Republic of the Philippines

Region V, Legaspi City

ANNUNCIATION COLLEGE OF BACON SORSOGON UNIT, INC.
Sec. Reg. No. 91471
Magsaysay Avenue, Sorsogon City
S.Y. 2020-2021

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

First Semester S.Y. 2020-2021

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY

Module 1
Religious Education

Mr. Melchor M. Arganda

Instructor

Name: _______________________________ Date: __________

Grade/Section: ________________________ Week: _____1_____
Track/Strand: _________________________
This module presents students with the opportunity to reflect on their present position in relation to issues of
religion, faith, prayer and ritual. It also encourages participation in liturgical celebrations.

Objectives:
At the end of this module, students are expected to
 to explore the place of religion in their lives
 encourage students to examine how images of God influence faith
 facilitate investigation of different forms of prayer and ritual
 provide opportunities for participation in and/or observation of liturgical celebrations.

Unit 1
RELIGION
Activity 1

1. How would you describe religion? Is religion important to you? Why/why not?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

2. How does religion give meaning to your life on a day-to-day basis? Have there been any particular times in
your life when religion played an important part? If so, when and why?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Does religion make any demand on your life in terms of behavior, thought and action? Do you belong to a
particular church?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Unit 2
BELIEF

The major religions of the world (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam,

Confucianism, Christianity, Taoism, and Judaism) differ in
many respects, including how each religion is organized and the
belief system each upholds. Other differences include the nature
of belief in a higher power, the history of how the world and the
religion began, and the use of sacred texts and objects.
 Types of Religious Organizations

Religions organize themselves—their institutions, practitioners, and structures—in a variety of fashions. For
instance, when the Roman Catholic Church emerged, it borrowed many of its organizational principles from the
ancient Roman military and turned senators into cardinals, for example. Sociologists use different terms, like
ecclesia, denomination, and sect, to define these types of organizations. Scholars are also aware that these
definitions are not static. Most religions transition through different organizational phases. For example,
Christianity began as a cult, transformed into a sect, and today exists as an ecclesia.

1. Cults, like sects, are new religious groups. In the United States today this term often carries pejorative
connotations. However, almost all religions began as cults and gradually progressed to levels of greater
size and organization. The term cult is sometimes used interchangeably with the term new religious
movement (NRM). In its pejorative use, these groups are often disparaged as being secretive, highly
controlling of members’ lives, and dominated by a single, charismatic leader.

Controversy exists over whether some groups are cults, perhaps due in part to media sensationalism over
groups like polygamous Mormons or the Peoples Temple followers who died at Jonestown, Guyana.
Some groups that are controversially labeled as cults today include the Church of Scientology and the
Hare Krishna movement.

2. A sect is a small and relatively new group. Most of the well-known Christian denominations in the
United States today began as sects. For example, the Methodists and Baptists protested against their
parent Anglican Church in England, just as Henry VIII protested against the Catholic Church by
forming the Anglican Church. From “protest” comes the term Protestant.

Occasionally, a sect is a breakaway group that may be in tension with larger society. They sometimes
claim to be returning to “the fundamentals” or to contest the veracity of a particular doctrine. When
membership in a sect increases over time, it may grow into a denomination. Often a sect begins as an
offshoot of a denomination, when a group of members believes they should separate from the larger
group.

Some sects dissolve without growing into denominations. Sociologists call these established sects.
Established sects, such as the Amish or Jehovah’s Witnesses fall halfway between sect and
denomination on the ecclesia–cult continuum because they have a mixture of sect-like and
denomination-like characteristics.
3. A denomination is a large, mainstream religious organization, but it does not claim to be official or
state sponsored. It is one religion among many. For example, Baptist, African Methodist Episcopal,
Catholic, and Seventh-day Adventist are all Christian denominations.

4. The term ecclesia, originally referring to a political assembly of citizens in ancient Athens, Greece, now
refers to a congregation. In sociology, the term is used to refer to a religious group that most all
members of a society belong to. It is considered a nationally recognized, or official, religion that holds a
religious monopoly and is closely allied with state and secular powers. The United States does not have
 an ecclesia by this standard; in fact, this is the type of religious organization that many of the first
colonists came to America to escape.

One way to remember these religious organizational terms is to think of cults, sects, denominations, and
ecclesia representing a continuum, with increasing influence on society, where cults are least influential
and ecclesia are most influential.
Types of Religions
Scholars from a variety of disciplines have strived to classify religions. One widely accepted categorization that
helps people understand different belief systems considers what or who people worship (if anything). Using this
method of classification, religions might fall into one of these basic categories, as shown in the table below.

