Syllabus
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Course DescriptionAssigned ReadingCourse Objectives |
MethodSchedule of Topics and AssignmentsMay 17 |
Course RequirementsEvaluation and GradingParticipants |
This course studies the dynamics of interpersonal forgiveness and employs contemporary forgiveness studies to examine the psychological passage from vengeance to forgiveness and eventually to reconciliation. We will then compare and contrast human forgiveness with divine forgiveness and examine the various historical contexts in which the Church has exercised its mission of forgiveness. Finally, the course will examine our current rituals of forgiveness in a contemporary pastoral context and the Christian vocation as an ambassador of reconciliation.
Enright, Robert D. and North, Joanna (Editors). Exploring Forgiveness. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1994. ISBN 0-299-15774-1
Wiesenthal, Simon. The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness. Revised and Expanded Edition, New York: Schocken Books, 1998. ISBN 0-8052-1060-1. Paper. $13.00.
Martos, Joseph. Doors to the Sacred: A Historical Introduction to the Sacraments in the Catholic Church. Revised and updated edition. Liguori MO: Liguori/Triumph. 2001. $21.95. ISBN 0-76480718-8
The Rite of Penance (any edition, e.g. as in) The Rites of the Catholic Church, Volume I, pp 517-629, Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1991. ISBN 0-8146-6015-0.)
Richstatter, Thomas. The Sacraments. Twelve (25 minute) talks on 4 CDs. Available from Now You Know Media, 2008. $29.95.
Catechism of the Catholic Church. Washington D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 1994. ISBN 1-55586-513-5. "Part Two: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, Section One, Chapter One: The Paschal Mystery in the Age of the Church," nn 1066-1134; Chapter Two: The Sacramental Celebration of the Paschal Mystery," nn 1135-1209. "The Sacraments of Healing," nn 1420-1532. (= CCC)
Code of Canon Law, "Book IV: The Office of Sanctifying in the Church," canons 834-839; "Part I: The Sacraments," canons 840-848; "Title IV: The Sacrament of Penance," canons 960-997.Dallen, James. The Reconciling Community: The Rite of Penance. Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1986. Paper. 446 pp. $19.95, ISBN 0-8146-6076-2.
Kennedy, Robert J. (Editor). Reconciling Embrace: Foundations for the Future of Sacramental Reconciliation. Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1998. ISBN 1-56854-114-7. $12.00.
The hoped for outcomes of the course are:
1. Participants will study the dynamics and conditions for human forgiveness in order to better understand divine forgiveness.
2. Participants will gain insight into the ways in which the ministry of reconciliation is central to the mission of the Christian Church.
3. Participants will become familiar with contemporary ecclesial rituals for celebrating reconciliation.
1. The format of this course is presented in a web-hybrid format. It combines three face-to-face, day-long meetings with online learning.
2. The majority of the "work" (reading, reflecting, writing, discussing, etc.) will be done online. There will be an assignment due each Monday and Friday during the nine weeks of the course. These written assignments must be posted on ANGEL before midnight on the day assigned in this syllabus.
May 17, 9:30 First Face-to Face Meeting
1. Explanation of ANGEL software: how to post homework to the discussion forums under LESSONS in ANGEL. Orientation to my website www.tomrichstatter.org
Break
2. Get acquainted (so that we will be better able to understand and respond one another's ANGEL postings). Discussion our personal history of the ecclesial rites for Reconciliation (a rehearsal of the material for the first assignment posting).
3. d11 General Introduction to All of the Courses I Teach d12 General Introduction to All of the Online and Hybrid Courses I Teach Chapter r Introduction to 12:310 Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Break
4. PowerPoint Presentation: Four Treasures in the Attic (The slides are available on ANGEL under LESSONS.) The Iceberg Metaphor
Lunch 12:00-1:15 pm5. Lecture: Presentation of the history of the way the Church has celebrated the Reconciling God r28 Second Vatican Council
Break
6. Preview of the course assignments.
7. Catholic Update Video, The Church Celebrates the Reconciling God. " The story segment presents three fictional characters who tell how the Church of their era celebrated Reconciliation." Discussion. Video: the witness segment of the same video. Naming the sacrament: Confession / Penance / Reconciliation. "Letting go" -- Story of the two monks on the quest.
8. Video: the teaching segment of the same video. Fr. Tom explains how the sacrament is celebrated today.
9. Video: "Pardon and Peace" (story segment of the video The God who Reconciles.) Reflection / discussion.
4:30 End
Assignment # 01 due Monday, May 19 On ANGEL post a 400-600 word essay tracing your personal history of / experience with the Sacrament of Reconciliation (and/or Confession). (Value: 5% of course grade)
Assignment # 02 due Friday, May 23 Read Enright pp i - 14. On ANGEL post a 400-600 word essay describing what we can learn about forgiveness from Marietta Jaeger's story of forgiveness. (Value: 5% of course grade)
Assignment # 03 due Monday, May 26 Read Enright pp 15 - 94. Write a reflection paper on this material. (Value: 5% of course grade)
Assignment # 04 due Friday, May 30 Read Wiesenthal pp i - 98. Write a 400-600 word essay on what you would have done in his situation. (Value: 5% of course grade)
Assignment # 05 due Monday, June 2 Read the remainder of Wiesenthal. Find three responses that you find particularly significant and write one 400-600 word essay explaining why you find them significant. (Value: 5% of course grade)
Assignment # 06 due Friday, June 6 Read the remainder of Enright (pp 95ff). On ANGEL post a reflection paper on this material. (Value: 5% of course grade)
Assignment # 07 due Monday, June 9 Examine your favorite Old Testament passages which speak of divine forgiveness. Write a 400-600 word essay on divine forgiveness in the Old Testament. (Value: 5% of course grade) [In assignments #7 and #8 we want to consider how God’s forgiveness is similar to / different from our human forgiveness which we have been studying in Enright.]
