Charity

Purpose: This lesson invites our sisters to discover charity as the heart of Christian discipleship—“the greatest of all the virtues”—and to recognize love of neighbor as the visible expression of our love for God. Through Scripture, the Catechism, and the example shown in the selected clip, the girls learn that charity is not merely a feeling but a grace-filled response to the dignity of every person made in God’s image. They will explore how small acts of kindness, fraternal correction done with compassion, and a willingness to see Christ in others shape them into true disciples whose lives proclaim the Gospel. As we journey through Advent—a season of joyful expectation—this lesson helps the girls prepare their hearts for Christ by practicing the kind of love that reveals Him to the world.

Purpose: This lesson prepares the girls to enter Christmas by reflecting on the deepest call of the Christian life: to love God with their whole being. Building on the Catechism’s teaching that loving God is both our first duty and our greatest fulfillment (CCC 2084), this lesson helps them see that charity is not merely directed toward others but begins with the total gift of their hearts to God. Through Scripture, the witness of the saints, and Arwen’s powerful act of self-giving in The Lord of the Rings, the girls explore how choosing God shapes every part of their lives—school, family, friendships, work, and leisure. As they learn that true discipleship brings freedom, joy, and new life rather than restriction, they are invited to consider the sacrifices and daily choices that allow them to love God fully. In this final week of Advent, the lesson guides them to prepare room for Christ by offering Him their whole selves, trusting that He alone is their greatest good and deepest happiness.

Purpose: This lesson leads the girls to encounter the heart of Christian charity in its most profound expression: adoration of Jesus truly present in the Eucharist. As the lesson explains through Scripture, the Catechism, and the scenes from The Passion, the Eucharist is both the Sacrament of Charity and the place where God unites Himself to us in intimate communion. By reflecting on Jesus washing the disciples’ feet and instituting the Eucharist, the girls learn that to love God above all things also means receiving His self-giving love and responding with adoration, gratitude, and imitation. This lesson helps them understand that Eucharistic devotion is not dependent on emotion but on the unchanging truth that Christ is present—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—waiting to strengthen, console, and transform them. As the season of Epiphany invites the Church to recognize Christ revealed to the nations, this lesson guides the girls to recognize Him revealed in the Host and to carry His love into the world through lives shaped by His presence.

Purpose: This lesson invites the girls to rediscover who they are in light of their baptism: beloved daughters of God the Father. Drawing on Scripture, the Catechism, and the tender father–daughter imagery illuminated in The Parent Trap, the lesson helps them understand that charity begins with receiving the Father’s love and responding to Him as His children. As the lesson explains, baptism gives us a “spirit of adoption” and makes us heirs with Christ—a truth that shapes how we relate to God with trust, gratitude, and childlike confidence. By exploring both the beauty and challenge of embracing God as Father—especially for those whose earthly experiences of fatherhood may be difficult—this lesson guides the girls to anchor their identity in His unchanging love. Ultimately, the purpose of this lesson is to help them grow in the freedom and joy that comes from knowing God as a perfect Father who delights in them, cares for them, and invites them to rest securely in His loving embrace.

Purpose: This lesson helps the girls understand that authentic charity naturally moves outward into faithful, joyful service to God and others. Drawing on the Catechism’s teaching that charity is expressed through obedience and the keeping of God’s commandments, the lesson invites them to see service not as an optional task but as the way we love God “above all things for His own sake” and love others for His sake. Through the moving example of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, where a family lovingly serves a man who can give nothing in return, the girls learn that Christian service mirrors this same self-giving fidelity—rooted not in what we receive back, but in the God we serve. The lesson guides them to recognize that service, grounded in charity, leads to spiritual freedom, communion with God, and deep joy, even in hardship. Ultimately, this teaching forms their hearts to serve Christ as Mary and John did: steadfastly, courageously, and with radiant love.