LOWER PRIMARY: What is ANZAC DAY? Sorrow and compassion.
1. What is ANZAC day? What will your school do to commemorate ANZAC Day? Are there any special liturgies or prayers? Is your class contributing anything particular to the school activities this ANZAC Day? What does your family do on ANZAC day? Do you have any special traditions?
2. Ecclesiastes 1:18 ‘for with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief’. How do you feel after learning more about the ANZACs? How do you deal with those feelings?
3. What does sad look like? What colour is it? How does sad sound? What do the different parts of your face do when you feel sad? How do different parts of your body feel when you are sad? Does sad have a taste or a smell? Ask students to show you their best sad face and then their best happy face. Ask students to stand on the spot or move around the room in a sad way and then a happy way. Colour in a printout of a body to show which parts of the body feel different when you are feeling sad. Make a list of what things make you feel sad? What things make you feel happy? How can God help us to feel happy again when we are sad? How can we calm our bodies when we are sad so that we can remember to find a way to help ourselves be happy again? Practice some mindful breathing, thinking or movement. Practice relaxation techniques.
4. Sometimes we can help ourselves to feel better by concentrating on things for which we are grateful. What is gratitude? Answer the question in your own words, then check the definition in a dictionary. Is your understanding the same or different to the explanation in the dictionary? Take a moment to notice how you are feeling now. Then, write a list of three things for which you are grateful. Now, take note of how you are feeling after writing the list. Do you feel any different?
5. Try making up your own “five-fingered prayer”. It includes five steps: give praise, give thanks, make a request for another person, ask for forgiveness, and make a request for yourself.
UPPER PRIMARY: Prayer as Action, Suffering, and the Book of Job
1. We are faced with the reality of war in the news and on days such as ANZAC Day. We can find solace by turning to prayer when we feel helpless. Read the article “Warming the Heart” by Year 11 student Liliana Okoumousis, from Sacred Heart College in Bentleigh Victoria, to find out how prayer plays a role in her life. Write a paragraph about the role of prayer in your own life and why it is important. Make sure your paragraph has a topic sentence, explanation, evidence, and a concluding sentence. Check your work using the writing success criteria:
a) I think before I write (brainstorming).
b) I planned my writing
c) I used a title that introduces the explanation.
d) My sentences are in the right order.
e) I used helpful words to order my sentences (e.g. linking words).
f) My paragraph gives information.
g) My paragraph answers questions.
h) I can write my name as author (own working, not plagiarised).
i) My layout is clear, and my paragraph is indented.
j) My vocabulary includes technical language, precise details, formal language.
k) My explanation gives an impersonal view.
l) I used a suitable voice and tense.
m) I read my paragraph over carefully.
n) I corrected mistakes in my paragraph.
o) How many stars would I give my effort in writing this paragraph out of five?
p) How could I improve my paragraph next time?
2. What is the Ignation rite ‘Awareness Examen’? Read this article by James O’Brien and conduct hold an ‘Awareness Examen’ rite with your class.
3. Read this article and then pray for doctors and their collaborators in War Zones. See the instructions for a five-fingered prayer above.
4. How can God allow innocent people to suffer? Why do bad things happen to good people? Have a look at the book of Job. There are some good videos summarising and explaining this book on YouTube. There is also some good explanation at the start of the book of Job in the Catholic Youth Bible. Who wrote the book of Job and when? Was Job a real person? What is the purpose of this book and who is its audience? Why is it called a book of wisdom? What is the message in this book? How can it help us to deal with our sadness on ANZAC Day? Write a paragraph explaining how the book of Job can help you to understand your sadness and connect with God on ANZAC day. Make sure your paragraph has a topic sentence, explanation, evidence, and a concluding sentence. Check your work using the writing success criteria mentioned above.
LOWER SECONDARY: War in the Bible; Causes of War; Peace
1. Research and answer the following questions to find out a little bit more of the history of ANZAC Day in Australia from a Catholic perspective:
a) When was the first dawn service conducted in Australia and who was Padre White?
b) Who was Father John Philip Kennedy and how did he help POWs captured by the Japanese in WW2?
2. According to Father Andrew Hamilton SJ in his article ‘A day to grieve and pray’, we should ‘Think of war with horror, not excitement’. Describe what this means in your own words. When is it tempting to look at war differently? Is this a good or a bad thing? Why? Write a paragraph explaining your response using a topic sentence, explanation, evidence and a concluding sentence. Follow the writing process in constructing your answer: Brainstorm, Research, Plan, Draft and Edit.
Alternatively, you could write response to the following articles:
· The human face of war by Michele Gierck
· Explorations: What is War good for? by Andre Hamilton SJ
All three articles can be used in a group activity where students are broken into groups of three. Each member of the group reads a different article and then reports back on its contents to the rest of the group. Each group then completes a Venn diagram on what is similar in each article and what is different. Whole class results can then be collated on a diagram on the board.
