To Know, Worship & Love: Catholic Studies Year 11-13 NZ

The thirteenth book in the series Catholic Studies for Senior Secondary Students spans the last two years of secondary education or high school, pre-university levels in Australia and many other countries. Most of the content is also appropriate for adult education. Every chapter is cross-referenced with the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is meant to be used with this text.

Themes selected by a working committee were prepared by invited writers, with the needs of students aged between 16 and 18 in view. At this stage, Christian apologetics is urgently needed, hence a “meat and vegetables” approach to the Christian “basics” in the first three chapters: God, Jesus the Christ, and The Human Person. In chapter 4, How Should we Live?, some themes in Catholic Ethical Thinking for Senior Secondary Students, reappear in a compact way. The chapter concludes with ultimate accountability beyond death ”“ heaven, hell and purgatory.

Chapter 5, Vocation and Life, combines a Christian philosophy of life itself as “vocation”, with the specific vocations: marriage, single life, religious life, priesthood etc. A surprising section is on the heroic vocation of the martyrs, using the White Rose student resistance movement in war-time Munich as an example. This book includes the Appendix found in the text on ethics, When a Catholic Marries, describing the requirements and procedures for a valid sacramental marriage.

After trialling and following a proven curriculum, it was thought best to reserve Catholics and Ecumenism, chapter 7 , and Catholics and World Religions, chapter 8, to these final high school levels. At this stage, teachers can expect a more mature understanding of these complex topics, which are proposed in the light of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and current directives and guidelines.

The Arts and Religion, chapter 9, includes some unusual material with the vivid use of art that characterizes all these texts. Science and Religion, chapter 10, reminds religious educators that many students to live their faith in the world of science and technology. The positive Catholic attitude to science is reinforced, and the theory of evolution is presented with “intelligent design” to provoke discussion and reflection. A useful web link for the science and religion conversation is www.faith.org.uk

Chapter 11 on the Scriptures is for students who do not take courses specifically devoted to Scriptural study. It counteracts fundamentalism, which students will encounter at university, and affirms the Church's understanding of God's Word.

The extensive chapter on spirituality explores various classical ways of praying in the Catholic tradition. This leads into the final chapter, on the Eucharist. In a spiritual way the chapter seeks to confront a reality ”“ that the test of Catholic commitment beyond school years will be regular worship at Mass and an ordered sacramental life. World Youth Day in Sydney 2008 is suggested within the encouraging perspective of Pope Benedict's call to young people, to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

Bishop Peter Elliott, General Editor

A Tour through the Chapters of Catholic Studies

It seemed obvious to begin Catholic Studies with a chapter on God, and the author skilfully balanced classical Catholic understandings of God derived from natural and supernatural revelation, with the interests and issues students raise. There is an underlying theme of apologetics and the Trinity is presented as the author rightly insisted.
The second chapter Jesus the Christ covers key areas of Christology: Incarnation, Redemption and Resurrection, with an emphasis on the first and the third themes because of obvious issues in apologetics at this level. Young people ask: Was he really divine? Was he fully human? Did he really rise from the dead? But this is integrated with catechesis, a call to faith, honouring what our existing catechetical traditions maintain, putting the key question: what does Jesus Christ mean to me? ......