Religious What/Who Is Divine Example

Classification
Polytheism Multiple gods Belief systems of the ancient Greeks and Romans
Monotheism Single god Judaism, Islam, Catholics
Atheism No deities Atheism
Animism Nonhuman beings (animals, Indigenous nature worship (Shinto)
plants, natural world)
Totemism Human-natural being connection Ojibwa (Native American) beliefs

One-way scholars have categorized religions is by classifying what or who they hold to be divine.

Note that some religions may be practiced—or understood—in various categories. For instance, the Christian
notion of the Holy Trinity (God, Jesus, Holy Spirit) defies the definition of monotheism, which is a religion
based on belief in a single deity, to some scholars. Similarly, many Westerners view the multiple manifestations
of Hinduism’s godhead as polytheistic, which is a religion based on belief in multiple deities, while Hindus
might describe those manifestations are a monotheistic parallel to the Christian Trinity. Some Japanese practice
Shinto, which follows animism, which is a religion that believes in the divinity of nonhuman beings, like
animals, plants, and objects of the natural world, while people who practice totemism believe in a divine
connection between humans and other natural beings.

It is also important to note that every society also has nonbelievers, such as atheists, who do not believe in a
divine being or entity, and agnostics, who hold that ultimate reality (such as God) is unknowable. While
typically not an organized group, atheists and agnostics represent a significant portion of the population. It is
important to recognize that being a nonbeliever in a divine entity does not mean the individual subscribes to no
morality. Indeed, many Nobel Peace Prize winners and other great humanitarians over the centuries would have
classified themselves as atheists or agnostics.
 Activity 2: I Believe
Directions: List down five positive statements of your beliefs on each column that begins with “I
believe.”

Childhood faith Adolescent faith

Stages of Faith Development

James W. Fowler (1940-2015) was an American theologian who was Professor of

Theology and Human Development at Emory University.  He was director of both
the Center for Research on Faith and Moral Development and the Center for Ethics
until he retired in 2005. He was a minister in the United Methodist Church.  He is
perhaps best known for his developmental model based on faith, which he wrote
about in his book Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the
Quest for Meaning.

According to Fowler, there are seven primary stages of faith (including Stage 0) in
the life of the individual.  They are as follows:

Stage 0 – Primal Undifferentiated Faith (Ages Birth-2):  This stage is very much

like Erik Erikson’s first stage of “trust versus mistrust.” Here, the baby acquires
experiences from the outer environment that either instill in him a feeling of trust
and assurance (from being comforted, living in a secure and stable environment,
and a experiencing a sense of consistency and care from parents). These
personalized experiences, according to Fowler, essentially translate into feelings of trust and assurance in the
universe and harmony with the divine.  Conversely, experiences of parental or environmental neglect and/or
abuse at this stage of development, can result in the formation of feelings of mistrust and fear with respect to the
universe and the divine, sowing the seeds for later doubt and existential angst.  This stage also compares with
Jean Piaget’s sensori-motor stage of cognitive development, where thinking takes place in and through the
body.

Stage 1 – “Intuitive-Projective” Faith (Ages 3-7).  Children at this stage have

acquired language and the ability to work with symbols to express thoughts. 
Children at this stage don’t develop formalized religious beliefs, but are instead
affected by the psyche’s exposure to the Unconscious, and by a relatively fluidity of
patterns of thought. Faith at this stage is experiential and develops through
encounters with stories, images, the influence of others, a deeper intuitive sense of
what is right and wrong, and innocent perceptions of how God causes the universe
to function.  This stage aligns with Piaget’s stage of pre-operational thinking
(lacking consistent logical-mental structures).

Stage 2 – Mythic-Literal Faith (Ages 7-12). Children at this stage have a belief in
justice and fairness in religious matters, a sense of reciprocity in the workings of the
universe (e.g. doing good will result in a good result, doing bad will cause a bad
thing to happen) and an anthropomorphic image of God (e.g. a man with a long
white beard who lives in the clouds). Religious metaphors are often taken literally
thus leading to misunderstandings. Thus, passages in the Holy Bible that say:
”If,  then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving the
Lord your God and serving Him with all your heart and soul, I will grant the rain for
your land in season, the early rain and the late.  You shall gather in your new grain
and wine and oil  – I will also provide grass in the fields for your cattle – and thus
you shall eat your fill.”  If these promises don’t come to pass in the world, then a person at this stage might feel
cheated or disappointed in God.  This stage aligns with Piaget’s concrete operational stages of cognitive
development, where true logical thinking begins to develop in the child’s mind.

