more about the theological virtues. Provide the following instructions for how to create a mind map:
1. Write or draw your main idea in the middle of the page then draw a frame around it.
2. Draw a branch o your main idea. On the branch, write or draw a main topic related
to your main idea.
3. Con nue to branch o from your main idea. Use a di erent color for each branch (main topic).
4. From each main topic branch, branch o with sub-topics (con nue to use color).
5. From your sub-topics, branch o with suppor ng details. Use words or graphics to represent your details.
Notes
The Ten Commandments
1 I am the Lord your God...you shall not have other gods before me.
God calls you to believe in him and to have hope in him. Responding to God’s loving call means to love him above all else and to worship him in thought, word, and deed.
This includes keeping your promises to him.
2You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
Respecting holy names and holy language is a must, especially names associated with God, Mary, or any saint.
3Remember the sabbath day, to
keep it holy.
The Lord’s Day—Sunday—is the day on which Jesus
rose from the dead. Because of this, Sunday is the most important day of the week for Christians, our Sabbath. It is our duty to celebrate and worship God by participating in Mass on Sunday. Avoiding unnecessary work, relaxing with family and friends, engaging in prayer and worship, and simply enjoying this day of the week—these activities are so good for us that God, out of love for us, actually commands us to do them.
4Honor your father and your mother.
Obeying this Commandment involves showing a special love,
respect, and concern not only for your parents, but also for relatives, teachers, and others in authority. It simply makes sense to respect and try to learn from those with legitimate authority and more experience in life.
5You shall not kill.
We respect life because it comes from God, our Creator. Abortion, euthanasia, murder, and suicide violate respect for human life and the dignity of each human person. The Good News of Jesus is a Gospel of life that calls for all people to be free from physical and emotional harm.
6You shall not commit adultery.
Adultery is a sin against chastity. Chastity—a healthy, holy
attitude toward sexuality—is the key to obeying this Commandment. All of us are called by God to be chaste—to accept our sexuality as a gift to be used wisely. God made us male and
female, each with dignity and a call from God either to live as a married person or to remain single, each for the sake of his
heavenly Kingdom. With Jesus as our model, we must strive to live chastely in whatever state of life God has
planned for us.
7You shall not steal.
Not only is stealing forbidden in our covenant of love with God, but loss from theft or intentional damage
of another’s property must be repaid. Any misuse of one person’s property or services is an injustice because it wastes
good things that God created for humanity’s bene t.
8You shall not bear false witness against
your neighbor.
Truth is essential to society. Lying—saying something that is
false with the intention of deceiving someone—hurts both the liar and the person lied to or about and damages social trust. Harmful speech also includes gossip and spreading rumors.
9You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
Striving for purity of heart and body enables us to see the human body—our own and our neighbor’s—as a temple of the Holy Spirit. The virtue of modesty helps us to act, dress, and speak in ways that honor this dignity.
10You shall not covet...anything that belongs to your neighbor. (Exodus 20:2–17)
This Commandment forbids greed and gathering excessive earthly goods and riches. It also warns against envying others’ possessions or talents. If we keep God’s covenant by using well our possessions and talents, God will keep his covenant by rewarding us—if not in this life, then certainly in the next.
Activity 1 What is your conscience saying to you?
Imagine yourself at school with your friends, laughing and talking between classes. A student with few friends walks by, some people begin to say mean things, and a couple of your friends laugh.
You Decide
What Commandment does the ridicule go against?
What could you have done to change the situa on and honor the Commandment?
4 Lesson 2
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20 Lesson 2