The Toronto Catholic District School Board. The purpose of these lessons is to illustrate the gospel portrait of Jesus Christ according to St. Mark.

Transcription

1 The Toronto Catholic District School Board Course: Grade 10 Religion Christ and Culture Date/Lesson Number: Lesson 3 and Lesson 4 Unit: Scripture Lesson Topic: The Gospel of Mark Focus Question: The purpose of these lessons is to illustrate the gospel portrait of Jesus Christ according to St. Mark. Instructional Objective(s): 1) Students will examine the origins of John Mark the evangelist and for whom he wrote his gospel in ancient Rome. 2) Students will learn how the gospel of Mark s titles for Jesus, reveal Him as an authoritative teacher and a miracle worker who announces the kingdom of heaven. 3) Students will learn about Mark s unique portrait of Jesus and the way of discipleship that follows the path of the suffering servant. New Evangelization Essential Element(s): Key Element I: Knowledge of the Faith: What We Believe. Key Vocabulary: Miracle Exorcisms Paschal Mystery Son of Man Testament Messianic secret Key Scriptural Passage(s): Mark 8:35

2 Key Catechism Reference(s): Key People: Internet Link(s): Textbook Suggestions: Encountering Jesus in the New Testament. (2009) Michael Pennock. Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, Inc. Chapter 4. Jesus Christ: God s Revelation to the World. (2010) Michael Pennock. Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, Inc. Chapter 6. Materials required: 1) Sacred Scripture (NRSV) 2) PowerPoint Presentation [Appendix A] 3) Appendix B [Contemporary Stories] 4) Student Handout Prayer learned or reviewed: Mark 11:25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. Lord, teach me to be humble and to ask for forgiveness and to forgive others as you have loved and forgiven me.

3 Step by Step Procedures: Task 1: Who is Mark the evangelist and why did he write his gospel? Who was Mark the evangelist? [Most students are surprised that the second gospel of the New Testament canon was actually written first and NOT attributed to one of the twelve apostles. So why is this gospel so important and how did St. Mark come to know the stories and important message about Jesus? Curiously, they also often ask about the lion that appears in artistic portraits of this evangelist.] Share the following with the class: What is the issue at hand? A class discussion should ensue around the following questions which could be presented to the students as part of a large group discussion. a. Who was Mark after whom the gospel is written? b. Why was Mark s gospel chosen as one of the four gospels in the New Testament canon? c. What did Mark s gospel reveal about Jesus message in the early Christian community? d. How is the gospel of Mark relevant today? Important: Each of the gospels in the next four lessons will follow a pattern that addresses: a. The context of why the gospel was written and how that context can be integrated with current issues in the world today that require a response of justice and compassion, in other words, a gospel response. b. Each gospel will focus on common themes to all four gospels: 1. Titles for Jesus and how this connects with questions about who Jesus is and the Catholic faith about Jesus, 2. The portrait of Jesus particular to a gospel, 3. The kind of call to discipleship particular to each gospel, 4. The predominant genre [miracle, parable, etc.] in each gospel that teaches about the kingdom of God, 5. How this gospel is relevant in today s world.

4 Task 2: Research on Social Justice Issues in the News Today 1. [In order for students to find an entry point for the challenging message of this gospel, it is important to research and highlight the parts of the world, both locally and globally that are suffering due to injustice and intolerance. It is not hard to find groups of people or individuals who are experiencing injustice due to racism, religious intolerance, poverty, or illness in the news today. Even the circumstances of the Markan community who was writing to encourage the Christians in Syria and Palestine who were experiencing persecution has some direct connections to contemporary news in the media today]. 2. Use Appendix B as an example. Task 3: Questions for Reflection. (30 minutes) 1. After dividing students into groups to review the selected news articles that either the instructor or the students choose from the media, the following reflection questions could be asked: a. What is the news story about? [Locate the part of the world geographically]. b. Identify the persons or groups of persons who are suffering in this story. c. What do you think is(are) the causes of this suffering for the person(s) in this news story? d. What are some of the responses by the leaders of today to these kinds of problems? e. How are Christians called to respond in these situations? (15 minutes)