Stage 3 – “Synthetic-Conventional” Faith (Ages 12 to Adult). This stage is

characterized by the identification of the adolescent/adult with a religious
institution, belief system, or authority, and the growth of a personal religious or
spiritual identity.  Conflicts that occur when one’s beliefs are challenged are often
ignored because they represent too much of a threat to one’s faith-based identity. 
This stage (and all subsequent stages) corresponds to Piaget’s stage of formal
operational thinking, thus making it possible for the adolescent or adult to perceive
the divine as an abstract or formless manifestation.

Stage 4 – “Individuative-Reflective Faith” (Ages Mid-Twenties to Late

Thirties).  This stage is often characterized by angst and struggle as the individual
takes personal responsibility for her beliefs or feelings.  Religious or spiritual
beliefs can take on greater complexity and shades of nuance, and there is a greater
sense of open-mindedness, which can at the same time open up the individual to
potential conflicts as different beliefs or traditions collide.
 Stage 5 – “Conjunctive” Faith (Mid-Life Crisis). A person at this stage acknowledges
paradoxes and the mysteries attendant on transcendent values. This causes the person to
move beyond the conventional religious traditions or beliefs he may have inherited from
previous stages of development. A resolution of the conflicts of this stage occurs when
the person is able to hold a multi-dimensional perspective that acknowledges “truth” as
something that cannot be articulated through any particular statement of faith.

Stage 6 – “Universalizing” Faith (or “Enlightenment”).  (Later

Adulthood).  This stage is only rarely achieved by individuals. A person at this
stage is not hemmed in by differences in religious or spiritual beliefs among
people in the world, but regards all beings as worthy of compassion and deep
understanding.  Here, individuals “walk the talk” of the great religious traditions
(e.g., “the kingdom of God is within you”). 

Fowler’s developmental model has been empirically investigated, with the creation of
research instruments, such as the Faith Development Scale of Gary Leak.  More
importantly, Fowler’s Stages of Faith theory has been used in pastoral counseling and spiritual care, and
continues to be taught in seminaries, and other faith-based educational institutions worldwide.

Activity 3
Directions: Understand the readings on faith development stages answer the following question.

1. Where do I see my faith now?

_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
 Unit 3
IMAGES OF GOD
Activity 4.
Directions: Paste on the box the image of God and your personal picture on its side.

In the Image and likeness of God

1. Catechism of the Catholic Church / Catechism for Filipino Catholics
Part Three: Life in Christ
Section One: Man's vocation Life in the spirit
Chapter One
The Dignity of the Human Person
ARTICLE
MAN: THE IMAGE OF GOD
1701 "Christ, . . . in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, makes man fully manifest
to himself and brings to light his exalted vocation."2 It is in Christ, "the image of the invisible God," 3 that man
has been created "in the image and likeness" of the Creator. It is in Christ, Redeemer and Savior, that the divine
image, disfigured in man by the first sin, has been restored to its original beauty and ennobled by the grace of
God.4
Question: What makes us in the image and likeness of God?
We are made in the image and likeness of God because we can love, create, and truly choose good. We are
capable of truly and freely choosing to do good and to love. Human persons are not mere reactionary creatures
but a creation that, like God, can choose to do good and to love one another. Human persons are also able to
know and understand goodness and love. Human persons can mirror God in the manner we know, understand,
love and do good.
Unit 4
PRAYER
Activity 5

1. Why and when do people pray?

___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________
2. What and where do people pray?
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________
3. How do people pray?
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________
Basic Forms of Prayer
Prayer, St. John Damascene wrote, "is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good
things from God." At an even more basic level, a prayer is a form of communication, a way of talking to God or
to the saints, just as we talk to family or friends.
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes, however, not all prayers are the same. In Paragraphs 2626-
2643, the Catechism describes five basic types of prayer. Here are brief descriptions of each type of prayer, with
examples of each.
 
1. Adoration and Worship
In prayers of adoration or worship, we exalt the greatness of God, and we acknowledge our dependence
on Him in all things. The Mass and the other liturgies of the Church are full of prayers of adoration or
worship, such as the Gloria (the Glory to God).
 
 2. Petition
Outside of the Mass, prayers of petition are the type of prayer with which we are most familiar. In them,
we ask God for things we need—primarily spiritual needs, but physical ones as well. Our prayers of
petition should always include a statement of our willingness to accept God's Will, whether He directly
answers our prayer or not.
 
3. Intercession
Prayers of intercession – praying for others – is another form of petition, but they are important enough
to be considered their own type of prayer. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes (# 2634),
"Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did." In a prayer of intercession,
we're not concerned with our needs but with the needs of others.
 
