Grade 8 - Religious Studies

Religious Studies Grade 8

Demonstrates an understanding of how the Church approaches the interpretation of scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Focus: Confirmation�Understands that the Sacraments strengthen, sanctify and sustain our life of witness to Christ in the Church and the world.

Demonstrates an understanding of how the Church community supports one�s life of faith and how our participation in the Church witnesses to the reign of God.

Understands the seven petitions of the Our Father as the prayer for our journey of faith.

Demonstrates an understanding of the Church's teaching on the role of the Holy Spirit, the Mission of the Son, and the continued presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church.

Understands the Eucharist as the Sacrament that completes Initiation and is the source and summit of Christian life.

Understands how one develops the habits of prayer according to the spirit and example of Jesus Christ.

Demonstrates an understanding of the meaning of the four marks of the Church: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic and how these four marks are lived out in the life of the Church.

Understands that the Church in celebrating the Liturgy and the Sacraments participates in the work of the Holy Trinity.

Demonstrates an understanding that the grace received through the Holy Spirit calls us to holiness and gives us the gifts we need to be justified in the Christian life.

Describes the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity as the central mystery of the Christian faith life.

Understands how the Holy Spirit through the communion of saints guides, teaches, and inspires the Church to a communion of holiness.

Understands that the principle of human dignity, revealed in Scripture, requires Christians to work for the common good of all people and to participate in society.

Focus: Principle of Rights and Responsibilities: Understands that the principles of responsibility and participation in society are Christian social virtues, which call us to roles of leadership, to evangelize through our witness of the Gospel and through the promotion of social justice in the world.

Demonstrates an understanding of the mission of the Church as animated by the Holy Spirit and focused on sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with all people of the earth.

Demonstrates an understanding of how living the Christian Moral Law is a witness to the Truth, the Dignity of the Human Person, and the building up of the Church and Society

Demonstrates an understanding of the important roles of Scripture, the Church, and the Holy Spirit in the formation of a healthy conscience.

Describes the 'four senses of scripture' that assist the church in understanding scripture and applies each to an examination of a selection of Scripture passages.

Explains the theological connection between the books of the Old Testament and the New Testament and distinguishes between the three stages of formation of the Gospels.

Connects the actions of the Holy Spirit revealed at Pentecost in the early Church with the effects of the sacrament of Confirmation.

Identifies in the Rite of Confirmation requirements for the reception, the minister, the signs and rituals and what they symbolize and impart on the receiver, and explains how this sacrament reveals the Holy Spirit as one who gathers and forms the Church for service in the world.

Identifies and examines a selection of scripture passages from the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament to link the Sacrament of Confirmation to its source in Sacred Scripture and outlines its historical development within the Tradition of the Church.

Selects and uses passages from the New Testament to describe the meaning of 'Church as community' and states how the communal nature of the Church witnesses to the reign of God in the world through the Holy Spirit.

Outlines requirements of participation in the Church as community and using examples, explains the importance of participation.

Explains giving examples, how the Grace of Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit received through the sacrament of Confirmation, support a life of faith and encourage participation in the life of the Church.

Identifies how a Life of Prayer involves the theological virtues and how these are expressed in the Our Father as a prayer.

Examines the 'Seven Petitions' of the Our Father and explains how they express different aspects of our faith in God and how they might influence our daily encounter with God and others.

Identifies biblical passages in the New Testament in which Jesus teaches the disciples through word and actions how to pray and explains what these passages reveal about his relationship with his Father and how we are to pray.

Identifies in the Old Testament evidence of the active presence of the Holy Spirit and how the Spirit is portrayed at the moment of creation and in the lives of God's Chosen people.

Using passages from the New Testament as evidence, explains the significance and role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Christ, and outlines how this inseparable union of Christ and Spirit is found in the life of the Church.

Identifies and explains the meaning of the names, titles, and symbols, of the Holy Spirit to describe the Church's understanding of the Spirit's mission

Analyses the life of the early Church and its Tradition to see the central role that the Eucharist has played in the life and witness of the Church.

Identifies the significance of the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist in addition to the present and future realities that Christians hope to receive through their participation in the Eucharist.

