Press to see Academic Curriculum for Year II

Academics for Year I
2008-2009
CALENDAR & LISTING

ACADEMIC CALENDAR - YEAR I

• ADVISOR & PARTICIPANT MEETING
  Choose one of two locations:
  Wednesday, September 17, 2008 from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
  University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein
  OR
  Wednesday, September 24, 2008 from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
  St. Xavier University, Chicago
  
• COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR MINISTRY
  7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
  Week of September 8, 2008 thru Week of October 13, 2008
• CHURCH HISTORY/ECCLESIOLOGY
  7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
  Week of October 20, 2008 thru Week of December 8, 2008
• INTRO TO CATECHISM & CATHOLIC DOCTRINE
  7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
  Week of January 5, 2009 thru Week of February 2, 2009
• OLD TESTAMENT
  7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
  Week of February 9, 2009 thru Week of May 18, 2009
• No classes week of April 12, 2009 - Easter Week

ACADEMIC LISTING - YEAR I

Communication Skills for Ministry (Fall/Six 2½ hour sessions)

Back to Calendar Year I

This course is based on the conviction that genuine, respectful, mutual relationships are important, indeed essential, for ministry. As a foundation for those relationships, the course offers experience-based skills training and emphasizes the urgency of utilizing effective communication in every dimension of life and ministry.

Specifically, participants are challenged to develop the skills of reflective listening, conflict management, and assertion. This course avoids a “skills only” approach by providing a scriptural and theological understanding of the psychology of human interaction and by examining how the various communications skills are components not only of good mental health but of living the gospel as well. While these skills are useful in many settings, their exercise in ministry situations receives special attention.

Text:  Ferder, Fran, Word Made Flesh Ave, Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, 1986

Ecclesiology/Church History (Fall/Eight 2 hour sessions)

Back to Calendar Year I

In order for people to be effective ministerially in their local community, they need to be aware of the self-understanding of the Church in the modern world and to appreciate the character of her history. This course focuses on the dynamic mission of the Church as it has unfolded over the past two thousand years. Participants examine our Catholic heritage as manifested in the lives of key figures. Then they reflect on the understanding of the Church and its mission as expressed in central documents of Vatican II.

While participants come to appreciate the Church as organic and developing, the approach is more pastoral than exclusively historical. Participants are encouraged to situate the local church and their own ministry in the context of the church universal.

Text:  Anthony E. Gilles, People of God: The History of Catholic Christianity,
          St. Anthony Messenger Press

Introduction to the Catechism and Catholic Doctrine(Spring/Five 2 hour sessions)

Back to Calendar Year I

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a foundational document and important resource for all people in ministry. This introductory class will take the participants through the “four pillars” that provide the structure of the Catechism, giving them familiarity and the ability to utilize the Catechism personally and in ministerial situations. Another goal of this course is to lay the foundation for the rest of the Called & Gifted program by helping the participants understand the relationship of Scripture and Tradition along with an appreciation of the teaching authority of the Church. Lastly, the class will familiarize the students with basic theological and ecclesial vocabulary in addition to giving them a basic overview of the following elements of Catholic teaching.

Texts:  Catechism of the Catholic Church; A Concise Dictionary of Theology;
            The Catholic Way

Old Testament (Spring/Fourteen 2 hour sessions)

Back to Calendar Year I

Those who minister in the Catholic Church need to situate their faith and service within the tradition of God’s chosen people. For this reason, the program provides comprehensive study of the Scriptures with an introductory survey course. The three major divisions of the course are:

Topics covered within this course are:

Each section is approached from historical, theological, & literary perspectives. Biblical foundations of social justice are also covered. In addition to grasping the basic material, the participants learn to:

Text:  The Catholic Bible: Personal Study Edition, New York, N.Y., Oxford University
           Press, 1995
 

Academics for Year II
2008-2009
CALENDAR & LISTING
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ACADEMIC CALENDAR - YEAR II