4. Thanksgiving
Perhaps the most neglected type of prayer is a prayer of thanksgiving. While praying “Grace” before
meals is a good example of a prayer of thanksgiving, we should get into the habit of thanking God
throughout the day for all the good things that happen to us and others. Consider including the Grace
After Meals prayer as an excellent practice.
 
5. Praise
Prayers of praise acknowledge God for what He is. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (# 2639)
notes, praise "lauds God for his own sake and gives him glory, quite beyond what he does, but simply
because HE IS. It shares in the blessed happiness of the pure of heart who love God in faith before
seeing him in glory." The Psalms are perhaps the best-known example of prayers of praise.

Activity 6
Directions: Write a short form of prayer which is anchored on the basic forms of prayer.
 Expressions of Prayer
Let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart / be acceptable in thy sight,  O Lord, my
rock and my redeemer.  (Ps 19:15)
My mouth shall speak wisdom; / the mediation of my heart shall be understanding.  (Ps 49:4)
After [Jesus] had dismissed the crowds, he went up into the hills by himself to pray.  When evening
came, he was there alone.  (Mt 14:23)

What are the three expressions of Christian prayer?

The Church speaks of three modes, or “expressions,” of prayer.  Our exemplar of prayer, Christ himself,
taught vocal prayer to his disciples and also practiced meditative prayer and contemplative prayer.  All three
forms are of great value in the life of a Christian.  (Cf. CCC 2701, 2721)
1. Vocal prayer is well suited in communal or liturgical prayer such as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the
Liturgy of the Hours, or a blessing before a family meal.  It is essential for us because of our human
need to integrate the activities of both body and soul, and vocal prayer allows us to express through our
physical senses what we feel and believe internally, in the depths of our hearts; this is how we pray
“with our whole being.”  Liturgical prayer, which is primarily based on Sacred Scripture, also forms us
as a Christian community in the Word of God.  (Cf. CCC 2701-2704)

2. Meditative prayer is ordinarily grounded in spiritual reading.  It is a search for understanding and
discernment of what God is calling us to do.  By engaging our mind and spirit, we draw closer to Christ. 
Two popular forms of meditation are the Holy Rosary and lectio divina.  The Holy Rosary, which also
utilizes vocal prayer, is a meditation on the events of the lives of Christ and his Mother.   Lectio divina is
a meditative reading of Sacred Scripture or other edifying texts such as the spiritual writings of holy
men and women.  (Cf. CCC 2705-2708)

3. In the silence of contemplative prayer, we experience intimacy with God as we share in his mystery
and make ourselves attentive to his voice.  We approach God with great humility and seek complete
union with him; it is sometimes described as a “gaze of faith” fixed upon Christ.  By gazing upon his
mysteries, we open ourselves up to hearing the Word of God, illuminating our hearts, hearing the
Father’s voice, and infusing all that we do with his love.  (Cf. CCC 2709-2719)

Unit 5
Functions of Ritual

Ritual is defined as something that is characteristic of a rite,

practice, action, procedure performed or observed regularly and
consistently, particularly of a religion. An example of ritual is the
recitation of traditional vows in a Catholic wedding ceremony.

Ritual behaviors, established or fixed by traditional rules, has been

observed the world over and throughout history. In the study of this
behaviors, the terms sacred (the transcendent realm) and profane
(the realm of time, space, and cause and effect) have remained
useful in distinguishing ritual behaviors from other types of action.
This classification is taken as a universal feature of religion. Belief systems, myths, and the like, are viewed as
expressions of the nature of the sacred realm in which ritual becomes the determined conduct of the individual
in a society expressing a relation to the sacred and the profane. The sacred is that aspect of a community’s
beliefs, myths, and sacred objects that is set apart and forbidden. The function of ritual in the community is that
of providing the proper rules for action in the realm of the sacred as well as supplying a bridge for passing into
the realm of the profane.

The fundamental problem in all of this is that ritual is described from an observer’s point of view. Whether
ritual participants are basically nonrational or rational, as far as their behaviour and belief systems are
concerned, is largely dependent upon whether they also understand both their behaviour and belief to be
symbolic of social, psychological, or numinous realities. What is needed is a new theory that will overcome the
basic weaknesses of functional descriptions of ritual and belief. Until such a time, ritual will remain a mystery.
The progress made in the study of language may be of help in devising a more adequate explanation of
nonverbal behaviour in general and of ritual in particular.

