F. A. I. T. H. 2.0

The Spiritual Development Program of the High School Department

"And spurred on by the method

to return to myself, I entered

into my deepest interior, led by

You. There I was in a state such

that You became my helper. I

entered and looking with my

mind's eye - how weak it is - I

saw above this eye, above my

spirit a constant light."

(Augustine’s Confessions 7, 10, 16)

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The world today is characterized by the degradation of moral values and atrophy of human character due to different inevitable factors, like human suffering, family problems, ignorance, poverty, globalization, technological advancements, consumerism and others. Young people are victims of this global plight. Sometimes, they have difficulty distinguishing right from wrong. Some of them do not appreciate the value of prayer and the sacraments. Others cannot find any meaning in their faith.

They are misguided by what they hear from the people around them. They are misled by what they see in the media. They are confused by what they witness in their own homes. Most of them cannot anymore find security, hope, and guidance in their own homes. But, we must not lose hope. There is still a place where young people can be formed, molded and guided. The school is the only and the best venue where their hearts can be purified, minds molded, character formed, spirits uplifted, and lives transformed.

And so, Faith 2.0, which is the new Spiritual Development Program of the High School Department, is geared to the full realization of the school’s goal of making Christian Living Education as the core of the curriculum, thereby giving more attention and focusing on the spiritual development, character and values formation of students and the faculty.

Hence, the program aims to spread and communicate the Word and the Love of God in a modern, digital, innovative, creative, meaningful and relevant way. This is a creative and gradual movement from the traditional and conservative approach in evangelization.

It is an obvious fact that some traditional and old methods in evangelization and spreading the Word are no longer effective and relevant in the present generation, which is considered the digital generation. This challenges all Christians to devise new ways on how the Word and Love of God will have more impact and relevance in this generation. Gone are the days that people need to "know," "memorize," and "assent" to the faith truths that they cannot sometimes understand, relate to and make sense of in their daily lives. Faith is not merely something we have to know. It is not merely informative, but should be formative, and will eventually become transformative.

St Augustine criticized the purely theoretical approach of Christian faith when he said: “The words printed here are concepts. You must go through the experiences.” Indeed faith is something we need to experience. Dei Verbum, which is the Church's Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, starts with its biblical foundation, the 1^st Letter of St. John 1:1-4:

"That which was from the beginning, which we have HEARD, which we have SEEN with our eyes, which we have LOOKED AT and our hands have TOUCHED—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have SEEN it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have SEEN and HEARD, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete."