Teaching Theology: Sacramentality

Christianity is not a religion about God; it is a relationship with God. This is basically how I start all my classes. My students come to know this little catch phrase of mine. If they don't, they are likely to lose a few points on every test they take; it's a customary question! But this is the general lens or hermeneutic I use in my classes to communicate the overall purpose of Christianity. For adolescents, and really for most people, the desire for relationship is one of those cardinal forces in life; we have a hard time ignoring it. So, why not use this common desire for relationship to frame the study of Catholic theology? God is, after all, relationship within the Holy Trinity, and we are, after all, created in the image and likeness of that Trinity.

This blog is really a record of a class I teach centered on Sacramentality. Hopefully this blog will serve to show the general concept of Sacramentality... how we can encounter God in all things, as St. Ignatius of Loyola teaches. 

The general structure of this blog, over however long it will take to unfold, includes sections on Christian Anthropology, the Authentic Self, the Other and Verbum, identifying what prevents us from knowing Our Authentic Self, and what helps us to know our Authentic Self. I welcome any questions or comments. Ultimately, like I tell my students, you can read this blog in one of two ways: you can either learn something about Christianity that might help you understand why they do things the way they do, or you can learn something about yourself and maybe deepen in your own relationship with God. 

I only pray for God's guidance.

(I can't help but share pictures of this dog. Henri is named after Henri Nouwen. My wife and I fell in Love while reading Life of the Beloved together. You can probably expect many pictures of Henri in this blog.)