Types of Ritual
1. Imitative
All rituals are dependent upon some belief system for their complete
meaning. A great many rituals are patterned after myths. Such rituals can be
typed as imitative rituals in that the ritual repeats the myth or an aspect of the
myth. Some of the best examples of this type of ritual include rituals of the
New Year.

2. Positive and negative

Rituals may also be classified as positive or negative. Most positive rituals
are concerned with consecrating or renewing an object or an individual, and
negative rituals are always in relation to positive ritual behaviour. Avoidance
is a term that better describes the negative ritual; the Polynesian
word tabu (English, taboo) also has become popular as a descriptive term for
this kind of ritual. The word taboo has been applied to those rituals that
concern something to be avoided or forbidden. Thus, negative rituals focus
on rules of prohibition, which cover an almost infinite variety of rites and
behaviour. The one characteristic they all share, however, is that breaking the ritual rule results in a dramatic
change in ritual man, usually bringing him some misfortune.

3. Sacrificial
French sociologists Henri Hubert and Marcel Mauss differentiated between sacrifice and rituals of oblation,
offering, and consecration. This does not mean that sacrificial rituals do not at times have elements of
consecration, offering, or oblation but these are not the distinctive characteristics of sacrificial ritual. Its
distinctive feature is to be found in the destruction, either partly or totally, of the victim. The victim need not be
human or animal; vegetables, cakes, milk, and the like are also “victims” in this type of ritual. The total or
partial destruction of the victim may take place through burning, dismembering or cutting into pieces, eating, or
burying.

The Holy Mass is the sacrifice by which the Church not only remembers Jesus Christ,
but really brings Him, His saving Death, and His Resurrection into the present, so that
His followers might become part of it. The Church can do this because Jesus is united
to His Church in the Holy Spirit. When the Catholic Church celebrates the Eucharist,
Jesus is truly there, and it is He Who does once more what He did at the Last Supper.
At the Last Supper, our Lord instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of His Body and
Blood, to continue for all time by His sacrifice of the Cross until He would come
again. The priest, acting in the Person of Christ, brings about the Eucharistic Sacrifice and offers it to the Father
in the name of all the people.

4. Life crisis
The basic characteristic of the life-crisis ritual is the transition from one mode of life to another. Rites of
passage have often been described as rituals that mark a crisis in individual or communal life. These rituals
often define the life of an individual. They include rituals of birth, puberty (entrance into the full social life of a
community), marriage, conception, and death. Many of these rituals mark a separation from an old situation or
mode of life, a transition rite celebrating the new situation, and a ritual of incorporation. Rituals of passage do
not always manifest these three divisions; many such rites stress only one or two of these characteristics.

Rituals of initiation into a secret society or a religious vocation

(viz., priesthood, monasticism, traditional or spiritual healing) are often
included among rites of passage as characteristic rituals of transition.
The great New Year’s rituals known throughout the world also
represent the characteristic passage from old to new on a larger scale,
that includes the whole society or community.

Activity 7
Directions: Give at least 5 common Filipino beliefs and traditions that you even experienced before.
Explain the procedure and your observations regarding these practices. Are you in favor on these
beliefs? Why or why not? Use the chart below to answer this activity.

Filipino Rituals Procedures Your Opinion

 Ritual can be studied as nonverbal communication disclosing its own structure and
semantics. A complete analysis of ritual would also include its relation to art, architecture,
and the specific objects used in ritual such as specific forms of ritual dress. All of these
components are found in ritual  contexts, and all of them are nonverbal in structure and
meaning. Most rituals mark off a particular time of the day, month, year, stage in life, or
commencement of a new event or vocation. This temporal characteristic of ritual is often
called “sacred time.” Time and place are essential features of ritual action, and both mark a
specific orientation or setting for ritual. Examples of ritual time and ritual space orientation
can be found in the rituals for building the sacrifice in Brahmanic Indian ritual texts, for the
building of a Christian cathedral, and for consecrating those structures that symbolize a
definite space–time orientation in which rituals are enacted.

Reference:

 https://courses.lumenlearning.com/alamo-sociology/chapter/reading-world-religions/
 https://www.pdst.ie/sites/default/files/religion.pdf
 https://www.institute4learning.com/2020/06/12/the-stages-of-faith-according-to-james-w-fowler/
 5 Forms of Prayer | St. Michael Catholic Church (stmichaellivermore.com)
 Catechism of the Catholic Church - Expressions of prayer (vatican.va)
 Expressions of Prayer – What Are the Three Expressions of Christian Prayer? | St Patrick Parish
(stpatricksjaffrey.com)
 https://www.britannica.com/topic/ritual/Life-crisis