Grade 7 - Religious Studies

Religious Studies Grade 7

Demonstrates an understanding of Christ as the centre of Sacred Scripture.

Demonstrates an understanding of Jesus Christ as the Messiah who fulfills the covenant of God's salvation through the Paschal Mystery.

Demonstrates an understanding of how the Church is called in its mission to witness to being apostolic.

Focus: Marriage�Understands that the Sacraments strengthen, sanctify and sustain our witness to Christ through our life decisions of commitment and service in the Church and world.

Understands the celebration of the Eucharist with reference to God's plan of salvation through the study of the Word.

Understands that the church venerates Mary the Mother of God and promotes devotion to the saints throughout the Liturgical Year.

Understands that belonging to the community of the church involves responsibilities of Faith and Christian living.

Understands how the Church has relied on the intercession of the communion of saints.

Understands that the principle of human solidarity is a Christian social virtue which promotes the individual and communal sharing of material and spiritual goods, and obligates us to seek individual and communal conversion.

Understands that the principle of human solidarity is a Christian social virtue which promotes the individual and communal sharing of material and spiritual goods, and obligates us to seek individual and communal conversion.

Understands that as Christians we can enter into dialogue with the world�s major religions concerning common elements.

Demonstrates an understanding of the purpose of the Church's teaching role concerning Christian morality.

Demonstrates an understanding that when faced with a moral choice in our lives, the judgement of our conscience can be right or wrong.

Demonstrates an understanding of the importance of developing a life of virtue in order to discern and implement the moral teachings found in the Gospels and applied through the teachings of the Church.

Explains why the Church believes the 'Our Father' is a 'summary of the whole Gospel'.

Understands that the various forms of prayer have their origin in scripture and are expressed in the Church's tradition of communal prayer.

Articulates what is meant by the Church's belief that God speaks only one single Word through all the words of Scripture and that this unique Word is Jesus Christ.

Compares the Old and New Testament images of the Messiah and the Kingdom of God and links these to the understanding of the 'Unique Word'  Jesus Christ and his teaching of the Beatitudes.

Explains why the Gospels are the heart of all the Scriptures.

Identifies the significance and meaning of Jesus Christ's redemptive death on the Cross in God's Plan of Salvation.

Summarizes the Church's teaching on the meaning and significance of Christ's death and resurrection on the third day and describes how these events are celebrated in the Church's tradition.

Examines the passages in the New Testament that describe Jesus' 'resurrection appearances, ascent into Heaven and being seated at the right hand of the Father', where he will 'judge the living and the dead' to unfold their meaning and significance in relation to God's plan of salvation.

Examines various passages from the New Testament to identify and describe the mission and life of the early apostles in the post resurrection Christian communities.

Explains the role and responsibilities of the College of Bishops as the successors of the apostles and the role of the Pope as the successor of Peter.

Identifies the three ways in which the Church is Apostolic and the one aspect which cannot be transmitted.

Identifies the features that constitute a Christian understanding of marital love and the benefits of the sacrament, and identifies ways the Church and society can both strengthen and benefit from Catholic families and their members.

Identifies in the Rite of Marriage - requirements for reception, ministers of the sacrament in Roman Rite, the ritual words of consent, blessings, signs and ritual symbols, that signify and convey the grace and meaning of marriage for the couple, and explains how this sacrament prepares and supports the couple for a life of service within the family and the world.

Examines the Scriptures of the Old Testament and New Testament that reveal the covenantal nature of marriage and compares this image to the covenantal relationship between Christ and the Church.

Identifies the link between the Old Testament account of the Passover, the New Testament accounts of the Last Supper and the Crucifixion of Christ, and the prayers of the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Compares what is signified in the 'bread and wine' of the Old Testament to its New Covenant meaning in the New Testament and to the meaning of the Eucharist.

Identifies in the liturgical prayers of the Mass, reference to the real presence of Christ in the bread and wine of the Eucharist and explains why those who receive it become the living Body of Christ - the Church.

Identifies in the liturgical prayers of the Mass references to the memorial nature of the liturgy and explains why these references present the Mass as a 'true sacrifice'.