• SUMMER READING - Due: September 15, 2008
• MINISTRY VISIT - Due: February 15, 2009
• NEW TESTAMENT
  7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
  Week of September 8, 2008 thru Week of December 8, 2008
• SACRAMENTAL THEOLOGY
  7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
  Week of January 5, 2009 thru Week of February 23, 2009
• CHRISTOLOGY
  7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
  Week of March 2, 2009 thru Week of March 30, 2009
• PEACE & JUSTICE
  7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
  Week of April 6, 2009 thru Week of May 11, 2009
• No classes week of April 12, 2009 - Easter Week
• CONVOCATION
  MAY 9, 2009 at 3:00 pm - USML AUDITORIUM
• LITURGY OF THANKSGIVING
  May 31, 2009 at 3:00 pm - Saint Lawrence O'Toole in Matteson, IL

ACADEMIC LISTING - YEAR II

New Testament (Fall/Fourteen 2 hour sessions)

Back to Calendar Year II

A person’s call to ministry comes through membership in the community of the disciples of Jesus. Familiarity with the record of the earliest disciples’ experience of Jesus and of their efforts to follow him is the goal of the study of the New Testament. The three major division of the course are:

This course begins with introducing participants to the world of the New Testament and how the gospels were written. Each gospel’s specific setting, structure, and theological themes are explored. Parables, miracles and the passion and resurrection narratives are covered. Bridging from Luke into Acts, the rest of the course covers the early Christian community, Paul and his purpose in writing. Paul’s literary style and several Letters are explored.

Recurring questions are “Who is Jesus?” and “What difference does it make?”. As with the Old Testament, participants are encouraged to move from a literal perspective to a critical interpretation of Scripture. Reflection papers and small group discussions are designed to promote the integration of course content with one’s faith life, to increase the ability to articulate one’s faith, to attend to pastoral implications, and to grasp the social dimension of the gospel.

Text:  The Catholic Bible: Personal Study Edition, New York, N.Y: Oxford University
           Press, 1995

Sacramental Theology (Winter/ Eight 2 hour sessions)

Back to Calendar Year II

Regardless of one’s specific area of ministry, every minister in the Catholic community must be conversant with the sacramental life of the church and aware of the elements of communal prayer and worship. This course is designedly pastoral and ministerial in its approach, providing a background for authentic planning, preparation, and celebration of parish sacramental life.

Participants come to appreciate the sacramentality of life, to understand the church as a Eucharistic community, and view the other sacraments in this context. Participants study principles of and acquire practice in leading communal prayer.

Text:   Joseph, Doors to the Sacred,
            First published in 1999.
            Printed by Cromwell Press. Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14 0XB

Christology (Spring/Five 2½ hour sessions)

Back to Calendar Year II

No one can minister in the name of Jesus without being able to answer Jesus’ own question, “Who do you say I am?”. Each generation finds its own words and images with which to articulate the church’s answer to that question. New insights and movements shed light on previous understandings. This course will investigate the search for the historical Jesus; the humanity and development of Jesus; the Church’s articulation of its understanding of Jesus through church councils and magisterial teaching; the Jesus of History vs. Jesus of faith; the insights of contemporary Christology’s (liberation, feminist); and living the paschal mystery in one’s own life.

Text:  True God True Man, Loyola Press
  

Peace & Justice (Spring/Five 2½ hour sessions)

Back to Calendar Year II

Living the gospel calls for going beyond a “me and Jesus” mentality to recognizing that each Christian must bring Christ into the marketplace in an effort to make this a more just world. Building the kingdom involves more than caring for fellow parishioners. It calls us to recognize that God’s reign becomes visible among us when the hungry are fed and the naked are clothed, when widows and orphans are cared for, and when the oppressed are liberated.

This course will stress and examine how working for peace and justice is deeply rooted in biblical spirituality; that the church has a rich tradition of social documents calling the world to be a just and peaceful society; and specific strategies for facilitating a ministry of peace & justice in parishes.

Texts:  Thomas Massaro, S.J., Living Justice, Franklin, WI: Sheed & Ward 2000
             Communities of Salt and Light, Parish Resource Manual, United States
             Catholic Conference