We will doing some Apologetics this year and some Church History with the high school class. This should be real fun. Church History is of course one of my favorites.
Much of the remaining focus of the class will be on developing a prayer life. I was lucky when I was in high school. I frequented an Opus Dei Center in those years and had spiritual direction and learned (at least the start) of mental prayer.
Every year I start the class with a little discussion of why we come. Here's an outline of how it gets directed. (Of course it is a discussion, but I bring it around to these points):
1. We come to CCD to know Christ.
2. We come to know Christ by reading about Him, i.e. Holy Scripture. ("Ignorance of the Gospel is ignorance of Christ!")
3. We come to know Christ by learning about the Church He founded. The Catholic Church was founded by Christ precisely to help us know Him and get to Heaven through the sacraments and by giving us a moral and doctrinal guide through life.
4. We come to know Christ through prayer-listening, petition, adoration, etc.
We need each component. If we skip one, we risk getting a distorted view. [In some years past, doctrine and morality i.e. The Church was emphasized sometimes to the detriment of the other 2 components. In recent years it has been the opposite: the Church (especially doctrine and morality) has been forgotten in favor of the other two.] Yet these components work together and complement and supplement each other. Holy Scripture, the Church, and Prayer are all gifts from God to help us know Him and fulfill our mission on earth.
Oremus pro invicem!
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