Religious Studies
Department Head: Mr. C. Agro
Courses Offered In: Grades 9-12 covering topics such as the church, faith, beleifs, religious life, and world religions.
Contact:(905) 573-2151 Ext. 4799
Our Newsletter:
What's happening in our Religious Studies classes this upcoming year:
Grade 9 Classes in the Be With Me program will be visiting our School Chapel for quiet reflection and preparing for the Liturgical seasons of Advent and Lent. As well, students will be proclaiming and presenting Scripture Reading assignments throughout the semester. This year, we are planning a faith development activity that involves all Grade 9 students to come together.
Grade 10 Classes in the Christ and Culture program will be promoting culture and diversity issues in the course units and in the school. At Bishop Ryan, we value and celebrate our diversity through in class and out of school projects.
Grade 11 Classes in the NEW World Religions program will be studying the following religions: Native Spirituality, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. These classes will have the opportunity to hear from religious leaders from each respective religion though guest speaker presentations. This year, we will also be focusing on Specialist High Skills Major components in our Grade 11 classes and teach the “soft skills” required towards the certificate.
Grade 12 Classes In The Search of the Good and Creating Christian Lifestyles will be attending a Retreat organized by Chaplaincy Leader. This day is a wonderful opportunity for the graduates of 2012 to enjoy a relaxing and faith filled experience. Grade 12 students will also be invited to attend the System Wide Seniors Mass on Tuesday May 8, 2012 at 1:00pm at Cathedral of Christ the King. This allows for all our Catholic Secondary Schools to come celebrate the Eucharistic together during Catholic Education Week.
We also have Literacy Committee Teacher Reps and Student Success Teacher Reps that will be introducing varied methods through Literacy and Differentiated Instruction that help promote the success of all students. Our Culminating Activities in each course have been developed to promote student learning through process work and stages.
The Religious Studies Department also will be actively involved in the organization and promotion of the following School Board and School events:
v When Faith Meets Pedagogy Conference in Toronto
v Scripture Readings and Chapel Visits
v Annual Board Wide Pilgrimage Walk with Christ- Justice for the Poor
v New Roman Missal Introduction and Education (November 27, 2011)
v Student Success, Literacy, and Differentiated Instruction Teacher Workshops
v Culture of Life Presentations and Events
v Bishop Joseph Francis Ryan, 115th Birthday Celebration on March 1
v Development and Peace Annual Think Fast Event
v Vocations Awareness
v BR Eco Team Eco Schools certification- BR is hoping for Gold Status again!
v Catholic Education Week May 6- 12, 2012
v March for Life in Ottawa
v Continue to support all events that promote diversity, safe schools, anti-bullying, culture of life, development and peace, and eco-justice initiatives.
v System Wide Seniors Mass on Tuesday May 8, 2012 at 1:00pm at Cathedral of Christ the King Church.
Culture of Life
The Board and School committee takes its inspiration from the powerful encyclical of Pope John Paul II, the Gospel of Life. In this encyclical, the Pope speaks of a culture of death that is pervading contemporary society, reflected in the legalization and widespread practice of abortion and euthanasia, and the spread of incessant wars and violence and by the destruction of human life among the poor, due to economic injustice, exploitation, malnutrition and disease. The Pope encourages all people of good will to embrace and promote a Culture of Life.
“The phrase “culture of life” is a controversial term used in moral theology. The human life is sacred at all stages from conception through natural death. Our vocation as Catholic’s, and goal of the Culture of Life Committee is to raise awareness of social issues that address how to stop destroying the sacredness of human life. These issues include: embryonic stem cell research, abortion, contraception, euthanasia, capital punishment, greed, suppression of human rights, poverty and war.
Bishop Ryan’s Culture of Life Team always welcomes new members. Interested students please see Ms. T. Correa.
Studying Religious Studies benefits your Mind, Body, and Soul!
There are many Religious Studies and/or Theological Studies opportunities at the post secondary school level in Canada and across North America. Students interested in Religious Studies and Theology programs, degrees, and certificates have particular professions in mind, and some simply feel a sense of fulfillment when studying Religion. These students intensify their faith while obtaining a post-secondary education. Religious Studies graduates become teachers, priests, nuns, social workers, nurses, directors, business managers, human resources consultants, chaplains, professors, and many more.
For more program information, please visit the following post secondary school programs to name a few:
St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto
St. Jerome’s College, Waterloo University
St. Paul’s College, University of Ottawa
Notre Dame Catholic University, USA
If you think you would like to continue studying Religious Studies or Theology and need some direction to which courses, programs, or post-secondary schools to attend, please visit Student Services or see Department Head of Religious Studies, Mr. C. Agro.
The NEW Roman Missal
Please visit the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops www.cccb.ca for more information on the Revised Prayers for the New Roman Missal in Canada.
Teachers and Catholic Education
“While the teaching of formal Religious Education classes in Catholic Schools is one of the hallmarks of Ontario’s Catholic school system, the scope and sequence of those courses goes far beyond the mere transmission of facts regarding the Roman Catholic faith. The ultimate goal of these courses and of our Catholic system is to create formed and informed Catholic people.
It is our hope and fervent belief that our students are prepared to go into the world with a lived faith that will further the realization of the Reign of God on earth. It is through the infusion of Catholicity into all aspects of the school- into and beyond the curricular life of each student that the goals of Catholic education are brought to bear fruit.”
(Written by OECTA)
Seven Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations
Bishop Ryan Catholic Secondary School Religious Studies Department supports the Catholic Triad (Home- Parish- School) relationship which continues to be an integral component in Catholic Education. Borrowing from the Institute for Catholic Education (ICE), please consider the following Seven Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations which are incorporated in each course curriculum and course expectations:
- A Discerning Believer Formed in the Catholic Faith Community.