Explains the role and importance of the Sacraments of Initiation and connects them to the Church's understanding of the Mass as the source and summit of Christian life.

Understands that all Christian prayer is directed through Jesus to the Father in the Holy Spirit and that in praying we profess belief in the Trinity.

Identifies how the profession of faith which we make in the Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed not only deepen our understanding of the central beliefs of the Church but are essential for a life of prayer.

Identifies things which undermine the development of a life of prayer and explains how these have been addressed in the Tradition of the Church.

Describes how the Trinity is included, worshipped, and honoured in the prayer of the Church.

Examines selected passages from the New Testament to identify and summarize God's plan'for the unity, the holiness, the universality/catholicity and apostolic mark of the Church.

Names the four marks of the Church and summarizes what they express about the nature of the Church.

Connects the four marks of the Church to the daily life of their local Church.

Charts how the Church's liturgical seasons unfold the mysteries of faith professed in the Creed through the celebration of certain Feasts and Solemnities.

Describes the diversity of liturgical traditions within the Catholic Church and explains through example how the Church maintains its catholicity while purifying and integrating into the liturgies the authentic riches of cultures.

Compares the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Rite to that of the Byzantine Rite to identify similarities and differences that reflect the influence of culture on the liturgies of the Church and the dates devoted to the primary feasts and holy days of the Church.

Identifies New Testament passages that reveal the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus and explains how these events are examples of the power of grace over sin.

Identifies the ways in which the grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us in our Christian life.

Explains how the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity was revealed through Sacred Scripture and Tradition.

Explains the divine missions of the persons of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Explains the signs of holiness found within the Church, and connects this with the "communion of saints".

Defines the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, and explains how they are important in guiding our development as people who strive to live a holy life.

Identifies and interprets stories in the New Testament that demonstrate the significant role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus and his followers.

Connects the principle of the 'Common Good' to it's biblical source and relates the message of the scripture to Catholic social teachings found in several ecclesial sources.

Examines the political initiatives presently being promoted at various levels of civil society, and critiques how well each promotes the dignity of the human person and the Common Good as it is defined in Sacred Scripture and Catholic social teaching.

Articulates the three essential elements of the Common Good and links them to ecological justice and the universal common good of protecting the earth's resources for future generations.

Identifies and examines scripture passages in the New Testament where Jesus invites 'inner conversion' of those who exercise roles of authority as an ethical obligation to address the social structures of sin, and applies this principle of a need for inner conversion to example in our present society that call for our active participation in promoting the common good.

Summarizes the key principles of Catholic social justice, and links them to the primary Christian values of love, promotion of life, reconciliation, inclusion, compassion, fidelity, liberation, community and hope.

Defines the Church's social teaching with respect to personal responsibility and participation in public life, and gives examples of how each promotes the good of individuals and the common good of society.

Examines a selection of Scripture passages to identify the nature of Jesus' mission, and the role of the Holy Spirit in the mission of Jesus and the Church.

Identifies and describes some of the efforts the Church has made to continue Christ's mission to spread the Good News to all people of the world.

Identifies and describes the elements of a moral life outlined in the Beatitudes, and explains how beatitude living gives witness - to a life of morality, Christian holiness, and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Outlines the Church's teaching on the Eighth Commandment and provides examples of how we witness to the Truth of this commandment by applying it to current issues in our society or at school.

Using examples of moral dilemmas faced by young people, demonstrates how choosing to live a Christian moral life reflects a witness to God, a respect for personal dignity, and promotes the common good for others.

Describes how the Holy Spirit and the Church's teaching form our consciences in assisting us to address the challenging moral situations that face society today.

Explains the Church's belief in the objective truth of the Word of God, and the important source and role that Sacred Scripture has in the examination and formation of conscience for Christian moral decision-making and daily life.

Identifies some of the moral situations that have arisen in society as a result of globalization, advances in technology and science, and examines them in the light of the Church's moral teachings.

Links the need for commitment, the turning away from sin, growth and virtue of faith, to the process of forming and exercising a healthy conscience for moral decision-making.