5 Task 4: Scriptural Selections from Mark s Gospel [In the following activity, Students are directed to the predominant genre in Mark s gospel, the miracles. They will be asked to read some or all of these stories (perhaps divided in groups), followed by reflection questions that will parallel some of the questions in Activity 2 about suffering, injustice and the response of Jesus.] Preparation for Activity. Introduction: There are four different types of miracles in the gospels: a. Healings b. Restoration c. Nature d. Exorcisms Divide up the following list of miracle stories in Mark s gospel: [Ignore any colours in chart] a. Healings: Mark Healing Simon Peter's Mother-in-law 1:29-31 Cleansing a Leper 1:40-45 Healing a Paralytic 2:1-12 Restoring a Man's Withered Hand 3:1-6 Healing a Woman's Hemorrhage 5:25-34 Healing a Syro-Phoenician Woman's Daughter 7:24-30 Healing a Deaf Mute 7:31-37 Giving Sight to a Blind Man at Bethsaida 8:22-26 Giving Sight to a Blind Man (or 2 Men) at Jericho 10:46-52 Healing a Slave's Severed Ear 14:47 a. Restoration Miracles: Raising from the Dead the Daughter of Jairus Mark 5:21-24,35-43

6 c. Nature Miracles: Mark Stilling a Storm on the Sea of Galilee 4:35-41 Feeding Five Thousand People 6:32-44 Walking on the Water 6:45-52 Feeding Four Thousand People 8:1-10 Cursing a Fig Tree near Bethany 11:12-14 d. Exorcisms: Jesus is tempted/tested in the desert by the Devil/Satan Unclean Spirit/Demon in Synagogue at Capernaum Beelzebul Controversy: What power does Jesus use? Gerasene/Gadarene Demoniac possessed by "Legion" Mark Mark 1:12-13 Mark 1:23-28 Mark 3:22-30 Mark 5:1-20 Syro-Phoenician Woman's Daughter Mark 7:24-30 Boy with an Epileptic Spirit Mark 9:14-29 Another Exorcist Mark 9:38-41 (30 minutes) Task 5: Fill in the Following Chart In the NT, most miracles are narrated according to a fairly regular pattern that typically consists of five stages: 1. Introduction - A geographical/temporal setting is given; the condition of the sick person(s) is described; the healer encounters the sick person(s), or they are brought to the healer, or at least someone tells the healer about them. 2. Conflict/Delay - Often the healer investigates what the sick person wants or needs; sometimes the healer hesitates or tests the sick person's readiness to be healed; sometimes other persons intervene or delay the healing. 3. Healing Action - The healing itself might be brought about verbally, or through a simple touch, or through more elaborate therapeutic means (using spittle, oil, etc.). Sometimes the healing action is only implied, but not explicitly described.

7 4. Confirmation - The fact that the healing has taken place is either asserted by the narrator or demonstrated through some action performed by the person who has been healed (standing up, walking, speaking, etc.). 5. Reaction - Usually some reaction from those who witnessed the event is reported. In the Gospels, this response is often positive (giving praise to God), but sometimes there are negative reactions from some opponents. Miracles in Mark s gospel Stage 1 Introduction Stage 2 Conflict/Delay Stage 3 Healing Action Stage 4 Confirmation Stage 5 Reaction Mark 2:1-12

8 Lesson 4 Continued Gospel of Mark Task 6: Questions for Reflection. a. Choose one of the miracles that you read and analyzed with the chart in Activity 3. How was this person(s) in distress or suffering? b. What was the nature of the healing action on the part of Jesus? c. What was the reaction by the person(s) who was healed? d. What was the reaction by others who witnessed this miracle? e. How would you translate the circumstances of this miracle in a contemporary context? For example, in the story of the calming of the storm Mk 4: 35-41, the disciples are afraid, what are the fears that many people have (fear of unknown, fear of challenges, fear of others who are different, fear of loss, etc). How is Jesus asking his followers to respond in these difficult times? (15 minutes)