- An Effective Communicator.
- A Reflective and Creative Thinker.
- A Self-Directed, Responsible, Life Long Learner.
- A Collaborative Contributor.
- A Caring Family Member.
- A Responsible Citizen.
Encouraging Your Teenager to Attend Mass
The teenage years can be a challenging time. It is a time when parental guidelines, family traditions and values are questioned. While it may be a time of turmoil for both the adolescent and
the parent, it is a normal part of human development and of growing into adulthood. During a time when going to Mass may be challenged, you might find these suggestions helpful:
• Encourage your teenager to attend Mass and be confident that attendance at Mass will continue.
• If you feel challenged, recognize that questioning is frequently caused by a desire for greater understanding. Affirm your teenager's right to reflect critically and responsibly.
• Encourage your parish to welcome young people into its communal life. Invite your son or daughter to become involved.
• Show your commitment to the Eucharistic celebration and to your parish community by regular participation. Your example or prayer, involvement and faith is a model for your teenager.
• Finally, trust that God is with you and your teenager. So be patient, and support your son/daughter in your prayer as he/she journeys through these challenging teen years.
(Written by OECTA)
Praying With Your Children
Prayer is one of the most fundamental activities of the Christian. But in these busy days it seems almost impossible to find the time to pray and especially to pray as a family. Here are a few suggestions to help you incorporate prayer into your family's daily routine.
• Our Roman Catholic heritage is rich with traditional forms of prayer. It is in the repetition of ritual that we are formed in our faith. Pray “Bless us O Lord” regularly before family meals.
• Make an evening thanksgiving prayer part of the children's bedtime ritual. Vary the prayer according to the liturgical season: e.g. Advent, Lent, Easter.
• This thanksgiving prayer could be a combination of a traditional prayer plus spontaneous petitions or mention of the day's events.
• Get in the habit of stopping for brief moments in the day with your children to say “Thank-you Lord” or “God, I need Your help” or “What a beautiful sunset!”
• Go to Church as a family. This will help your children to experience the liturgical prayer of the larger family of the Christian community.
(Written by OECTA)
Faith Needs to be Learned at Home
Written by Fr. James T. Mulligan, CSC, Catholic Register Special
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
"But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that
your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and to your children’s children."
Deuteronomy 4:9
This forthright biblical injunction could also be called the great challenge of faith in our time and in our place. This beautiful little passage from Deuteronomy is the First Reading for Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent. In this text, Moses gives the people the statutes and ordinances to follow so that they can live in the promised land. He makes it clear that the people have a special relationship with the Lord because of the exodus, the liberation of the people from slavery in Egypt. Moses is very emphatic on two points.
First: Never forget. Never let it slip from your mind that your God has chosen you and has intervened so wonderfully in your life. And second: Make your experience of the living God known to your children and your children’s children. Share your faith experience. Hand down the faith! Now let us fast forward to the Catholic Christian community in Ontario 2008. Let’s apply Moses’ double injunction to our own faith /church situation. We are not to forget our own living experience of Jesus and we are to share that experience with our children and our children’s children. To give a certain perspective on how we are doing, perhaps the following example is illuminating.
On a Tuesday morning in the Third Week of Lent I was present with more than 120 Grade 4 children at church for the sacrament of Penance. There were five priests hearing confessions. To each young penitent, I asked the question: “Do you pray?” Some said that they do pray at home before meals and before they go to sleep. But, for an uncommon number of children the answer was: “yes” they pray every Sunday “when I go to my Nona’s for lunch.” So, for more than a few, no prayer at home but they do pray at Nona’s. Many teachers in our Catholic schools will confirm that what passing on of the faith is taking place in many homes is happening because of grandparents. I guess we can say our children’s children are being told the story and experiencing faith in the Lord Jesus, but we seem to have skipped a generation. Why aren’t the parents handing down the faith to their own children? If the grandparents share their experience of Jesus with their grandchildren, surely they did the same with their own children? What happened?
These are a few of the questions that come about in applying Moses’ commands to the Catholic Christian community of our own time and place. Without imputing guilt or blame on anyone, here are some further questions for the Catholic Christian community: The grandparents seem to have a living faith in the Lord Jesus. It means everything to them. But why do so many of their children not share this faith? And if they do, why do they not share their faith with their own children? Perhaps it is the culture. So much has changed since the 1960s. Is it the tough, secular, consumeristic culture that has shaped Catholic Christians, loosening the bonds of faith and pushing the tradition and the church to the sidelines? Who can help? What can help our parents live as committed Christians in this tough culture? But what will happen when today’s parents become Nona and Nono? Will they tell the story? Will they pray with their grandchildren?
Take care, don’t forget, don’t let it slip by your mind, make it known to your children and your children’s children! Imagine how deprived we would be if we did not have our Catholic schools to help in the handing on of our faith. To help in shaping something of the Catholic imagination in our children. It is a certainty that our Catholic schools can always be more effective at making known and sharing the living memory of Jesus with our students. Are our Catholic teachers up to the urgent challenge of going deeper into the understanding and the living of our faith? But we have to be realistic in our expectations of what the Catholic school is able to do in terms of making our living faith known to our children. They can only do so much. How will the parents take their roles as Catholic parents seriously?
What new and creative measures must the local church (the bishop, the priests and the parishes) take to invite many of the parents to own and to embrace their faith, much as their own parents have done? Or will the status quo maintain itself, and the slip-sliding away continue?
(Holy Cross Father Mulligan, Pastor of St. Kevin’s parish in Welland, Ont., is author of Catholic Education: The Future is Now.)
Sincerely,
Where Faith, Pride, and Effort promote Excellence!
Charlie Agro
Bishop Ryan Catholic Secondary School
Religious Studies Department Head
905-573-2151 ext. 4799
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