Module One

Our Moral Life is Grounded on the Person of Jesus

Lesson 1: Probing Our Christian Moral Life

Lesson Objectives - The lesson is ordered to enable the students to:

Morals: live-out love and holiness in their daily living;

Doctrine: recognize that the way to Christ is to love others by obeying his
commands;

Worship: pray for the Spirit who comes to the aid of their weakness (Rom. 8:26).

OPENING PRAYER

Reading 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

“Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it
does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice
over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Leader: Let us pray.

Lord, make me a channel of your love. Let me see each circumstance in my life as an opportunity to grow
in your love. Let me see my environment as a place to grow in your love.

May I then share this love to other people...

When I tend to become impatient, help me to be patient.

When I tend to become unkind, help me to be kind.
When I tend to become jealous, help me to be tolerant.
When I tend to become boastful or proud, help me to be humble.
When I tend to be rude or selfish, give me the gift of gentleness.
When I tend to take offense, help me to let go .
When I tend to become angry with someone, give me the gift of forgiveness .
When I tend to become resentful, give me your power to love.

Lord, grant that I may take no pleasure in criticizing others, but that I may see good in them, as you do.
When I begin to concentrate on the faults and failures of others,
give me courage to praise their accomplishments.
Help me be loyal to those you give me to love.
Help me to believe in them, even when they do not believe in themselves. To expect the best from them,
but accept the best they can give. May I always defend them, as you always defend me.

(Retrieved May 22, 2010 from www.http://chrisy58.wordpress.com/2008/11/29/prayer-for-loving-others/)

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CONTEXT

What Choices or Decisions Involve Morality?

Look at the following mundane experiences leading to one’s choices. Discern which situation
involves a moral decision:

1. whether to accept the money given by politicians during election

2. whether to eat snacks at the school canteen or at Jollibee
3. whether to engage in sex before marriage
4. whether to go out with friends on a Saturday night or stay home
5. whether to lie to avoid being blamed or scolded by my parents
6. whether to work part-time while studying in college
7. whether to study my lessons or cheat during exams
8. whether to enrol in engineering or nursing course

The above-mentioned situations portray that the choices are of different types. Some obviously
involve a moral dimension that we have no difficulty identifying them as moral issues. Other decisions
may depend on the consequences of the choice one makes. Other choices have really nothing to do with
moral consequences. What is by the way our basis in saying that our choices, decisions and actions
involve a moral dimension?
Michael Pennock (year) cites the following authors who express their ideas and/or opinions on
the concept of morality or morals.
[T]he American satirist H. L. Mencken claimed that morality is “the theory that every
human act must be either right or wrong, and that 99 percent of them are wrong.” The
famous novelist Ernest Hemingway was less negative about morality when he wrote,
“About morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is
immoral is what you feel bad after.” The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who
once cynically proclaimed the death of God, concluded, “Morality is the herd-instinct in the
individual.”
For Pennock (year), morality is much deeper than the above-statements. For him, morality is a special
kind of knowing- a “knowing of what ought to be done”. In other words, authentic morality is not simply
an issue to label most human acts as wrong nor a matter of monitoring your feelings after you do
something either a matter of following the crowd.
Why do we tend to identify decisions 1, 3, 5 and 7 as moral situations? In these moral situations,
the options are based on a person’s values and principles of right and wrong as formed by his/her
surrounding circumstances like the Church, school, family, friends and others. These choices shape the
kind of person he/she becomes. They go to the core of the person. For instance, the decision, of whether
to lie to avoid being blamed for mistakes, points toward becoming a person who is honest or dishonest,
trustworthy or untrustworthy. Each of these decisions involve answering the basic questions, “What must
I do?” or “What must we do?” or “What ought I to do?” Are the moral situations 1, 3, 5 and 7 lead us to
become a loving and a holy person?

