Religious Studies

This course invites students to engage deeply with Sacred Heart traditions, rituals, and scripture, encouraging personal reflection and spiritual growth. Through prayer, study of sacraments, and exploration of Catholic saints, students develop an understanding of how faith can be lived in both personal and communal contexts. This course emphasizes connections between biblical teachings and modern life, focusing on care for creation, prayer, and social justice.

Overview of Topics

• Prayer: how does prayerful reflection help us pay attention to what is important in life?
• Catholic Sacraments: What role do sacraments and rituals play in the Catholic faith? 
• Traditions: How do the traditions unique to Sacred Heart inspire and guide us today?
• Scripture: What can we learn from biblical stories and their various interpretations? 
• Care for Creation: How does faith encourage us to care for the environment? 
• Lives of Saints: How do saints' lives teach us about faith and action? 
• Liturgical Seasons: How do Lent, Advent, and Easter teach us about spiritual preparation, reflection, as well as both personal and community growth?

Signature Activities

• Voyagers excursions
• Prayer leadership
• Creative art projects
• Comparative scripture study
• Chapel service leadership
• Beatitudes reflection
• Vespers prayer service

This course focuses on the stories, values, and commitments found in the Old Testament, exploring how these ancient texts remain relevant today. Students delve into the major themes of covenant, faith, and mercy, as they examine the relationship between God, people, and creation. Through their study of the Bible, students are encouraged to reflect on spiritual, moral, and relational lessons, applying them to their own lives and our modern context.

Overview of Topics

• Origins and Structure: What are the origins and organization of the Old Testament? How do divine inspiration and human creativity intersect in its creation? 
• Jewish Holidays: What do holidays such as Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot teach about reflection, repentance, and gratitude in Jewish tradition? 
• Babylonian Exile and the Hebrew Bible: How did the Babylonian Exile influence the Jewish community and the formation of the Hebrew Bible? 
• Stories of Genesis: What do the stories of Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, and the Abrahamic Covenant reveal about humanity's relationship to God and creation? 
• Covenant and Faith: What does the Old Testament teach us about the special relationship between Yahweh and the people of Israel?
• Passover and Easter: How are the events of Passover and the Exodus connected to the Christian celebration of Easter? 

Signature Activities

• Exploring Jewish holidays
• Study of the Genesis stories 
• Old Testament research project
• Investigation into the connection between Passover and Easter
• Creative artistic expression of Biblical themes

This course invites students to engage with the life of Jesus, focusing on his humanity and divinity, while exploring the context and relevance of his teachings in today’s world. Through scriptural analysis, artistic expression, and cross-curricular projects, students deepen their understanding of Jesus’ mission, his care for the marginalized, and his invitation to all to live a life of faith. The course follows the liturgical calendar, integrating the study of scripture with personal reflection and participation in religious celebrations.

Overview of Topics 

• The Humanity and Divinity of Jesus: How do Jesus’ life and teachings reflect both his humanity and divinity? How can we relate to Jesus as fully human and fully divine?
• Jesus’ Concerns: How does Jesus’ ministry emphasize caring for the marginalized, healing the sick, and forgiving others?
• Mary and the Annunciation: What can we learn from Mary’s “Yes” to God? How does Mary’s faith inspire us to respond to our own callings?
• Beatitudes: How do the Beatitudes provide guidance for living a meaningful life?
• Infancy Narratives of Jesus: How do the different accounts of Jesus’ birth in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke reflect both historical and spiritual truths?
• The Passion and Resurrection: What do the Last Supper, Passion, and Resurrection teach us about sacrifice, faith, and hope?

Signature Activities

• Contemporary skit on "The Miraculous Catch"
• Annunciation of poetry and art project
• Analysis of the infancy narratives
• Beatitudes art project
• Life of Jesus mixtape project
• Liturgical participation and celebrations

This course explores Catholic sainthood, social justice, and Catholic Social Teaching. Students examine the lives of saints, significant social justice leaders, and key principles that define a life of faith and service. By studying the evolution of sainthood and applying the principles of CST to contemporary issues, students deepen their understanding of how faith can inspire action. Through discussions, personal reflection, and creative projects students reflect on their own roles as modern disciples and saints in the making.

