Track C: NT Spirituality
Individual project with some optional group work; maximum four persons/group
last update: 15 April 2008

Learning Objectives:

  1. Identify key NT resources for contemporary Christian spirituality.
  2. Identify one critique the NT raises concerning contemporary American attitudes toward “spirituality.”
  3. Integrate the understanding of the gospel with the actual praxis of it in a daily life in imitatio Christi.
  4. Exemplify how the NT energizes the Christian faith-life through study, prayer, and praxis.

Assignments:

  1. "Bible Bio" Essay
  2. "Images of Jesus" essay
  3. Learning Contract
  4. Blackboard Pretests
  5. CHP on "The Anointing at Bethany" or "Corinthian Women Prophets"
  6. "JC Movie Star" Film Critique or Infancy Narrative Review
  7. Vocation Essay
  8. GNT Spirituality Praxis Portfolio
    1. Daily prayer & reflection
    2. Reflection Journal (daily and occasional entries; to be submitted weekly to Instructor)
    3. Weekly meetings with Spiritual Guide (30 minutes)
    4. Class Activity (preferably done with 1–3 partners)

NT Applied Spirituality Praxis (NTASP)

  1. Stage 1 (Weeks 1–2): Design Your Praxis
    1. Identify a “Spiritual Guide” to work with you throughout this project. You will meet with this person once each week for approximately 30 minutes, discussing the readings and reflections you have been making. (I recommend that you work with the JCU Ignatian Spirituality Institute on this.) The role of the Guide is to help you think more deeply about the NT texts and to try various ways of using them for prayer and reflection. [Make a Journal entry identifying your Guide’s name and contact information, and giving your tentative meeting schedule.] Remember, each Journal entry should include your name, the date you wrote the entry, and a consecutive number. This Praxis description, for example, will be entry #1. Journal entries should be submitted bi-weekly at the progress-report meetings with the Instructor.
    2. Identify a quiet place that will be available to you on a daily basis throughout the course of the semester. St. Francis Chapel and the Eucharistic Reservation Chapel at the Church of the Gesů are two obvious choices. Some of the JCU dorms have small chapels that are available to residents. Other options would be to create a little quiet space in your room or apartment—but this assumes that you can be sure you will be free of interruptions and extraneous noise when using it, and that you can reserve that space only for your prayer and reflection. Decide how to arrange the space so you will be comfortable reading and praying, but not so comfortable that you will fall asleep! If you already have an active prayer life, make sure the space includes some physical object that has been associated with your habitual prayer (e.g., a candle, incense, prayer rug). If you are making a prayer space in your own room, decide on a place of honor to put your Bible when you are not reading it. Making a physical prayer space also invites making an internal “space” to hear and be heard by God. Reflect on this process of creating sacred space. [Journal entry #2] Use your sacred space for your prayer, readings, and reflections throughout this project. From now on through the end of this project, avoid using this space for non-prayer-related activities.
    3. Identify what you hope will be the effects of this Spirituality Praxis. What changes would you like to see in yourself? Your relationship with God? Your relationships with others? How do you hope your understanding of Jesus Christ will change? What specific behaviors do you hope will result from this Praxis? [Journal entry #3]
    4. Survey The Liturgy of the Hours. Make a list of the Canticles that are used for the various Hours in a given week. (Use standard book abbreviations and chapter/verse notations.) [Journal entry] Read the General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours and reflect on the understanding of prayer conveyed by this document. [Journal entry] Choose one of the Hours (Lauds [= "Office of Readings"], Matins [= "Morning Prayer"], mid-morning, midday, mid-afternoon, Vespers [= "Evening Prayer"], Compline [= "Night Prayer"]) and begin praying it every day, beginning and ending with 5 minutes centering prayer or silent meditation. Depending upon which Hour you have chosen, the total time required will be 15–30 minutes. Over the course of these two weeks, use all the Canticles you listed (one each day in addition to the one that is mandated for the Hour you have chosen). Use your Journal to reflect on your experience each day. [Journal entry]
    5. Meet with your Spiritual Guide for the first time and negotiate the details of your mentoring arrangement. Share your expectations and desired outcomes for this project (Stage 1c), and negotiate your Guide’s expectations of you. [Journal entry]
    6. Write a progress report of the results of your project so far. [Journal entry] Meet with the Instructor to discuss your progress report and plan your strategy for Stage 2.
  2. Stage 2 (Weeks 3–4): Begin Your Praxis
    1. Do preliminary research on each of the Canticles used in The Liturgy of the Hours. Write synopses of the data on each one [Journal entry] and reflect on how this information changes the way you view those texts. [Journal entry]
    2. Continue praying your chosen daily Hour, including the additional Canticles. Begin doing the reading/reflection your Spiritual Guide has assigned you; make sure that your readings include either John 12:1–11 and Mark 14:3–9 or 1 Cor 11:1–16 and Gal 3:26–28. Use your Journal to reflect on your experience each day. [Journal entry]
    3. Write either the “Anointing” or “Corinthian Women Prophets” CHP. Reflect on your experience writing this essay. [Journal entry] Discuss it with your mentor.