Examines the devotions to the Lives of the Saints in the tradition of the Church and explains the various categories which have developed and also the particular pious devotions, rituals and sacramentals which have been used to celebrate their lives in the Church's Liturgical Calendar.

Gathers information to identify the role that icons play in the celebration of Mary in the Byzantine Catholic Church and explains how they express through signs, symbols, colours and emblems her role in the Church's life of faith.

Identifies the specific Marian devotions that take place in May and October, and Feasts devoted to Mary during the Liturgical year and describes what event in her life each highlights, how these events are related to Christ, and what they reveal about Mary's role in the life of Jesus and the Church.

Identifies how the Church has promoted the Fourth Commandment by the witness of solidarity with society, promoting issues of social justice and its social teaching.

Identifies ways the Church has tried to encourage its members to willingly follow the Third Commandment.

Describes ways in which the First and Second Commandments promote in the Church the virtues of faith, hope and charity, the practice of religion, and the freedom of religious expression.

Describes the varied spiritualities and prayers that have developed in the Church as a result of the particular charism or witness of a saint.

Uses particular saints as examples, outlines the process of how a person becomes recognized as a saint by the Church.

Identifies living examples of the virtuous life and explains how they witness to the resurrected Christ through healings and miracles.

Identifies scriptural passages that provide the basis for the Church's teaching on the sacraments of service and explains how each is a source of grace for the transformation and renewal in the Church and society.

Identifies the prayers, symbols and ritual actions of the sacraments of Confirmation, Holy Orders and Marriage and explains how each is a source of Grace for a life of service to the world.

Explains what the sacraments of service teach us about the social nature of the human person and reflects on how approaching our life as vocation benefits others.

Links the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes to how we are called to 'friendship' or 'social charity' with people of different nationality, race, ethnicity, economic status or ideologies/faith and explains why this involves individual and communal conversion.

Describes the forms of solidarity which can effectively address socio-economic problems and explains through example how these forms of solidarity can promote social change and respect for the common good.

Describes the ways that the 'principle of solidarity' is manifested by the distribution of goods and the remuneration for work in the local and global communities.

Explains the important relationship of the Church to the Jewish People.

Examines some of the major religions of world to identify the common elements that can be found in each and relate this to the human quest for God.

Examines a number of scriptural passages on the centrality of love, marriage and sexuality, and the moral life and explains how they form the basis of Church teaching in these areas.

Articulates the Church's teaching concerning the Sixth and Ninth Commandments and applies these to the moral issues facing society today.

Summarizes the moral teachings of the Church with regard to particular life issues and the social order.

Defines the term 'Magisterium' as applied to Church and defines its role in the Moral life of the Church.

Describes and distinguishes between the objective source from which moral judgement in our lives originates; the divine and natural law; and the personal subjective judgement of our conscience.

Describes through the use of example, how making moral choices promotes a life of virtue.

Uses examples to describe situations and attitudes which make moral judgements of conscience less clear and certain, thus making our moral decisions very difficult and open to error.

Identifies scripture passages which explain the virtues and applies several of the passages from Proverbs and the Book of Wisdom to situations youth encounter.

Identifies and describes the cardinal and theological virtues identified by the Church; explains how they are acquired and gives examples of how they assist us in the Christian life.

Distinguishes between the human and theological virtues, and provides examples of how they work interdependently in the events of everyday life to guide our behaviour toward the performance of good acts in our search for holiness.

Explains why the 'Our Father' has become the prayer of the Church, prayed in the ritual celebration of each sacrament and in the Eucharistic Liturgy.

Identifies the four-fold structure of the Sermon on the Mount and shows how the Sermon links the petitions in the Our Father to the Beatitudes and the moral teachings of the other three sections.

Explains why the Sermon on the Mount and the Our Father are at the centre of the Gospels.

Examines and compares the version of the 'Our Father' in the gospels of Matthew and Luke and explains why it is considered an ecumenical prayer among Christians.

Examines Scripture to identify the importance of giving praise to God at all times.

Examines Scripture to identify the importance of giving praise to God at all times.

Identifies the various forms of prayer found in the Psalms, prayers and some of the 'specific hours' of the Liturgy of the Hours.

Outlines the structure of the Christian Liturgy of the Hours and the reasons for the commitment made by religious, deacons, priests and laity to pray this Prayer.