The Reality of Sin and Necessity of Virtue LESSON OVERVIEW Overview In a homily he gave just before he became Connection to the Pope, the then Cardinal Ratzinger stated that we live in a “dictatorship of relativism.” Catechism Our culture tells us that right and wrong ӹ CCC 397 are determined by each individual person ӹ CCC 1846-1864 and what is right for you may not be ӹ CCC 1803-1832 right for someone else. However, the Gospel reveals to us that there is right and Essential Questions wrong. The wrong is called sin. All sin is a deprivation of what is true, good, and ӹ Can we truly determine what beautiful. What is right is cultivated and is good and what is evil? acquired through virtue. In this lesson ӹ Is there really such a thing as students will come to understand the an evil or sinful action? reality of sin and the necessity of cultivating ӹ If sin is real it seems pretty virtue in order to overcome it. difficult to overcome. How can we truly ever overcome sin? Rules limit “freedom,” don’t Grade Level ӹ they? How can following HS God’s rules set me free? Time One ninety-minute class BIBLICAL TOUCHSTONES If you act rightly, you will be accepted; but if If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not, sin lies in wait at the door: its urge is for not deadly, he should pray to God and he will you, yet you can rule over it. give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, GENESIS 4:4-7 about which I do not say that you should pray. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly. © SOPHIA INSTITUTE FOR TEACHERS 1 JOHN 5:16-17 93 Pietà BY MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI (C. 1498) Michelangelo Buonarroti, Pietà. Circa 1498. St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City. DIGITAL IMAGES AVAILABLE AT WWW.SOPHIAINSTITUTEFORTEACHERS.ORG Sacred Art and the Beatitudes The Reality of Sin and Necessity of Virtue Pietà, by Michelangelo Buonarroti (c. 1498) Directions: Take some time to quietly view and reflect on the art. Let yourself be inspired in any way that happens naturally. Then think about the questions below, and discuss them with your classmates. Conversation Questions 1. What kind of work of art is this? Does the medium (the kind of material the artist used) affect how the art makes you feel? 2. Who are the figures in this painting? 3. What moment does this depict? 4. How would you describe the look on our Lady’s face in this sculpture? The Blessed Virgin would have been close to 50 years of age at the time of her Son’s death. Why do you think Michelangelo sculpted her as a young lady? 5. Read John 19:25-27 and/or any of the Gospel stories of the Passion of Christ. Why do you think Michelangelo chose not to depict any signs of Jesus’ suffering? 6. How does this sculpture show the reality of sin? How does it show us the necessity of virtue? 7. In what ways does this sculpture inspire hope? 8. Say the Hail Holy Queen: Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve: to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning, and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Amen. How does this prayer, together with the sculpture, help communicate the communion between God and man that Jesus Christ makes possible? © SOPHIA INSTITUTE FOR TEACHERS 95 HS Lesson Plan Materials Background/Homework ӹ Background Essay: A. Have students complete Handout A: Good vs. Evil. Recognizing Sin and B. Have students read the Background Essay: Seeking Virtue Recognizing Sin and Seeking Virtue and answer the ӹ Handout A: Good vs. Evil critical thinking questions. ӹ Handout B: Scriptural Foundations ӹ Handout C: Understanding Warm-Up 20 minutes Sin, Virtue, and Natural A. Begin by discussing Handout A. If your students are Consequences older, consider adding characters such as Atticus Finch, Captain Ahab, Macbeth, etc. B. After discussing, post different images included in this lesson and ask for student reactions. Images can be found in PowerPoint format in the Catholic Curriculum Exchange at SophiaInstituteforTeachers.org/curriculum. Note: These images are meant to be viewed only by older (11th-12th grade), emotionally mature students. Be certain to preview the images first. Consider sending the images home for parents to determine whether their child is emotionally ready to view them. C. Assure students that feeling anger and disgust at the images is perfectly understandable. The images represent truly evil actions. Then pose the question: If we can say these things are evil, why then would it not be okay to say other things are immoral? How can it possibly make sense to ever say that something can be “right for you but not for me”? Is it possible to judge actions without judging people’s hearts? 96 © SOPHIA INSTITUTE FOR TEACHERS Activity 60 minutes A. Pass out Handout B: Scriptural Foundations. Read Genesis chapter 3 aloud while students follow along. Then discuss aloud the questions that follow. Repeat the process with the story of David and Goliath. B. Emphasize the definitions of sin and virtue found in the Catechism. C. Watch and then discuss the video: Lifehouse’s Everything Skit Found at: http://youtu.be/cyheJ480LYA D. Have students complete Handout C: Understanding Sin, Virtue, and Natural Consequences. Reconvene as a large group to share ideas. Wrap-Up 10 minutes As a class, decide the one or two vices to avoid and virtues to cultivate as a group for the remainder of the year. Come up with practical things you can do to work on both of these goals, and post a list in your classroom throughout the year. Extension Options A. Have students write a short story or put together a skit that clearly shows the struggle between good and evil. They should have characters that clearly exemplify both. Within the story it should be clear that the hero of the story had to possess and cultivate virtue in order to overcome the villain. Students should include a 1-2 page explanation of the symbolism found within their story and how it communicates the reality of sin and necessity of virtue through the plot and characters. B. Have students compare and contrast the two paintings on Handout B. © SOPHIA INSTITUTE FOR TEACHERS 97 BACKGROUND ESSAY Recognizing Sin and Seeking Virtue Elisabeth could hardly eat breakfast she was so filled with nervous excitement! Elisabeth was a great softball player. She and her best friend Jane had played on the same county teams for years, and they had both made it onto their highly selective high school team. Last week their coach announced that a scout was coming from a nearby college to look for excellent players. Elisabeth wanted to go to college, and an athletic scholarship would make it more affordable. She had been practicing longer and harder than usual in the days leading up to the visit and finally the day had come. As she was getting her things ready to go, Elisabeth’s phone rang. She heard Jane’s voice on the line: “I have bad news — the scout had a change of plans and he won’t be coming till next week.” The game would be postponed till then. Elisabeth was disappointed, but at Return of the Prodigal Son, Bartolome Esteban Murillo least she would have another week to build up her skills even more! “I would never have gotten noticed by The next afternoon when she arrived at that scout if you were there because you practice, Elisabeth heard her teammates play so much better than I do. I had to do talking excitedly. They were all crowded something!” Jane tossed her pony tail. around Jane, who was beaming with pride. “What’s going on?” she asked her friend. “So you did lie. And now my chances for a scholarship are gone!” Elizabeth dropped her Jane smiled sheepishly. “The scout came bag of equipment. She stared at her friend. yesterday.” she said. Then she burst into “How could you do something so wrong?” a smile. “I played really well, and he said it’s almost a sure thing they will offer me a Jane shrugged. “What does “wrong” mean scholarship. Isn’t that exciting?” anyway? It was right for me at the time. And it worked; it looks like I am getting a Elisabeth was confused. “You lied to me?” she scholarship.” asked. 98 © SOPHIA INSTITUTE FOR TEACHERS In a 2005 homily just before he became of what evil and sin are and — more pope, the then Cardinal Ratzinger, Benedict importantly — what the good and virtues are. XVI, said, “We are building a dictatorship of As human beings created in the image of God, relativism that does not recognize anything we are naturally drawn to the true, the good, as definitive and whose ultimate goal and the beautiful. Very often, evil and sin are consists solely of one’s own ego and desires.” distortions of those things. The Devil uses Previously in 2003, he also stated that, those distortions to try to draw us away from “relativism — which considers all opinions as that which is true, good, and beautiful.