CARA Project: Faith and Science

Methods:
The project encompasses two phases which include documentation using this format.

The data is analyzed through responses processed qualitatively by the participating catechist noting response area of focus:
Science: close observation of the material world.
Faith: deeply held belief, trust, or confidence in something or someone. responses of children during or immediately after a reflection. Some statements will be extraordinary, others quite natural. We would like both, as well as a sense of individual insights and where a whole group might be with the integration of science and faith.

Noting:

• Age and gender identity of child/ren
• Group or individual setting
• Related material or presentation
• Quotes, art or observation
• Related notes from the catechist
• Name of catechist
• Date

Catechists will note the responses to these questions, either spoken or in art expression as well as related insights expressed spontaneously.

Phase One:
Create a cohort of catechists to incorporate two supports in their atria. This research is conducted in the context of religious formation in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd atria. Therefore, the catechist introduces these questions only when appropriate, avoiding any interruption of the flow of a reflection obviously going in another direction.

Support 1:
To begin to use a series of questions and observe if they are useful in helping children to recognize both science and religion in our liturgy, Biblical passages, and articulations of faith. These questions are part of the reflections following any presentations offered over the course of one school/atrium year. Responses of the children will be compiled to clarify both the presentations and open-ended questions might be best used.

Support 2:
A small box of cards saying “Faith” or “Science” to be laid on or placed near materials. The box is labeled: Where is Science? Where is Faith?

Phase two:
After refining the selection of presentations and questions, a wider group of catechists will be invited into the study following the same methodology as Phase One.

A survey of atrium students will be integrated into the process and an exit survey and interview will be conducted with the catechists.

Analysis and Resulting Question Avenues:

The assumption we are working with is that every material of the atrium, rooted in Biblical or Liturgical signs could lead to further insight into our Christian faith as an incarnational experience. The tangible, observable elements of creation can be known through science. How they also reveal the Creator and our relationship with and in God is perceived through faith.

So all the questions that follow are derived from two basic questions:
Where is science in this (parable, story, sign…)?
Where is faith?

Analysis
Thematically, presentations for CGS are grouped as follows:

• Sacred History
  • Unity and Vastness of the KOG
  • Gifts of the KOG
  • Project of God (9-12)
  • History of the Jewish People (9-12)
• Messianic Prophecies and Infancy Narratives
• Moral/Kindom Prophecies, parables, and maxims
• Paschal Narratives (including Pentecost)
• Baptism
• Eucharist
• Typology Studies from the Hebrew Scriptures (9-12)
  • Creation
  • Adam and Eve in the Garden
  • The Great Flood
  • Abraham and Sarah
  • Exodus
  • Prophets

For older children, the reflection often folds in concerns of their lives. These may include personal, or interpersonal, or societal concerns, or be related to care of the earth and areas of injustice in the world. There are times the perceived conflict between science and faith is a factor, and may be introduced with a prompt or addressed directly.

Question Avenues Broken down by thematic presentation groups:

Sacred History.
Looking at the Fettuccia or the Unity Strip, perhaps after a child or group of children has been working with it a while, you might ask:

• This is a very, very big story. The story of the Kindom of God.
  • Some of it is based on what we know from science – can you think of parts of the story we know from science? Possible answers: the age of the earth, the age of life on earth, or the order in which minerals, types of animals and plants appeared on the earth (where were the dinosaurs?).
  • Other parts of the story are based on what we know from our faith-the bible or prayer – can you think of parts of the story we know from faith? Possible answers: the Resurrection of Jesus, the Parousia, saying “God created…”

These two questions may spark a discussion, or not. Our first goal is to raise awareness of how both science and faith can inform our exploration and understanding of the material.

Looking at the History of the Gifts, and the Individual gifts, again after a child or group of children has been working with it for a while:

• So many gifts! Can you choose one ask:
  • What does science tell us about this gift?
  • And what does faith tell us?   OR   What can it tell us about God?

Considering the Project of God, and related work:

• How has science helped us with all humankind has invented and learned how to do?
• How has faith helped us? How is all our work connected to our faith?
• How much will science be a part of building the Kindom of God? Examples?
• How much will faith be a part of building the Kindom of God?

Considering the History of the Jewish people:

• Can you see in this history how science may have helped the Jewish people?
• Can you see in this history how God, and faith have helped the Jewish people?

Incarnation
Messianic prophecies:
Images of light and stars may yield the best insights.

• What do we know about light (or stars) from science?
• If we then read in the bible about the great light, what could that tell us about Jesus.

Is. 40: Preparing the way

• A lot of physics is involved in clearing a road, filling in valleys, leveling the mountains, or making a road straight. How would science inform how these things would be done?
• How could science and faith help us follow this prophecy?

Embody, incarnate

• Where do we see this in nature? The earth is an embodiment of the stars…humans embody the history of humankind…and the history of the universe.
• Where do we see this in life? He embodies joy…she embodies compassion…
• Where do we see this in our faith? Is all of creation an embodiment of God???
• How do natural occurrences of incarnation help us understand the Incarnation of Jesus.

Parables and Maxims
Kindom parables

• When Jesus chose a plant or animal from nature to compare it to the Kindom of God he was relying on the broad and deep knowledge of his followers about that plant or animal. The stages of growth of grain, the incredible growth of the mustard seed, the structure of a vine, the propensity of sheep to be lost and to respond to the voice of their own shepherd, or the transforming properties of yeast in a mixture of flour and water. This is science part of the parable – something observed and well-known from daily life. Exploring what we know about grain, seeds, vines, animals or leaven gives us an appreciation of the importance of scientific knowledge to help us understand the meaning of the parable.
• We then move to the “metaphysical” part of the parable: the Kindom of God, or Jesus himself. Here is faith, assisted by science. Something hard to see or grasp, helped by the concrete knowledge science offers. What part of our faith does the science of (a Biblical plant or animal) help us understand? What does the structure of a vine tell us about our relationship with Jesus?