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EXPOSITION

A. SACRED SCRIPTURE:

Jesus taught about morality by giving sermons, telling stories and parables in the Gospel. By
listening to the Gospel as told by Jesus, we may live in the newness of life (Jn. 6;4) and become
a moral person by continuously praying for the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Mark 10:17-22 – The Rich Young Man

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and
asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? 3 No one is good but God
alone.
You know the commandments: 'You shall not kill; you shall not commit
adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not
defraud; honor your father and your mother.'"
He replied and said to him, "Teacher, all of these I have observed from my
youth."
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one
thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to (the) poor and you will have
treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many
possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for
those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!"
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and
asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? 3 No one is good but God
Moral perfection
alone. is proposed as an imitation of God’s perfection. God’s perfection is not simply
to follow the Ten You know the commandments:
Commandments but the interior'You shallthat
motive notcan
kill;beyou shallinnot
found ourcommit
hearts. Do we
love others as weadultery;
follow theyou shall
Ten not steal; you shall
Commandments? not detach
Do we bear false witness;
ourselves youmaterial
from shall notthings
defraud; honor your
and help others especially the poor? father and your mother.'"
He replied and said to him, "Teacher, all of these I have observed from my
youth."
B. Church Teaching:
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one
thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to (the) poor and you will have
treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
Christian FaithAt
is that
morestatement
than a sethis
of face fell,
truths andbelieved;
to be he went away sad,
it is the forofheChrist
way had many
which leads to
possessions.
life (CFC 674 cf. CCC 1696).
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for those who
have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!"

What kind of life am I living? How do I live my Christian moral life? How loving am I?
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 Morality Checklist
(Extracted From the Survey Questionnaire on the Research Paper entitled
“An Analytical Juxtaposition of St. Paul University Surigao Students’ Dimension of Faith”)

Please check ( ) the appropriate box that corresponds to your honest and subjective assessment of the
following statements based on your real faith-life experience. Please understand and discern each item.
This is not a quiz. For confidentiality, decide mentally which box is YES or NO.

Moral Statements

I respect bodily integrity by not watching bold films and pornographic materials and by
not browsing pornographic sites.
I participate in a Church organization by sharing my time and effort in Church activities.
I respect my body as sacred by not using my body in cyber sex and in prostitution.
I want to preserve the integrity of my vote by not accepting money during election.
I help the needy by sharing part of my allowance or by giving anything in kind.
I consider the sanctity of marriage so I don’t like civil wedding and trial marriage.
I respect the property of others by not taking others’ property or stealing.
I observe the Second Commandment by not saying bad words and other bad expressions.
I practice chastity by not entertaining sexual fantasies and engaging in masturbation.
I live simply by not buying expensive things like clothing, jewelries, cellphones etc.
I take care of my body by not smoking.
I pity those who are poor and less fortunate by doing something to help them.
I take care of my body by not indulging in drinking hard liquors.
I consider my body as sacred by not engaging to same sex or homosexual act.
I take care of my body by not taking prohibited drugs.
I am an honest person by not cheating during exams.
I respect others’ reputation by not gossiping and backbiting against them.
I preserve my purity by not engaging in fornication and pre-marital sex.
I am a steward of God’s creation by properly throwing the garbage.
I observe the value of truth by not telling a lie to my parents, friends and teachers.

Based on this activity can you discern who you are as a moral person?

As a loving and holy person?

As an authentic human person?

How many YES and NO answers do you have?

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Name:___________________________________ Section:______________ Activity No. ____

List down the YES items and the No items. Device key words which you alone can understand.

What is the relation of becoming a loving and holy person to those items in the Morality
Checklist i.e. lying, gossiping, sexual immoralities, etc.?

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

Add two statements which are not found in the Morality Checklist which you think are moral
statements.

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

How does your loving knowledge of Jesus can gradually help transform your moral life?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Compose a prayer asking the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit in living a moral life.

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
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 Lesson 2
Challenges in Our Christian Moral Life

Lesson Objectives - The lesson is ordered to enable the
students to: Overcoming Temptation

