Foundations of Catholic Social Teaching: Living as a Disciple of Christ (Encountering Jesus)

“No one lives alone. No one sins alone. No one is saved alone,” wrote Pope Benedict XVI, whose words resonate with today’s teens, particularly because the prevalence of social media allows them to better see how their lives are interwoven with those around them.

Foundations of Catholic Social Teaching: Living as a Disciple of Christ builds on those connections by helping teens find their place in the community of the faithful as they advocate for charity and justice in the world. The textbook, the second in the Encountering Jesus series released by Ave Maria Press, adheres to the USCCB guidelines for Elective Course C: Living as a Disciple of Jesus Christ.

Organized around the seven principles of Catholic social teaching, Foundations of Catholic Social Teaching helps students gain a greater understanding of the roots of social teaching in the Church, its context in the Bible and Catechism and real-life examples of charity and justice in action.

Developed in collaboration with experts in theology and pedagogy, Foundations for Catholic Social Teaching includes a number of new features as a part of a new, interactive design, including: 

• Chapter Focus Questions:  Each chapter’s main idea is posed as a question to the student to provide a broader context in which new ideas can be integrated and understood.
• Infographics: A wide variety of visual and interactive designs throughout the text help students understand theological concepts in ways they will remember.
• Currents Events: Each chapter opens with a story from the contemporary world that teens can relate to their own lives. 
• Educational Photos: Images throughout the text have been carefully chosen not only to illustrate the chapter but for teachers and students to use as educational tools.
• Note-Taking Graphic Organizers: Designed to help students organize, summarize, and sequence the text, various types of organizers were customized for every section of the book.
• Section Assessments: Each section includes pedagogically designed assessment questions with labels that show how the questions serve a variety of different learning styles.
• Online Resources: As always, teachers can access a wide variety of online resources at the Ave Maria Press website, including videos, PowerPoints, handouts, crossword puzzles, reading guides, and tests.

(© 2015) The Subcommittee on the Catechism, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has found that this catechetical high school text is in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and fulfills the requirements of Elective C of the Doctrinal Elements of a Curriculum Framework for the Development of Catechetical Materials for Young People of High School Age.