Education
Formation of Christian Chastity Lessons - Grade 6
Lesson Plan 2
Theme: God made us to love and to be loved
Objectives:
Students will learn that chastity is a spiritual power (virtue) which involves the purity of mind and body, frees love from selfishness, and helps them to realize their own dignity as a child of God, as well as the dignity of others as children of God. Students will know what modesty is and what it requires. Students will understand that in families, chastity builds an atmosphere of love, virtue, and gratitude for God's gifts, and helps each person discover what is his/her own vocation.
St. Joseph:
St. Joseph, a carpenter by trade, demonstrated his fatherly love as the foster-father of Jesus. As Mary's husband, St. Joseph also served as a model of charity, justice, chastity, and faithfulness to God's plan. Because of his role as guardian and protector of the Holy Family, we invoke St. Joseph's intercession as Patron of family life. He is also Patron of husbands and Patron of fathers, and Patron of the Church, and Patron of a happy death.
Prayer to St. Joseph:
St. Joseph, please obtain God's grace and protection for my family and for all families. Help us to love by giving of ourselves to others, avoiding selfishness, and living in peace with others. Help us to model our lives after yours by being humble, working at our tasks faithfully, by acting justly, and by loving mercy. Finally, help us by your prayers to live chaste lives, to be truly devoted to Jesus and Mary, to love and grow in our Catholic faith, for the grace of a happy death. Amen.
Review:
The last class, we learned that God made us because He loves us. He wants us to love Him above all things and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The primary way that we do this is to help people through our prayers, words, and actions to get to heaven. True love involves sacrifice and Jesus' crucifixion is the ultimate example of sacrificial love. We also learned what true friends are and what they are not. A true friend does what is good for our body and soul. Gossip, bullying, malicious teasing, or using another person for our own pleasure goes against true friendship. God commands us to treat everyone with the dignity that they deserve as people made in His own image. Today we will learn that God loves us and that only He can fully satisfy our desire for love. For that desire to be satisfied, we must love Him above all else and love our neighbor as ourselves. Loving God requires us to live chastely and modestly.
Quotations from Sacred Scripture:
Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. (1 Timothy 4:12)
...the Lord came and revealed his presence, calling out as before, "Samuel, Samuel!" Samuel answered, "Speak, for your servant is listening. (1 Samuel 3:10)
Quotation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
...Modesty is decency. It inspires one's choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet. (CCC #2522)
...all the faithful, whatever their condition or state — though each in his own way - are called by the Lord to that perfection of sanctity (holiness) by which the Father himself is perfect. (CCC 296)
Key Concepts Reading:
Chastity - Key To Holiness
God loves us deeply and only He can satisfy our desire for love. Because He loves us so, we are duty bound to love Him above all else, and He commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Love of God and neighbor requires that we live a chaste life. Chastity is the spiritual power or virtue, which frees love from selfishness. Living chastely helps us to have inner peace. Chastity enables us to think purely and act purely. Living chastely enables us to respect others and ourselves. It helps us to be holy. In family life, chastity builds an atmosphere of respect, virtue, sacrifice, and love.
Part of chastity is modesty. Modesty means, "refusing to unveil what should remain hidden (CCC 2521)." It keeps private things private. Modesty is part of the cardinal virtue of temperance. Modesty protects us spiritually from acting impurely. "Modesty is decency. It inspires one's choice of clothing... (CCC 2522)." We must dress so as to adequately cover the private parts of our bodies. We must not dress so as to arouse unhealthy curiosity in others." If immodest subjects are discussed we should either change the subject or excuse ourselves from the conversation. We show respect for God, others, and ourselves by dressing and acting modestly.
Vocation is a call from God to live in a particular way, for instance, as a married person, a priest, or a religious sister. All people, regardless of their state of life, are called to be holy. Chastity helps us to discover what our own vocation is - whether it is marriage, the priesthood, religious life, or the single life.
Discussion Questions:
- From what does the virtue of chastity free us? Answer: Chastity frees us from selfishness.
- Name some ways in which chastity helps us? Answers may include: Gives inner peace; enables one to think and act purely with the mind of Christ; helps us respect ourselves and others; builds up respect and love in families; helps us to be holy; helps us to know what God is calling us to in our lives.
- Which are the cardinal virtues? Answer: The cardinal virtues are the four main categories of virtue around which the other virtues may be grouped. The four cardinal virtues are prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude.
- Which cardinal virtue do chastity and modesty fit under? Answer: Chastity and modesty are part of the cardinal virtue of temperance.
- What is temperance? Answer: Temperance is the cardinal virtue by which we control the desires of the senses according to the will of God.
Suggested Activity:
Along the top of one side of the board write the words "friend" and along the top of the other side of the board, write the word "chastity." Leave space between the words and below the words. Leave a large space in the middle of the board. Ask students to come up with adjectives describing these two words based upon what they have read and been taught in class. Write fitting responses on the board under each word. Then, in the middle of the board, write the name "Jesus."
Teacher will ask the students how Jesus helps us to be chaste and how to be true friends to each other and what he has to say about chastity, friendship, and love of neighbor. Responses may include such things as: He gives us His grace to lead chaste lives; His parable of the Good Samaritan shows us about true friendship and love of neighbor; He gives us the sacraments which give us a share in His life and help us to be holy; He tells us in the beatitudes "Blessed are the pure in heart"; and He provides us with the ultimate example of self-giving love by His death on the Cross so that we may have life to the full.
Homework:
Put on the board the names of people who have been beatified or canonized by the Church. Choose people from the various states of life and try to include some saints who were children as well. Have students choose one of these, or another saint or blessed and write a report on his/her life. Ask that they incorporate some of the main themes that have been covered in class, i.e. sacrificial love, the virtue of obedience, true friendship, modesty, vocation, etc., and how their saint lived out these virtues to a heroic degree.
Summary:
Today we have learned that chastity is a virtue that helps us to think and act purely and which frees us from selfishness. We have learned that to be chaste, we must be modest. Modesty involves keeping private things private. It affects how we speak, dress, and act.
Finally, we learned that by living chaste lives, we could live the holy lives that our Lord wants us to live.
Closing Prayer:
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have Mercy on Us!
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for Us!
St. Joseph, Pray for Us!