Morals: recognize in themselves the tendency to sin The challenges in our

and acknowledge themselves as sinners Christian moral life are the
when they have done evil; (CFC 764) temptations in our lives. Jesus
himself was tempted but did not
Doctrine: explain that Jesus Christ saves them from give in. He defeated the devil and
this wretchedness (Rom 7:24-25); overcome the many challenges
and persuasions posed by the
Worship: pray for the gift of patience and devil and do what is ought to be
perseverance to endure the pressures and done.
temptations that may come along.
Temptations are not sin in
itself. Like Jesus’ temptations, they
Prayer are attractive. Evil often
masquerades as something else
Reading Matthew 4:1-11
like a beautiful lady, a gorgeous
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted car, and the like. Gossip manifests
by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward itself as a way to appear popular,
he was hungry. sexual activity outside marriage
pretends to be true love, and
And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, drinking alcohol appears to be a
command these stones to become loaves of bread.” way to have fun or fit in. With all
But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, these clever disguises and more,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” how can you see temptation for
what it really is and avoid it?
Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of
the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself Saint Augustine would tell
down; for it is written, ‘He will give his angels charge of you,’ and us that the root of most
‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot temptations is a hunger or a need
against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not that only God can fill. He said,
tempt the Lord your God.’” “Our hearts are restless until they
rest in Thee, my God”. If you want
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all to stand up to temptation, get to
the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; know the hungers in your heart,
and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and such as a need for material things,
worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! for it is written, for attention, or for fitting in. Then
‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” follow Jesus’ lead and trust in
Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him. God’s care to fill your hungers (see
Matthew 4:1-11).
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
Context

Do you experience any need, hunger, craving or desire in your heart that may be the root of your temptation? (First
sharing of reflection.)

Sinners and Saints: Group Research Activity

Each group will research and discuss a particular saint or holy person who has had a dramatic
conversion. They will also purvey a reflection on the person’s struggle with good and evil and
the person’s life before and after conversion. (Some suggestions are the historic saints Francis of
Assisi, Augustine of Hippo, and Ignatius of Loyola, and a contemporary holy person like
Dorothy Day.) After the group discussion, a representative/s will share the dramatic conversion
of their chosen saint or holy person with their corresponding reflection in the class.

Exposition

A. Sacred Scripture

Rom 7:15; 24-25

St. Paul exhorts, “What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I
hate.... Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to
God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Think of your own experience of temptation. How are you tempted to make bad choices? When
do you feel like St. Paul: “What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do
what I hate”. Share one’s reflection/ experience to the same small group.

B. Church Teaching:

Andrew E’s line of a song, “Gusto kong bumait pero di ko magawa” (I want to be
good but I can’t do it) often speaks of our concrete experiences and challenges in our
Christian moral lives. We often have our resolutions and renewals during New Year
or after attending a recollection or retreat. But after awhile, we give in to our vices,
weaknesses and sinfulness. So, we feel frustrated and discouraged.

However, the song did not just end there, it says, “Nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang
gawa”. Here comes our redemption, the salvific love of God. This shows that we have
no power to renew ourselves alone but with the help of God’s grace.

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Jigsaw Cooperative Learning

Each group is assigned two (2) Church Teachings to be discussed and to report to the class.

CFC 764
Moral life, then, requires that we recognize in ourselves the tendency to sin and acknowledge
ourselves as sinners when we have done evil.

CFC 716
“We all experience numerous pressures and temptations both from inside ourselves and from
without, against exercising our freedom responsibly. Strangely enough, we find it difficult to
consistently “do good and avoid evil.”

Where can we trace this tendency or inclination to sin?

CFC 676
But we soon find that this “following of Christ” is not easy – life is full of challenges. “From
the very dawn of history human beings, enticed by the evil one, abused their freedom. They set
themselves against God and sought to find fulfillment apart from God. . . Their senseless minds
were darkened and they served the creature rather than the Creator” ( GS 13; cf. CCC 1707).

CFC 378
[T]here is the personal interior dimension of original sin, the “heart of darkness within us’
which is “in all men, proper to each” (Trent, ND 510). We experience this aspect of original sin
especially in one of its effects that remains even after Baptism, called concupiscence.
Concupiscence itself is not sin, but is rather the ‘inclination which comes from sin and inclines to
sin” (ND 512; cf. CCC 405-6).

This indicates that the sacred history narrated in the Bible is re-enacted in some way in each of
us. Through the grace of the redeeming Christ received in baptism, we are called to “wrestle
with, manfully resist” this situation and interior inclination to sin (ND 512).