    4. Continue meeting with your Spiritual Guide each week. Reflect on your meetings and on the Instructor’s responses to your Journal. [Journal entry]
    5. Write a progress report of the results of your project so far. [Journal entry] Meet with the Instructor to discuss your progress report and plan your strategy for Stage 3.
  3. Stage 3 (Weeks 5–6): NT Spirituality & the Imagination
    1. Continue praying your chosen daily Hour, including the additional Canticles, and continue doing the reading/reflection your Spiritual Guide has assigned you; make sure that your readings include Matt 1–2. Use your Journal to reflect on your experience each day. [Journal entry]
    2. Write the CHP on “Mary’s Response to the Matthean Infancy Narrative.” Reflect on your experience writing this essay. [Journal entry] Discuss it with your mentor.
    3. Continue meeting with your Spiritual Guide each week. Reflect on your meetings and on the Instructor’s responses to your Journal. [Journal entry]
    4. Write a progress report of the results of your project so far. [Journal entry] Meet with the Instructor to discuss your progress report and plan your strategy for Stage 4.
  4. Stage 4 (Weeks 7–8): NT Spirituality & U.S. Culture
    1. Continue praying your chosen daily Hour and doing the reading/reflection your Spiritual Guide has assigned you; make sure that your readings include Mark 14–15 or Rom 8 and I Cor 13. Use your Journal to reflect on your experience each day. [Journal entry]
    2. If you didn't do the Infancy Narrative Review, watch a "Life of Jesus" movie or a film that highlights some of the theological themes in the Pauline corpus. Write the “JC Movie Star” or  “St. Paul at the Movies” film critique. Reflect on your experience writing this essay. [Journal entry] Discuss it with your mentor.
    3. Continue meeting with your Spiritual Guide each week. Reflect on your meetings and on the Instructor’s responses to your Journal. [Journal entry]
    4. Write a progress report of the results of your project so far. Look back to your hopes and expectations at the beginning of the praxis (Stage 1.3) and evaluate which ones you think are being met and which are not. Reflect upon what aspects of your project design are working well, which are not, and what kinds of changes you might implement to better achieve your objectives.  [Journal entry] Meet with the Instructor to discuss your progress report and negotiate any changes at this point.
  5. Stage 5 (Weeks 9–11): A Spirituality of Work
    1. Continue praying your chosen daily Hour and doing the reading/reflection your Spiritual Guide has assigned you; make sure that your readings include John 15, Gal 5, and Eph 4. Use your Journal to reflect on your experience each day. [Journal entry]
    2. Write the “Vocation” Essay. Reflect on your experience writing this essay. [Journal entry] Discuss it with your mentor.
    3. Continue meeting with your Spiritual Guide each week. Reflect on your meetings and on the Instructor’s responses to your Journal. [Journal entry]
    4. Write a progress report of the results of your project so far. [Journal entry] Meet with the Instructor to discuss your progress report and plan your strategy for Stage 6.
  6. Stage 6 (Weeks 12–13): Reflect on your Praxis
    1. Continue praying your chosen daily Hour and doing the reading/reflection your Spiritual Guide has assigned you. Use your Journal to reflect on your experience each day. How is your growing understanding of NT Spirituality different from the popular perception of “spirituality” in contemporary U.S. culture? What could contemporary Americans interested in an authentic spiritual life learn from the NT?  [Journal entry]
    2. You will have 5–10 minutes to lead the class in experiencing and analyzing your spirituality praxis. Begin planning your class engagement activity—not just a lecture, but a process by which the class can experience some of the key elements of your project and understand some of the key concepts you learned about NT interpretation by doing it. Plan advance reading or other homework for the class to prepare for your activity session. Draft a “lesson plan” and submit it to the Instructor.
    3. Continue meeting with your Spiritual Guide each week. Reflect on your meetings and on the Instructor’s responses to your Journal. [Journal entry]
    4. Write a progress report of the results of your project so far. [Journal entry] Meet with the Instructor to discuss your progress report and review your class activity plan.
  7. Stage 7 (Weeks 14–15): Share your Praxis
    1. Compile your Praxis Portfolio, including all your Journal entries (consecutively numbered and dated). Review your Journal entries and the essays you wrote over the course of this praxis. Look back to your hopes and expectations at the beginning of the praxis (Stage 1c). Write a final journal entry reflecting upon which of these hopes and expectations were met, and which were not. Say why you think they were (or were not), and suggest what you might do in the future to keep working toward them. Reflect upon what are the most important things you have learned through this NTASP. Discuss this with your Spiritual Guide at your last meeting. [Journal entry]
    2. Conclude your praxis by having your final meeting with your Spiritual Guide. Ask the Guide to write a brief evaluation of your participation in this praxis, including how many meetings you had together, how long you met each time, the effort she/he thinks you put into the praxis, and the quality of your reflections over the course of your meetings. This should be sent directly to the Instructor via surface mail or fax (216-397-4518).
    3. Complete the plans for your class engagement activity, rehearse it, and then carry it out with the class. Evaluate its success. [Final Journal entry]
    4. Meet with the Instructor to discuss your Portfolio and evaluate your praxis.