Objective:
The middle school youth will understand how Jesus used parables to illustrate the relationship between God and man. They will also learn to avoid looking critically at others until they first look critically at themselves.
Overview:
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus taught using parables that illustrate the relationship between God and man, and by extension, the ideal relationship of humans with one another. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
Jesus’ invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his teaching. Through parables, he invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything. Words are not enough; deeds are required. (546)
The Catechism also explains that judgment of right and wrong, guided by conscience, is a normal and appropriate human activity.
Moral conscience, present at the heart of the person, enjoins him at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil. It also judges particular choices, approving those that are good and denouncing those that are evil. (1777)