2. Discrimination: Read the article ‘A goal to work toward’ which says that, ‘recognising and overcoming our prejudices is not a goal we can expect to achieve but one for which we should always strive’. Consider the ways in which discrimination can lead to war. Did Jesus discriminate? What does the New Testament teach us about how Jesus reacted to the poor and the outcast? Do any parables deal with difference and what message do they send? Formulate an action plan on how to be aware of and avoid prejudice in your own life.
3. Peace: What is Peace? Write down your ideas and then look up the definition of ‘peace’ in the dictionary. How do your ideas differ to the definition in the dictionary. Use a Venn diagram to create the comparison. Research: what is the Catholic Church’s definition of Peace?
New Year’s Day is the World Day of Peace for Catholics . Find out more about the World Day of Peace, it’s history etc. How will you spend New Year’s Day next year? How can you promote or reflect on the idea of Peace on this day?
UPPER SECONDARY: Acting with honour, honouring the dead, sacrifice, the Catholic position on war
1. Honouring the Dead:
a) Read this poem and comment on what the soldier is trying to say. This poem is a contribution to the The ANZAC Book released in 1916. It’s author is Capt. James Sprent A.M.C. (attached 3rd Field Ambulance.).
A CONFESSION OF FAITH
Who would remember me were I to die,
Remember with a pang and yet no pain;
Remember as a friend and feel good-bye
Said at each memory as it wakes again?
I would not that a single heart should ache
That some dear heart will ache in my one grief.
Friends, if I have them, I would fondly take
With me that best of gifts, a friend’s belief.
I have believed, and for my faith reaped tares;
Believed again, and, losing, was content;
A heart perchance touched blindly, unawares,
Rewards with friendship faith thus freely spent.
Bury the body – it has served its ends;
Mark not the spot, but “On Gallipoli,’
Let it be said, “he died.” Oh, Hearts of Friends,
If I am worth it, keep my memory.
b) What is the ‘Eternal Rest’ Prayer? What are its origins? When do Catholics typically pray this prayer?
c) What does the term ‘Rest in Peace’ mean and what are its origins?
d) What does the Bible say about eternal life? Look up each of these verses and then explain them in your own words.
i) Hebrews 4:8
ii) John 3:16
iii) Matthew 25:46
iv) Isaiah 57:2
2. Group Research Activity:
Group 1 Sacrifice:
Jesus was willing to give up what he had to save us (Philippians 2:6-11). There are strong parallels between the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross and the sacrifice of the ANZACs. Read and consider this article on the links between Easter and ANZAC Day by Michael McVeigh from Eureka Street. How does sacrifice relate to the role of the ANZACs? How do you experience sacrifice in your life, both in terms of sacrifices you make, and sacrifices others make for you? How do you benefit from the sacrifice that Jesus made? How do you benefit from the sacrifice of the ANZACs? Is sacrifice worth it? Why?
Group 2: An appropriate Catholic response to ANZAC Day
According to Father Andrew Hamilton SJ in his article ‘A day to grieve and pray’, we should “Shout out compassion and other human responses”. How should Catholics respond to ANZAC day and why?.
Group 3: The scaredness of ANZAC Day.
Why is ANZAC day sacred? Read this article on the Centenary of ANZAC in 2015 from the Catholic Diocese of the Australian Military Services and explain. From a Catholic perspective, is ANZAC Day still relevant today and why?
Group 4: War in the Bible and the Catholic position on War
Does the Bible mention war and what messages does it send? What is the Catholic position on War? Should this position be reversed and why? Explain. This article from Eureka Street by Miles Pattenden might help to get you thinking.
Process:
Step 1: Summarise
Break into four groups. Each group will need a timekeeper (to keep everyone on track), a spokesperson (to deliver results to the class), a scribe (to write down the answers), a resources person (to make sure that everyone in the group has what is needed to complete the activity successfully), a trouble-shooter (they also liaise with the teacher is there are any issues or questions) and a reader (to read aloud the section of the Bible that will be summarised). It is the responsibility of each member of the group to participate in the discussion to summarise the main points in the reading. Each group will be given a different topic. Summarise the articles, answer the questions and present your findings and opinions to the class.
Step Two: present and take notes
Students who are watching the presentation are to complete a “summarisation table” table, listing the main ideas in the first column, the supporting details in the second column and any comments, questions, or queries in the third column. A master list will be recorded on the whiteboard or smartboard by means of whole-class discussion after presentations are complete.
3. Essay Question:
Is there such a thing as a ‘just’ war? Should the Church reverse its position on War? This article from Eureka Street by Miles Pattenden might help to get you thinking.
Follow the writing process in constructing your answer: Brainstorm, Research, Plan, Draft and Edit. Your essay should have an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion. The introduction must contain a thesis statement (turn the question into a statement) and outline your argument. Body paragraphs should follow the PEEL format (point, elaboration, evidence, linking sentence) and a conclusion which summarise your main points and brings them to a direct and decisive end.