Moral Parables and Maxims
With the moral parables we enter the realm of the social sciences (the scientific study of human society and social relationships). These parables compare various behaviors of people in the time and place of Jesus. To know how the society of Jesus’ time and place helps us understand why Jews might have ignored a wounded Samaritan, why a tax collector was not considered a model of holiness, or how weddings were celebrated in the time of Jesus…We are deeply indebted to the historians, sociologists and anthropologists that have provided us with the knowledge to help us understand the parables of Jesus.

• What do we know about the elements of the parable that reflect the time of Jesus? (Children love knowledge and are happy to hear about the role of a tax collector, the value of a denarius, etc.)
• With this knowledge we turn to the connection between the story and the Kindom? What do we learn about our faith by putting the human story and an aspect of the Kindom together.
• Maxims are broader statements, relying on knowledge of humankind in general and offered to us as guidance for multiple situations, or existential understanding.
• “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.”
  • What do we know about the temple in the time of Jesus?
  • What is unique about the temple?
  • When Jesus compares our body to a temple of the Holy Spirit what does he tell us about our bodies? Our relationships with God and with others?
• “Do good to those who hate you.” We have experiences of hatred that are interpersonal, international, and many things in between.
  • How do humans usually react to an experience of being hated? This is the social science part of the reflection.
  • How does Jesus ask us to react? This is how our actions are informed by faith.

Paschal Narratives – Death and Resurrection

• A shepherd “lays down his life for the sheep.” (Animal husbandry)
• A grain of wheat dies. (Botany)
• Jesus offers his body and blood in bread and wine. (Anthropology – how do we remember and celebrate those who have died.)
• Jesus is crucified. (Historical; Roman form of execution)

In some ways these are experiences of daily life. But in faith they are also the bridge to risen life, for Jesus and for all people.

• “There will be one flock and one shepherd.” (John 10:16)
• “The grain of wheat bears much fruit.” (John 12, 24-26)
• “He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.” (Luke 24, 30-31)
• “He is not here, he is risen.” (Matthew 28, 6)

These texts are grounded in science or the social sciences, but faith leads us across the bridge.

• How do we know what a shepherd does for his sheep?
• How do we know that Jesus cares for us like this?

• How do we know a grain of wheat dies to produce more life?
• And how do we know this can also be true for us?

• How do we know how people remember those who have died?
• And how do we know that those who have died are risen?

• How do we know about crucifixion?
• How do we know about Jesus rising from the tomb?

Pentecost is the feast that closes the Easter season – inviting us all to enjoy and share the risen life of Jesus. Holy Sophia is like wind and fire, bringing with her gifts of communicating with people of other languages and lands, as well as the traditional gifts listed in Isaiah. (In the early church as well as the Old Testament the Spirit is often called Sophia, Greek word for “wisdom”.)

• Starting with wind and/or fire: what do we know about these from science?
• What does wind and fire tell us about Holy Sophia?

Baptism and Eucharist
Like parables, liturgical signs are rooted in creation or human behavior, and offer meaning to their use in Baptism and Eucharist.

Key Creation signs: light, water, oil.

Key signs rooted in human behavior: eating and drinking, sharing a meal, welcoming newcomers, naming, using gestures, receiving and offering gifts, bowing or kneeling, blessing.

• With each of these we can ask what do we know about ____?
• How do we use them?
• What can they tell us about Baptism (or Eucharist).
• As we conclude a reflection we might add, what do we see here that comes from science?
• And what comes from our faith?

Typology
The rich narratives studied in the 9-12 atrium are full of signs as well.

• In each passage, and sometimes paragraph by paragraph, we can ask:
  what happened
• How are gifts of nature (or geography) involved as a way for God to care for or communicate with us.
• What does the human behavior (architecture, prayers/songs, bargaining, hiding…) tell us about ourselves, and our relationship with God.
• How does our relationship with God and others change and grow?
• How much does this reflect the culture of the Ancient Near East?
• How could God communicate so much without the use of our knowledge about God’s creation and human history. (Pressing into our human knowledge of things and events in the Bible prepares us for the leap of faith into knowledge of God and God’s Kindom.)

Conclusion of Literature and the Creation of the Question Avenues
The question of what we know about the signs used in Bible and liturgy is often explored before attaching it to a revelation of God. Jesus relied on the knowledge of the people of his culture, our knowledge of his specific comparisons is sometimes lacking (not all have lived alongside sheep or vines…) and sometimes much more developed during the 2,000 years since Jesus taught. The additional knowledge enhances and nuances our understanding of the meaning of a sign. We need not fear the ways science informs our reflections.
So the parable method, with questions that guide our communal meditation, is not different as we support the integration of science and faith; with one exception: the use of the word “science”.

Instead of asking, “What do we know about…” we might ask “What has science taught us about…” “How does science help us understand our faith?” “Is science a holy work?” “How?”
“Is science present in this story/presentation?” “Is faith present?

The proposed goal is to support the children as they naturally recognize how and when scientific knowledge informs our faith; how much we rely on science to understand our faith; and how faith can provoke hunger for a deeper knowledge of science.

Results:
To be completed after the cohorts complete their year of observation and the data is analyzed.

Conclusion:
To be completed after the cohorts complete their year of observation and the data is analyzed.