CFC 384
This Catholic doctrine should not be difficult to understand since we all experience this
inclination to evil and a lack of harmony within ourselves, with others and with all created
things. Genesis describes these consequences of the Fall as the direct result of the refusal to
acknowledge God as the creative source of all and final destiny for every human person. The
Bible frequently highlights this experience of disharmony by describing life as a dramatic
struggle between good and evil, between light and darkness (Ecclesiastes; Isaiah; Romans.)

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GAUDIUM ET SPES, Art. 10
The dichotomy affecting the modern world is, in fact, a symptom of the deeper dichotomy that is
in man himself. He is the meeting point of many conflicting forces. In his condition as a created
being he is subject to a thousand shortcomings, but feels untrammeled in his inclinations and
destined for a higher form of life. Torn by a welter of anxieties he is compelled to choose
between them and repudiate some among them. Worse still, feeble and sinful as he is, he often
does the very things he hates and does not do what he wants. And so he feels himself divided,
and the result is a host of discords in social life.

CFC 374
The Genesis narrative presents three moments with which we are all very familiar: temptation,
sin and judgment. But we must not imagine that the author of Genesis was somehow present in
the garden of Eden. Rather, his account is a divinely inspired interpretation of the situation of sin
in the world of his own day. Where did all this evil come from? What is the origin of this
condition of universal sinfulness? (cf. CCC 401)

The Genesis narrative of “The Fall” is the inspired Scriptural response to this fundamental
human question of every age. Not God, but the original man and woman, are the source of
moral evil. And not just “Everyman” like the Medieval plays, but the first members, the origin,
of our human race. This alone can explain the universality of evil in our race, and the moral evil
which we experience in our world today. Yet the final biblical word is not that “human beings
are evil” but that “God is Savior.”

CFC 677
Left to ourselves, we have no power to fulfill Christ’s command: “Be perfect, just as your
heavenly Father is perfect” ( Mt 5:48). Yet God strengthens us by letting us share the life of
Christ Jesus, through the Holy Spirit received in Baptism (cf. Rom 6:4). This Spirit, uniting us to
Christ, our risen Saviour, as members of his Body, the Church, liberates and empowers us with
new life to respond in our daily words and deeds to God’s love. (cf. CCC 1742).

Integration

1. Relate the following terms: temptation, concupiscence, original sin and grace.
2. Give concrete examples of the numerous pressures and temptations both from inside ourselves
and from without.
3. How do Jesus save us from these numerous pressures and temptations?
4. Pray for the gift of patience and perseverance to endure the pressures and temptations that may
come along.

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 Lesson 3

The Holy Spirit’s Role in Living a Christian Moral Life

Lesson Objectives - The lesson is ordered to enable the
students to:
Doctrine: explain the role of the Holy Spirit in their Christian
moral life; (cf. CFC1274)

Morals: manifest in their “simulation activity” how to live

according to the Spirit of Christ;

Worship: entrust themselves to the Holy Spirit of God

especially in choosing what is right and doing what is good.

Opening Prayer

Holy Spirit of God,

Bestow us your wisdom to see what is true and good.
Help us grow in loving you, our Creator.
Grant us the capacity to be a responsible steward of all your creation.
Enlighten our minds to know what is right.
Strengthen our wills to do what is ought to be done.
Grant us piety to adore you.
Grant us fear of the Lord to respect ourselves.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Context

Answer the following questions:

Who is the Holy Spirit?

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Why do we need the Holy Spirit?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
What does the Holy Spirit do within us?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
How does the Holy Spirit help us live rightly our Christian moral life?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Can you recall experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Exposition

A. Sacred Scripture

Jn. 14:26

"The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit Whom the Father will send in My name,
will instruct you in everything, and remind you of all that I told you."

Galatians 5:25
"Since we live by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's lead."

Jn 16:13
"Being the Spirit of truth He will guide you to all truth."

1 Cor. 2:10
"God has revealed this wisdom to us through the Spirit. The Spirit
C scrutinizes all matters, even the deep things of God."
o
m
Comment on the following statements:

1. The Holy Spirit illumines our minds and strengthens our wills.

______________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________

2. The Holy Spirit is the power of God (God Himself) at work in us.
______________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________

3. The Holy Spirit helps us to overcome temptation and sin.

______________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________
4. How does the Holy Spirit inspire, lead and guide you as you live a moral life?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
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B. Church Teaching

CFC 1274; cf. GS 38

Christ is now at work in the hearts of men by the power of his Spirit: not only does he arouse in
them a desire for the world to come, but he animates, purifies and strengthens the generous
aspirations of mankind to make life more humane and render the whole earth submissive to this
goal.

