Lesson 1: We are Created in God’s Image

and LikenessPath 1: Human Morality

Path 2: Christian MoralityPath 3: Jesus is the Ultimate Norm

Activity: Psychological Game“Sweets for the Sweet”

We’ve all heard the story of the little girl and boy lost in the woods who stumble upon a house made of tempting sweets. And even when we know that it’s a trap laid by a cunning witch, it’s hard not to

sympathize with those hungry children as they begin to pick away at the cookie doorknobs, candy glass windowpanes, and sugar-frosted roof shingles. After all, what child could be expected to resist such treat?

Imagine you are lost in a dark forest and starting to feel the first pangs of hunger when you come across a cottage made of sweets. After checking the area to make sure no witches are lurking about, you get ready to dig in. how do you set about consuming the house?

1. I’d just start eating everything in sight.

2. I’d try sampling as many different kinds of sweets as I could find.

3. I’d find my one favorite sweet and stick to that.

4. I’m not very into sweets. Actually, I’d prefer some crunchy mixed of nuts.

This Psychological game mirrors your

approach to the world of friendships.

1. I’d just start eating everything in sight.

You are always up front and out in the open dealing with the world, almost like a child in you innocent enthusiasm. This straightforward approach makes you easy for others to understand and accept, but you should realize that not everyone is as forthright and honest as you.

Sometimes that honesty of yours makes you just a little to trusting, and you have been known to rush in where angels wouldn’t dare to tread.

2. I’d try sampling as many different kinds of sweets as I could find.

the world is full of people, and you wouldn’t mind the chance to meet them all. You are a true master at finding the good qualities in others.

But you desire to have a little taste of everything can also be read as unwillingness to get too deeply involved with any one person. While it’s good to be able to enjoy all kinds of tastes, there comes a time when you’re going to have to finally admit to someone, “You’re the sweetest of them all.”

3. I’d find my one favorite sweet and stick to that.

If you can find even a single person in the world who shares your interests, tastes, and aspirations, that’s enough for you.

It is indeed a wonderful thing to be able to find a person who sees the world exactly as you do, but by limiting yourself to a single flavor of relationship, you may be cutting yourself off from the whole world of delicious experiences.

4. I’m not very into sweets. Actually, I’d prefer some crunchy mixed of nuts.

For you, the word crazy has a positive connotation. Accordingly, your circle of friends and acquaintances has more than the average number of interesting characters.

The life of an outsider has its appeal, and enjoy the perspective that taking a step back from the crowd affords you. But in trying to set yourself apart, you may sometimes be seen as someone who’s trying too hard to be different. It’s important to remember that the people who are most afraid of being thought ordinary are those to whom the description best applies.

Group Activity:• Answer this question through a Commercial.

How does media

describe man?

• You have only 15 minutes to prepare and 3 minutes to present.

• Criteria:Creativity and Originality – 5Content – 10Cooperation – 2.5Stage Presence – 2.5

------- 20 points

“We are only humans born to

make mistakes…”

Human – Craig David

Chorus:I'm only human

Of flesh and blood I'm madeI'm only human

(what what?)Born to make mistakes (tell me whatcha gonna do?)

I'm only human (to the, to the)

Of flesh and blood I'm made

(to the heart, tick tock you don't stop,

stop)I'm only humanBorn to make

mistakes

Morality- which means is the “measuring device“ or the norm or standard used in judging human acts as good or bad.

Humans?

Exposition:

SACRED SCRIPTURES: Genesis 1:27

“God created man in His image, in the divine

image He created him, male and female, he

created them.”

It means…• A person’s very activity

of thinking and loving, in fact his/ her very being, reflects the beauty, the wisdom, and the love of the Creator.

SACRED SCRIPTURES: Genesis 1:31

“God looked at everything He had made, and

found it good…”

It means…

•We are the very image of God that we are fundamentally good.

CHURCH TEACHING: Gaudium et Spes 12 (Joy and Hope)

We are created to the image of

God…

It means..• Humans are unique

from other creatures of God. We are the only ones created in God’s image and likeness that is capable of sharing God’s infinite knowledge and love.

Through reason and free will man is capable of self-knowledge, of self-giving of entering into communion with other persons in love.

With innate dignity, man is capable of free thoughts, words and deeds, climaxing in self-giving love.

Jesus, God’s begotten Son modeled and taught us what it means to be human.

Can you describe how people worked during the Stone Age? How did they survive to think that they don’t have electricity and the technology we are enjoying today?

CHURCH TEACHING: NATURAL LAW, CFC 687-92

CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN BEINGS ACCORDING TO NATURAL LAW

Humanity survived because by nature, we are:

1. RationalOne of the things we

discover in ourselves is that we can think. It is the power of rationality that enables us to figure out problems, discover laws, within nature, improve our lives. It is this ability which helped us progress.

As rational beings, we can either use our knowledge or remain passive and lax. It is because as human beings we also have the ability to choose. Because by nature we are also:

2. FreeWe have a certain amount

of freedom which enables us to change, to improve our lives, and to direct our future. It is also traditionally called free will and it certainly is the faculty which enables us to choose between right and wrong.

Though psychology has shown that a great deal of a person’s behavior is determined by his heredity and environment, almost all scientists admit that a person does have a certain amount of freedom which enables him to choose. But we still have a certain degree of freedom to change our environment and to work with our particular talents.

