To Think With Christ,
By Adam Greer, Religion Department Chair/Head Women's Varsity Lacrosse Coach
W
hen we take a few minutes to reflect
on the personhood of Jesus, there
are many ideas which may come to
mind—teacher, preacher, and healer. Through
prayer we often make reference to Jesus as the
Savior, or the Messiah or simply Lord, while in
discussions we often focus in on His capacity to
perform miracles, to tell parables, and ultimately
to preach about the nature of the Kingdom of
God which He was born to bring about. But
amidst all of these roles, titles, and lessons there
is a rather simple, yet significant explanation for
the person of Christ. It is an explanation which
demonstrates why He is so many different things,
to such diverse populations of people around
the world. It is the driving force by which we, as
Christians, are reminded of our shared ancestry
and many common beliefs. This simple, albeit
important explanation of Christ, is LOVE.
We teach our students about love. During their
Freshman and Sophomore years, students engage
in a study of the Bible, seeking to ascertain
its most important messages. They come to
understand that through mankind, sin entered
the world. Yet, out of such tragic beginnings,
This is the lesson of the New Testament. This is
the lesson of the ministry of Jesus Christ. This
too, is the lesson we strive to teach our students
at Bishop McNamara. Through our courses,
through our discipline, through our Campus
Ministry programs, through the Arts, through
athletics, through extra-curricular activities,
throughout the structure of our day, we seek to
instill in our students an authentically-Catholic,
Jesus-centric concept of love.
Blessed Father Basil Moreau
It is this spirit then which orients the curriculum
of the Religious Studies Department and serves
to animate our Campus Ministry Program.
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10 Spring 2013 MUSTANG MESSENGER
“By zeal is understood that flame
of burning desire that one feels
to make God known, loved, and
served, and so bring salvation
to others.”
humanity is offered a lifeline by God through
which we can be saved, the grace of Jesus Christ.
Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are redeemed.
But faith does not necessarily come easy. It is
necessary then that we must learn how to love as
Jesus did. Students learn about the incarnation,
the teachings and miracles of Jesus, and of
His great sacrifice in the passion, death, and
resurrection. They learn that we are called to
think with Christ, a call that is challenging when
you think about Jesus’ call to love: “But I say
to you, love your enemies, and pray for those
who persecute you, that you may be children of
your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise
on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall
on the just and the unjust…be perfect, just as
your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:4448) Indeed, we teach our students to love their
enemies and strive for this perfect love of God.
It is not enough, however, for us to simply engage
their minds with stories of how this occurred
once upon a time. So we take the next step, and
show our students how to love through action.
Their course work during their Junior and
Senior years consists of finding ways in which
to engage the love of Jesus Christ. Through the
sacraments, our students are introduced to a
series of actions by which they can receive grace,
that is to say, God’s presence freely given. What
a gift it is to experience such an intense love. In
the second half of Junior year, students begin
to see how their faith journey is similar to that
of others. They recognize the great common
bonds of humanity through an explanation of
the religions of the world. In their Senior year,
we show our students how to put this love into
action, through a recognition and understanding
of the dignity afforded to all people. Through
the study of Christian Ethics and Catholic Social
Teaching, we seek to engage both their hearts
and minds to recognize the challenges that exist
in this world while at the same time orienting
them to recognize their role in bringing about