Assignment # 08 due Friday, June 13 Examine your favorite New Testament passages which speak of divine forgiveness. Write a 400-600 word essay on divine forgiveness in the New Testament. (Value: 5% of course grade)
Assignment # 09 due Monday, June 16 On ANGEL post an essay (Science and Liturgy) on what the Church can learn from Enright and Wiesenthal about how to celebrate reconciliation. (Value: 10% of course grade)
Assignment # 10 due Friday, June 20 No posting due today. Review the readings and the postings in preparation for class tomorrow.
June 21 During this second day together:
1. We will discuss Simon Wiesenthal's The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness.
2. We will review and discuss what we have learned from our study of Exploring Forgiveness. Can we develop a catechetical way of explaining the process of human forgiveness? What does this process say about God's forgiveness? How can we apply this knowledge to the way the Church celebrates these realities? The "penance" given in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and interpersonal forgiveness.
3. I will present an overview of the Rite of Penance, its history and theology. History of the Current Ritual The Grammatical Forms of the Prayer of Absolution Current Absolution Prayers Forms of the Sacrament in Current Use
4. I will explain the upcoming writing assignments and the final project.
Assignment # 11 due Monday, June 23 Read The Rite of Penance. Describe the current experience of the sacrament in your parish. In a 400-600 word essay evaluate this parish experience in the light of the rituals (and their theology) presented in the Rite of Penance. (Value: 5% of course grade)
Assignment # 12 due Friday, June 27 Read Joseph Martos, Doors to the Sacred, Chapter IX Reconciliation, pp 275-234. If you can, also read Part One: A History of Sacraments. Write a 400-500 essay on what you think all Christians should know about this history. (Value: 5% of course grade)
Assignment # 13 due Monday, June 30 Review Exploring Forgiveness and the essays you posted regarding what the human sciences tell us about the process of forgiveness. Review the postings regarding Divine forgiveness in the Old and New Testaments. Write a 400-800 word essay comparing / contrasting divine forgiveness and human forgiveness. (Value: 15% of course grade)
Assignment # 14 Friday, July 4 No posting due today . Work on assignment #15.
Assignment # 15 due Monday, July 7 On ANGEL post an original script for a liturgy for a parish communal celebration of reconciliation. [For the instructions regarding this assignment click here.]regarding this assignment a (Value: 15% of course grade)
Assignment # 16 Friday, July 11 No posting due today. Read postings for assignment #15.
Assignment # 17 due Monday, July 14 On ANGEL post a 400-600 word critique of one of the postings for assignment #15. (The professor will assign the posting you are to critique so that each student receives one critique of their project.) (Value: 10% of course grade)
Assignment # 18 due Friday, July 18 No posting due today. Review the readings and the postings in preparation for class tomorrow.
July 19 During this final day together we will:
1. Discuss and evaluate the scripts for the communal celebrations of the sacrament of reconciliation which you have prepared.
2. Review the ten finger grid on the History of Reconciliation and discuss the various stages of this development especially before, during, and after the Second Vatican Council.
3. Examine the survey results regarding sacramental practice.
4. Discuss the current state of "celebrations of reconciliation" in the contemporary Church. Facts, Attitudes, Behavior, Group Behavior Two questions: ONE: What has happened "under the iceberg" regarding a) your understanding of the human process of forgiveness? b) your understanding of God? c) your understanding of the way the Church celebrates Reconciliation? TWO: What can we do to help "reshape" the consciousness and the "presuppositions" of our congregations with regard to these issues?
5. The First Celebration of Reconciliation and Initiation History of Reconciliation with Children View the video: "Preparing Your Child For First Reconciliation.
1. Technology. Participants in this course are expected to have: 1) a personal computer or access to a computer; 2) the ability to access websites and download and print files; 3) the ability to send and receive e-mail; and 4) the ability to post essays and enter into discussion on ANGEL.
2. Reading. Participants are expected to read the materials listed in the syllabus.
3. Written Assignments. Participants are expected to complete the written assignments given in the syllabus above.
4. Class Participation. Each participant is expected to actively participate in all three class meetings on May 17, June 21, and July 19, 2008 unless equivalent arrangements have been made ahead of time..
Participants will be graded on the quality of the postings and their class presentations and discussions -- especially their ability to articulate to the professor and the other participants what they have read and learned; their ability to enter into dialogue with and to critique the findings of the other participants; the quality of their insight into the process, the method, and the content of the course; and their ability to apply these findings to pastoral situations.
| 1. Emilie Ertmer 2. Jerid Miller 3. Kenneth Rose |
© Copyright: Tom Richstatter, Franciscan Province of St. John the Baptist, Cincinnati Ohio, Order of Friars Minor. All Rights Reserved. This page was created by Fr. Thomas Richstatter, O.F.M. Every effort has been, and is being made, to acknowledge sources when the ideas are not my own. Any failure to comply with the United States Copyright Act (Title 17, United States Code) will be corrected immediately should I become aware of it. This site was updated on . Your comments on this site are welcome at webmaster2@tomrichstatter.org.