Overview of Topics

• Catholic Sainthood: What makes someone a saint and how has the concept evolved over time? How do saints and saintly figures from various traditions inspire us today?
• Catholic Social Teaching: How do the seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching reflect our values and priorities? What role does faith play in addressing social injustice? 
• Nonviolence and Social Justice: How can we live our Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s philosophy of nonviolence? How do Catholic leaders like Dorothy Day respond to societal needs through faith-based action?
• Discipleship: What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus, and how can we apply his teachings today by getting involved in service and social justice activities? 

Signature Activities

• Saints in the stained glass of our chapel project
• Principles of Catholic Social Teaching project
• Laudato Si' seminar and climate change debate 
• Creative skits on contemporary nonviolence
• Research project on nominating a contemporary saint

Students investigate major themes of the Hebrew Scriptures and acquire skills in biblical interpretation through a close reading of the texts and the study of biblical scholarship, literary analysis, and historical research. The course offers students an introduction to critical thinking in light of a transcendent horizon. Emphasis is placed on understanding the covenant between God and the Jewish people as a covenant still in effect, a precious legacy of symbols, spirituality, ritual, and Scripture that provides a foundation to understanding the roots of the Christian tradition. Through creative projects and written assignments, students reflect on how the significant themes and movements encountered in Jewish scripture are relevant and ongoing in their lives and communities today. 

Intensive study of the person of Jesus as presented in the gospel narratives promotes students' understanding of the internal diversity of Christian Scripture. Students examine the specific meanings and messages of these texts in relation to their historical, social, political, and cultural contexts in light of current biblical scholarship and contemporary challenges of faith. Special attention is given to the development of a personal response to the question raised by Jesus, “Who do you say that I am?” Students cultivate a capacity to make connections between Scripture and their own lives by exploring the historical and contemporary meanings of the Reign of God and the challenges of discipleship. The course culminates in a Homily Project in which each student selects a gospel passage, engages in research and personal reflection, and delivers a Scripture-based reflection to an audience of classmates from the pulpit in our school chapel.

Catholic Social Teaching is the ongoing articulation of the Church’s comprehensive and dynamic understanding of Christian discipleship in light of what it means to be human and to live in community with others. In this course, students examine Scripture, church documents and practices, and philosophies of human rights and social responsibility in order to appreciate how the Catholic social tradition articulates a social vision that promotes human flourishing, full participation, justice and peace for all of humanity. Through the lens of deeply held faith convictions and beliefs, students confront and examine several of the major social challenges of our time: domestic and global inequality, human trafficking, racism and its consequences, migration and refugee crises, and the degradation of the environment. Students are trained to use the Circle of Praxis (see, analyze, reflect, act) as an inductive method for bringing the fruits of the Christian faith to bear on the transformation of complex social challenges into something that better resembles the Kingdom of God. The course is complemented by the Hesed project, which requires juniors to engage in 40 hours of community service with people in need. At the end of the course, students produce a digital media project in which they analyze and propose action on a contemporary injustice through the lens of their own deep faith commitments.

This course introduces students to three of the world’s most significant religious traditions -- Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism -- and to the academic field of the comparative study of religions. Students gain literacy and appreciation for the diverse worldviews and experiences of people informed by the faith, practices, and teachings of these global religious traditions. By examining the history, sacred scripture and narratives, doctrines and tenets, sacred spaces and rituals, social practices and ethical teachings of these world traditions, students come to understand that religions are internally diverse and have changed over time. Understanding these traditions and how they have developed provides insight into contemporary social and cultural differences and fosters within our students the possibilities for empathy and collaboration between peoples of different faiths and cultures. This course is modeled after a college-level Humanities seminar that requires active engagement with the course texts, regular participation in class discussions, and several formal, seminar-style assessments through which students demonstrate mastery of the materials and an ability to put complex ideas and insights into conversation with others.