Course Description

While many of us have pre-conceived ideas about what makes someone a good Christian, how can we know if our ideas are correct?  In his work What it Means to be a Christian, Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, writes eloquently and persuasively about how one can live as a serious Christian in today’s secular world. He talks in-depth about the true meaning of faith, hope, and love—the love of God and the love of neighbor. 

He also discusses at length the crucial importance of a lived faith, for the believer himself as well as being a witness for our age, and striving to bring faith in line with the present age that has veered off into rampant secularism and materialism. He passionately encourages the reader to practice a deep, abiding Christian faith that seeks to be at the service of humanity.

In these talks, Simone offers a short lecture on each of Pope Benedict's three sermons that make up his work What it Means to be a Christian.

Hours of Instruction:  2

ICT Fellow

Simone Rizkallah

Simone Rizkallah is currently the director of program growth for Endow. Previous, she was the Senior Theology Teacher and Department Chair at St. Mary’s Catholic High School in Phoenix, AZ. Her graduate degree is in Theological Studies with an emphasis in Systematic Theology from Christendom College. Her undergraduate studies and professional background include marketing communications, media, radio, and theatre before discovering her passion for the Faith and call to teach and evangelize. As the daughter of immigrants from the Armenian Diaspora in Cairo, Egypt, she has a particular interest in matters of religious freedom and culture. Simone is a Witherspoon Fellow (2004), an Acton Institute Fellow (2009), and has studied at the St. Albert the Great Center for Scholastic Studies in Norcia, Italy (2011) and at the Phoenix Institute at the International Theological Institute in Trumau, Austria (2013). She helps lead the local chapters of the ecclesial movement of Communion and Liberation and the Washington, D.C. based non-profit In Defense of Christians. She is thrilled to be involved with the Institute of Catholic Theology.  Who wouldn't be?

Course curriculum

  • 1

    About the Morning

    • Welcome - from Simone

    • Reflection Questions for Online Sessions

    • Video - Intro

  • 2

    Session 1 - The First Sermon

    • Handout 1: What It Means to Be a Christian - First Sermon

    • Video

  • 3

    Session 2 - The Second Sermon

    • Handout 2: What It Means to Be a Christian - Second Sermon

    • Video

  • 4

    Session 3 - The Third Sermon

    • Handout 3: What It Means to Be a Christian - Third Sermon

    • Video

  • $50.00

    $50.00All Access Pass - Fall 2019

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  • $25.00

    $25.00Theological Formation Program - Fall 2019

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