9 Task 7: Discussion. What is the purpose of these miracle stories in Mark? The miracle stories underline the true nature of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah of the Hebrew scriptures, the Son of Man (which confirms Jesus humanity and compassion, and as the Suffering Servant who is willing to suffer with others and to share his divine love as transformative love and healing. How do Activity 2 and 3 intersect? In other words, how are we as Christians called to respond to the suffering we witness and to the injustice of our brothers and sisters in the world? Task 8: PowerPoint on the Gospel of Mark. (10 minutes) The following PowerPoint from Chapter 4 of Encountering Jesus in the New Testament Textbook is an excellent resource for explaining in more detail the framework of Mark s gospel which provides the general outline for Matthew and Luke s version of the Good News. See Appendix A. PowerPoint on Mark s Gospel. PDF and Word Document. See also Felix Just, S.J.,Ph.D. Task 9: Summary Chart for Mark s Gospel Summary Table for Gospel of Mark (30 minutes) Background of gospel writer When and Why it was written Titles for Jesus Portrait of Jesus Kind of Discipleship Predominant Genre Singularity of gospel Meaning of P,D, R Contemporary Relevance Question for Christians today John Mark, travelling companion of Paul and Peter C.E. in Rome during persecution of Gentile Christians Messiah, Son of Man Healer and Miracle Worker, Suffering Servant Servant leadership Miracles Messianic secret Jesus is the New Adam. Jesus L, P,D, & R is for all humanity God s peace and justice enters into our lives through our relationship with a messiah who is compassionate and who suffers on behalf of humanity. Will you follow me? (10 minutes)

10 Task 10: Definitions. The students will copy the following terms: Miracle: A powerful sign of God s kingdom Exorcism: The public and authoritative act of the Church to protect or liberate a person or object from the power of the devil in the name of Christ Paschal Mystery: God s love and salvation revealed to us through the life, Passion, Death, and Resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ. Son of Man: A title Jesus uses to refer to himself. It emphasizes both Jesus humanity and divinity. Testament Messianic secret: A phrase that refers to certain passages in the Gospels where Jesus tells his disciples not to reveal his true identity. Testament: A word meaning covenant, the open-ended contract of love between God and human beings. Jesus Death and Resurrection sealed God s New Covenant of love for all time. Scriptural connection: Mk 8: He asked them. But who do you say that I am? peter answered him, You are the Messiah. And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. (10 minutes) Thought Provoker Did you know that the Evangelist Mark was actually named John Mark? Assessment Assignment Adaptations for ESL or students with IEPs: a. The PowerPoint for this Lesson should be saved as a digital version that could be given to the student with appropriate blanks in a few places so they can learn vocabulary.

11 Extensions (for gifted students): a. Research why the gospel of Mark uses the messianic secret in his gospel.

12 Appendix A PowerPoint on the Gospel of Mark CHAPTER FOUR Gospel of Mark: Jesus the Suffering Servant

13 Appendix B. Contemporary News Items: Iraqi Christians Weigh Taking Up Arms Against the Islamic State For full article see Some Christian Groups in Northern Iraq are Newly Determined to Defend their Ancient Homeland. After an Islamic State (IS) advance into Kurdish-controlled territory, some 500 Christian families in Erbil took shelter at the Mar Tshmony church, where a mother gives her son a Published August 27, 2014 DAHUK, Iraq Of all the many ancient peoples who once lived in the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates, Iraq's Assyrian Christians pride themselves on having persisted in their traditional homeland for millennia, even as other civilizations thrived then disappeared, as

14 languages and cultures died out, as ethnic groups melted into the ways and genetic pools of their conquerors. But today Iraq's Assyrians, and its Christians in general, fear that their place in this multiethnic, multisectarian mosaic society is shrinking, under severe threat from the ultraconservative Islamist group the Islamic State (IS). It isn't the first time that Iraq's Christians have faced such a foe. The IS's earlier incarnation, al Qaeda in Iraq a group that formed after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 also menaced Christians, and others, prompting tens of thousands to flee into exile. (Read more about Arab Christians in "The Forgotten Faithful," a National Geographic feature story published in 2009.) Now, the particularly harsh nature of the IS's assault on Christians, Yazidis, Shiite Muslims, and others who do not share allegiance to the IS's brand of ultraconservative Sunni Islam has led some of Iraq's Christians to take the unusual step of shedding their historical passivity and consider taking up arms to defend and eventually govern themselves. (Related: "Iraq Crisis: Ancient Hatreds Turning Into Modern Realities")

