Open Classroom

August 25–December 12

$400

“This catechism is conceived as an organic presentation of the Catholic faith in its entirely. It should be seen therefore as a unified whole.” So speaks the Catechism of itself at paragraph 18. In this course the body of the faith as an integrated whole is sought. This involves both the account of doctrinal content and development, but also by way of reflection upon the methodological ordering of that content, such that the CCC establishes a “methodological-content,” and a paradigm for all forms of evangelization and catechesis. Other doctrinal and catechetical sources will be presented (Conciliar canons, Roman Catechism, etc.) so that a full doctrinal synthesis will be presented.

CERTIFICATES FOR CATHOLIC EDUCATORS

August 25–December 12

$400

The essential mark of a Catholic school is that it presents “a Catholic worldview throughout the curriculum” (Archbishop Michael Miller, The Holy See’s Teaching on Catholic Schools, 2006).  This certificate program introduces educators to the holy wisdom found in a fully integrated Catholic education.  This program is guided by the Congregation for Catholic Education’s document “TheReligious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School,” which provides a practical roadmap for renewing a school by grounding all its activities in the faith. The program consists of seven courses:

·     The Mystery of the Human Person

·     Our Philosophic Heritage

·     The Book of Nature: Science and Faith

·     A Providential God: The Drama of Human History

·     The Artistic and Literary Patrimony of Christianity

·     Educating the Christian Person

·     The Worshiping Person

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CERTIFICATES FOR CATHOLIC EDUCATORS

August 25–December 12

$400

This certificate program provides training in the seven liberal arts, which are the streams that lead through the essential disciplines of the mind to the ocean of divine wisdom: God himself, the source of all truth and the end of all our striving for wisdom. The program consists of seven 3-hour courses:

·     Grammar and the Power of Words

·     Perfecting Thought Through Logic

·     Rhetoric: Empowering Truth

·     Imagination and the Art of Geometry

·     Arithmetic and the Power of Number

·     The Heavenly Art of Astronomy

·     Music: Understanding the Mysteries

August 25-December 12

$400

This course helps students to understand the unity of God’s plan of salvation from Creation to the Second Coming. By a thorough overview of the Old and New Testaments, this course introduces Catholic exegetical approaches and theological interpretation, aiding students in reading Scripture as the work of God. Students engage some comparative primary texts and grapple with historiographical questions that help them to demonstrate the reliability of the Bible. With a special focus on the themes of covenant and mission, the course illustrates how Jesus fulfills God’s promises and how he invites his followers to share in his work of evangelization.

August 25-December 12

$400

The four canonical Gospels constitute “the principal witness for the life and teaching of the incarnate Word, our savior” (Dei Verbum 18). For believers, the highest aim of all study of the Gospels is to know Jesus Christ ever more fully. In this course, students will gain insight into how historical, literary, and theological tools can be fruitfully engaged to that end. The relationship between the Gospels and the Old Testament receives special consideration. The course primarily follows a canonical itinerary, attending to the distinctive characteristics of each of the Evangelists’ portrayals of the one Lord Jesus Christ.

August 25-December 12

$400

This course will explore the literature of worship and wisdom in the Old Testament. Through an in-depth engagement with these ancient texts in light of recent scholarship, students will examine the historical background, literary provenance and poetic purposes of the diverse books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Sirach and Wisdom. Rather than limiting the scope to form-critical and compositional concerns, the course will consider the function of the Psalms in the cult of ancient Israel and the social role and development of wisdom literature in the life of post-exilic Judaism. Furthermore, this course will uncover the roots of Christological interpretation of the Psalms in the New Testament, and the use of Psalms in Jewish and Christian traditions of prayer. The course will highlight the theological significance of these texts’ structures, their inner coherence, their original meaning and their relevance for the life of the Church today.

August 25–December 12

$400

Pope Benedict XVI called for a “biblical apostolate” in which Sacred Scripture inspires and informs all pastoral work. This class responds to his call by helping students to engage the Word of God so that it may enliven faith, transform the mind, and inform the way the gospel message is communicated. We will look at teachers of Scripture from across the history of the Church. Students will gain a deeper appreciation of the Word of God by an attentive reading of select biblical passages, considering them in light of their historical milieu, representative patristic sources, reflections offered by saints, and select contemporary scholarship. This class will focus on practical application.

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August 25-December 12

$400

Students will read substantially the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church together with selections from the Fathers of the Church, noted saints such as St. Augustine, and key post- conciliar papal teachings.

August 25-December 12

$400

Students will be introduced to the history of the Church and her mission of evangelization and catechesis by reading texts from Ignatius of Antioch, Athanasius, Augustine, Benedict, Gregory the Great, Bernard, Francis de Sales, John Henry Newman, and Karol Wojtyła (John Paul II).

August 25-December 12

$400

"Whoever finds me finds life” (Proverbs 8:35). Wisdom hereby summons us to the intellectual and spiritual pursuit of Christ, “who became for us Wisdom from God” (1 Corinthians 1:30). In this course we reflect on Jesus Christ as the revelation of the trinitarian God, the head of the Church, the source and rule of moral life, and the priest and victim of the Eucharistic sacrifice. Through this Christological lens we recognize the unity of ecclesiology, Mariology, asceticism, ethics, soteriology, mystagogy, and eschatology. St. Augustine’s ecclesial prayer of the Psalms provides an entry point for our reflection on Christ according to these aspects.