Of the greatest proof of our freedom is that we can willingly desire the good of another person or he can willingly not desire the good of another person. If we desire the good for others, it is because by nature we can:

3. LoveIt takes freedom to

love. Love is the highest form of choosing: this is so because it is choosing “for others”. Choosing for others means advancing their well-being,

making sure that they grow, creating the atmosphere in which good things happen to them.

We are not only thinking and loving persons, nor are we spirits alone. We express our thoughts and our feelings by using our body. Thus, we are also;

4. Embodied Spirits / Body-Persons

Having a body, which is part of material creation, manifests a person’s relationship to the rest of created reality. We become ourselves through the bodies we have.

We become ourselves and experience reality through our emotions, our desires and drives, our feelings, our likes and dislikes. All these help who we are.

Though we are embodied spirits, no two persons are the same. Even twins are not 100% the same. This is because we are all:

5. Unique yet Fundamentally EqualWe are each distinct like

the rarest of gems which has its own particular glimmer. And yet despite the fact of our uniqueness, we are social beings. Our uniqueness shines forth only in community with others.

We can only become who we are in relation to others.

Because we are unique and social beings, we are still related to the people who came before us. This is because, by nature we are:

6. Historical

Another characteristic of human beings is our continuity with the past. In this sense we are historical beings. You sum up in your humanity all that has preceded you. You are your past.

To be human is to live in openness to those who lived before you, and likewise, your children’s children will live on the fruits of what you do today.

SACRED SCRIPTURES:

Matthew 19:16-22 (The Rich

Young Man)

It was then that a young man approached him and asked, “Master, what good work must I do to receive eternal life?”

Jesus answered, “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Only one is Good. If you want to enter eternal life, keep the commandments.”

The young man said, “which commandments?” Jesus replied, “Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother and love your neighbor as yourself.”

The young man said to him, “I have kept all of these commandments, what is still lacking?” Jesus answered, “If you wish to be perfect, go sell you possess and give the money to the poor

and you will become the owner of a treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow me.”

On hearing this answer, the young man went away sad for he was a man of great wealth.

• To live a moral life is live out the commandments summarized as “love of God” and “love of neighbor”. • Human as we are, we yearn

for something greater to live a better moral life and enter the Kingdom of God.

• Christ calls us to deepen our understanding to these commandments. He invites us to enter the path of perfection; we are called “to sell what you have and give it to the poor,” and “follow Jesus”.

SACRED SCRIPTURES: John 14:1-6Thomas said to Him, “Master,

we do not know where You are going; how can we know the

way? Jesus said to him, “I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE.

No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

• Jesus as the “only way” to salvation because he reveals to us not only God as our Father, but who we truly are. • Jesus Himself is the New

Covenant between God and all human persons, the Way and authentic norm for becoming our true selves.

Christian moral life, then, is about the Gospel. It is about growing in love and holiness. It is a process of becoming authentically human. The

Christian moral person is one who experiences the liberating and

transforming presence of Christ, through the grace of Holy Spirit.

CHURCH TEACHING: CFC 675

Christian faith is ore than a set of truths to be believed; it

is the way of Christ which leads to eternal life. It is the gospel of Christ believed and lived in which will decide our

destiny as Christians.

CHURCH TEACHING: CFC 674

Christian moral life deepens the following of the commandments. It means following Jesus Christ faithfully in our daily life, without any string attached. Yet following Christ is not easy, thus we need God’s grace. The Holy Spirit is needed to enlighten and inspire us so that our following of Christ, our Way to eternal life and our ultimate norm may become possible, fruitful, and meaningful.

Therefore, it is only when we become truly Human that we also become an authentic Christian who believe and affirm that Christ is our only Way, Truth and Life for He is the foundation of our very own moral lives.

IntegrationThe more the person acts

(Human Morality) according to the way he or she is made, the more he or she reflects (Christian Morality) the Creator (Jesus as the Foundation of Moral Life).

MoralsActivity: Dignity Card• On a recycled cardboard, write your name

creatively, then draw an image that will symbolize your realization regarding MORALITY.

• At the back, write “I am” and/ or “I can…” and enumerate the ways you would like to affirm about yourself in relation of being truly Christian, an image of God.

Doctrine

Questions1. Based on the Scriptures, what is the

meaning of the following statements.“God created humans in His own image

and likeness; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

“God looked at everything He had made, and found it good.” (Gen. 1:31) - We are

the very image of God that we are fundamentally good.

“God created humans in His own image and likeness; male and female

He created them.” (Genesis 1:27) • A person’s very activity of thinking

and loving, in fact his/ her very being, reflects the beauty, the wisdom, and the love of the Creator.

Answers

“God looked at everything He had made, and found it good.” (Gen. 1:31)

• We are the very image of God that we are fundamentally good. • Therefore man is rational, free, loving,

embodied spirits / body-persons, unique yet fundamentally equal and historical. These traits affirm our dignity as human persons.

Answers

Question

2. How can we live out our Christian Morality? Why is Christ our ultimate norm? Relate these in your own personal life.

• We become truly Christians through following the commandments of Christ as seen in the Gospels, making him our Way to live our lives and asking the enlightenment and inspiration of the Holy Spirit in following Christ.

Answers

Answers

•Christ is our ultimate norm for he is the Way; he reveals to us not only God as our Father, but who we truly are.

Worship•Compose a short “Petition

Prayer” asking the guidance of the Holy Spirit to faithfully live up to one’s dignity in following Christ’s footsteps.

Let’s Meditate…