CFC 1316-1319 – Two Basic Life Orientations

Now, according to St. Paul, there are two basic, contradictory orientations among us. Either we
Live according to the flesh, turned against God and toward sin and death. Or we live according to
the Spirit of Christ, toward life and peace (Rom 8:4-6). St. Paul contrasts the two orientations:
• “the natural man does not accept what is taught by the Spirit of God, for to him it is
foolishness, and he cannot understand it, because it has to be judged spiritually.
• The spiritual man, on the other hand can appraise everything” (1 Cor 2:14f).

Proper Understanding. Special care is needed to be able to understand the saving, liberating truth
of St. Paul’s message. Far from rejecting material reality, St.Paul is telling his Christian converts
that they no longer are merely natural, material individuals, weak and tied down to earthly things.
Rather, they are under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who is the strength and power of
God working in and among them. The Spirit reveals the spiritual dimension within everything
material, including our bodies, since He is creatively active in everything that exists. Only through
the Holy Spirit is all matter sanctified by God’s grace. Apart from the Holy Spirit, even “spiritual
things” become carnal and dead in sin.

Pope John Paul II explains that “St. Paul is concerned with the morally good or bad works, the
permanent dispositions __ virtues and vices __ which are the fruit of, or resistance to, the saving
action of the Holy Spirit” (DViv 55). Now Paul knew first-hand of suffering, poverty, and the trials
and temptations of daily life. “We ourselves, although we have the Spirit as first fruits, groan
inwardly while we await the redemption of our bodies” (Rom 8:23). Yet Paul is confident because
the Spirit “helps us in our weakness” (Rom 8:26), strengthening our spirits against the brute forces,
temptations and oppressive powers that enslave us.
In summary: Evil spirits possess; spiritless flesh enslaves; wicked powers oppress, dominate,
manipulate and exploit. But the Spirit of God and of Christ liberates. For “where the Spirit of
the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor 3:17). It is in the Spirit that we get a taste of “the glorious
freedom of the children of God” (Rom 8:21).

Furthermore, these two basic orientations of flesh and Spirit are far deeper and more powerful than
our individual wills and free decisions. We rashly think we can change our ways anytime we want.
But this proves to be an illusion. Rather we find that these orientations are “built into” our human
condition. John Paul II explains this: “the texts of St. Paul enable us to know and feel vividly the
strength of the tension and struggle going on in us between openness to the action of the Holy Spirit
and resistance and opposition to him, to his saving gift” (DViv 55). Hence, when our minds are set
on the things of the flesh, we are prisoners of flesh and sin. We cannot extricate ourselves from
such a condition on our own power. Only when we are transformed through the Spirit’s action can
we turn our own thoughts and actions toward the things of the Spirit.
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 Activity: Simulation

Small group activity that simulates “real life” events on the two basic, contradictory
life orientations. The group will first understand the Church teachings above and
create a ‘real life’ scenario on the conflict between two basic life orientations that is,
live according to the flesh or to live according to the Spirit. They may use the
gifts or the fruits of the Spirit in their simulation.

Integration

It is extremely difficult to let the Spirit lead us because the Spirit and the flesh (our self-
centeredness) are directly opposed (Gal 5:17). We will learn to discern the Spirit and must
crucify the desires of the flesh (Gal 5:24), deny our very selves (Lk 9:23), trust God rather than
ourselves, and yield to the Spirit.

We continue to discern the Holy Spirit who animates, inspires, purifies and strengthens
our Christian moral lives, by constantly praising the Spirit in our prayer to liberate us from our
narrow selves and respond to the Eucharistic dismissal “Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord.”

Assignment:

Exercise the fruits of the Holy Spirit, the fruits that He bestows on us to help us live good
lives. Put into practice one or more of these in the coming week. Write a journal entry on what
you did and what you learned about yourself.

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