15 Kurdish Peshmerga troops were on high alert around Badriyah on August 19, after the Mosul Dam was recaptured from IS forces. Some Christians are beginning to align themselves with the Peshmerga. Photograph by Gail Orenstein, NurPhoto/Sipa USA/AP The Assyrian Patriotic Party, one of several Assyrian political organizations, has armed and dispatched a symbolic, rather than an active, force of some 40 members to join the Kurdish Peshmerga fighting the IS in the northwest of Iraq, according to party official Henry Sarkis. The Peshmerga are the official forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government. It is the first such action by Iraqi Christians since some Christians fought briefly alongside the Kurds against Saddam Hussein. Sarkis, 44, is the newly appointed branch chief of the party's office in Dahuk, a northern governorate in the semiautonomous Kurdish region that borders Syria and Turkey. The 40 men constitute what Sarkis calls the "first wave," and the unit has adopted the name Dukha, an Assyrian word that means "sacrifice." "We keep talking about Jesus and peace, and now we've reached the point where it's not enough," he said in an interview at his party's headquarters in Dahuk. "The age of waiting for the Peshmerga to take back territory while we sit is over. We took the decision that, with our limited abilities, we will try to participate." The party bought weapons with money donated by members in the diaspora, Sarkis said, and is looking to raise more funds through donations to increase its stockpile. Sarkis's men are mainly behind the front line, around the town of Sharfiyah, not so much fighting alongside the Peshmerga as holding territory the Kurdish forces have gained or are pushing forward from. Carved into a mountainside, the seventh-century Rabban Hormizd monastery overlooks the Nineveh Plains. Christians have lived in the area continuously since the first century, but in the past decade more than two-thirds of Iraq s estimated 1.5 million have fled. Photograph by J.B. Russell, Panos A Perilous Shift Still, it marks a significant shift in the attitude of Iraq's Christians, a shift that's fraught with peril. Since 2003, Iraq's Christian community has been viewed by other Iraqis as a passive victim of the country's many conflicts, not an active aggressor. Taking up arms will make the Christians direct participants, armed targets who pose military rather than just ideological opposition to ultraconservative Islamist groups. Sarkis acknowledges this but said his party is prepared to accept the consequences. "We're being killed in our homes, so why not defend ourselves? Then even if we die, we die with dignity," he said. "We didn't want to reach this point we just want to live in our areas."

16 Before 2003, Iraq held about 1.5 million Christians. The number today is fewer than 500,000, say community leaders, the majority having been driven out by war and all the trouble it inflicts and breeds, including corruption and insecurity. Juan José Valdés, Daniela Santamarina, NG Staff. Source: INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WARS; ATLAS OF GLOBAL CHRISTIANITY , CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF CHRISTIANITY, 2009 According to the CIA's World Factbook, Shiites now make up 60 to 65 percent of Iraq's population, Sunnis 32 to 37 percent, and Christians just 0.8 percent. Most remaining Christians live on the Nineveh Plains, an area that is also home to other ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq, including the Yazidis and the Turkomans. (Related: "Iraq: 1,200 Years of Turbulent History in Five Maps")

17 Fall of Mosul On June 10, Mosul, the capital of the Nineveh governorate, in northern Iraq, fell to IS-led militants in a blitzkrieg advance. The IS was ruthless with its enemies, uploading videos of mass executions of soldiers and security forces they'd captured. The Iraqi Army melted away, rather than try to repel the incursion. Weeks later, the Kurdish Peshmerga also retreated from some areas in the face of an IS-led onslaught. Kurdish troops are now fighting, with the aid of limited U.S. air strikes, to regain territory. The IS gave Mosul's estimated 8,000 to 10,000 Christians three options: convert to Islam, pay a tax, or die. Instead they fled en masse to villages on the Nineveh Plains, as well as farther north into the Kurdish heartland. As few as 40 Christians remain in Mosul, according to Duraid Tobiya, 53, an Assyrian from the city and an adviser on minority affairs to the governor of Nineveh. He said that the few who stayed were too sick, too old, or too poor to leave so much so that the IS exempted them from paying the jizya, a tax on non-muslims. "I'm from Mosul this is the first time I've been displaced," Tobiya said. "I lived through everything else that happened in Mosul, but it's all very different from what's happening now." Iraq's Christians, like all of the country's sectarian communities, do not speak with one voice. There are numerous political parties with varying platforms. The solution as Tobiya saw it, was one of two options: "either mass emigration or an internationally protected safe zone. We have no other options. We are against emigration, because we are not only the sons of this country but its original inhabitants." All dozen or so Christians interviewed by National Geographic adamantly shared the demand for a safe zone, akin to the two no-fly zones the West established in 1992 to protect Kurds in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south from the forces of former leader Saddam Hussein. But 1992 was a long time ago in terms of Western resources and commitment to the region especially at a time when President Barack Obama's administration is trying to pivot away from the troubles of the Middle East. Still, Tobiya and others insisted it's a viable option. "We must protect ourselves and also have international protection," he said.