Lesson Plans - Middle School (6th, 7th and 8th Grades)
May: The Principle of Common Good
Background/Supporting Quotations:
from 2 Corinthians 4:7
"But we carry this treasure in vessels of clay, to show that the abundance of the power is God's and not ours."
From 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
"Now the manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for profit. To one through the Spirit is given the utterance of wisdom; and to another the utterance of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another faith, in the same Spirit; to another the gift of healing, in the one Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another the distinguishing of spirits; to another various kinds of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues. But all these things are the work of one and the same Spirit, who allots to everyone according as he will."
from Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions
"The common good is understood as the social conditions that allow people to reach their full human potential and to realize their human dignity." (Summary, p. 25)
from Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992)
"The common good consists of three essential elements: respect for and promotion of the fundamental rights of the person; prosperity, or the development of the spiritual and temporal goods of society; the peace and security of the group and of its members." (#1925)
"The dignity of the human person requires the pursuit of the common good. Everyone should be concerned to create and support institutions that improve the condition of human life." (#1926)
"It is the role of the state to defend and promote the common good of civil society. The common good of the whole human family calls for an organization of society on the international level." (#1927)
From The Catholic Northwest Progress, publication of the Archdiocese of Seattle, 5/4/2000, article by Rev. William Byron, SJ, The Common Good.
From the papal encyclical, Mater et Magistra (Mother and Teacher), Pope John XXIII, 1961
"It is necessary that public authorities have a correct understanding of the common good. This embraces the sum total of those conditions of social living, whereby people are enabled more fully and more readily to achieve their own perfection." (#65)
Objective:
Students will understand that the Common Good is understood as the social conditions that allow people to reach their full human potential and to realize their human dignity.
Activities:
Discuss
What would happen if our society had no rules?
What would happen if our school had no rules? Who would rule?
What are some of the rules we have as a society?
See
Watch a video of Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr. and analyze the methods used and ideas espoused by each individual to create a just society. What rules did they follow, God's or humans? Why?
Do
Prioritize the laws we have as a society. (from Discussion Question #3) Ask, why are they in that order? Can we simplify them into one or two laws? Compare the rules to the 10 Commandments, associate each law to a commandment.
Read
Read through a newspaper or magazine. Use stories to determine which laws of society and which of the Commandments are being follwed (or not). Place 10 numbers on a chalk board - each number corresponding to a Commandment - have students made a check next to the number that their story relates to. When finished, decide which Commandments earned the most attention and why.
Write
Have students write their own 'golden rule.' This can be done individually or in small groups.
We are called to:
Live out the Golden Rule we established as a class and to periodically determine whether or not the Rule is being followed.