Yr 11 - Religion

Personal freedom

When a person is free to decide their thoughts, desires and behaviour.

Freedom

A gift from God since he himself is free and we were created in his image, carrying responsibility towards others. Through it we shape our own lives by making decisions freely after considering the consequences of what we choose and by planning and working on projects that bring good to our life and the lives of others, showing us true freedom.

Human freedom is a power that helps a person grow into a better person and reaches its perfection when we use it according to how God guides us.

Our role with freedom

A person chooses what’s good to mature in the best way, if they choose what is good, they become a complete and truly free person while if they choose evil, they experience some form of consequences and suffering.

Factors which helps us strengthen our freedom

Education, both that in which we receive in the family and at school as we learn how live with others.

Seeking advice from people who want what is truly good for us and who help us understand what God wants from us to use our freedom well.

Teachings from the Bible and teachings of the Church we see this from when Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him. “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn 8:31-32)

The ten commandments also show us this in which God gave them to us because he knew what we needed to enjoy the gift of freedom that he himself gave us.

Technology when used wisely as its easily accessible through the internet.

Misuse of freedom 

This happens when man pushes God aside to be the one who rules over the world around him and pretends that everything belongs to him by right. So, its when we use freedom without wisdom so we end up abusing it and so become slaves to license leading for us to suffer the consequences. 

How to avoid misuse of freedom 

By not trying to take God’s place but knowing God is the principal author of life and by having a sense of gratitude towards God and by seeing how God wishes to use the gift of human life for his own good and of others.

Examples of situations on misuse of freedom 

When a person chooses to kill human life that God begets in a womb (abortion) and when nature and the environment are abused for personal, egoistic, gain.

Responsibility

It comes with freedom as with every right carries with it a responsibility it begins with responsibilities towards each other, in the family, and in the school environment where we have to relate together this leads for us to grow and to learn more to live in society.

Misuse of responsibilty

By fighting for our rights without being responsible for our actions we cause for everyone to lose their rights due to negligence and selfishness.

Importance of balance between rights and responsibilities

-To build strong groups and communities with good relationships by, learning to maintain a balance between rights and our relationships to grow in personal discipline.

-To use reason to understand what God wants from us and since we are created in the image of God we have the ability to know what is good and what is bad by doing so, we are responsibly fulfilling our duties in the environments we live in.

-To maintain to live in peace with each other and prevent anyone from harming others due to selfishness or abuse of power which is done by laws that each country has also regulating the behaviour of the people that live in it and people which are responsible for ensuring that laws and rules and followed so no one takes advantage of anyone else.

ex; when shopping consumers must pay but sellers also must provide us with a good product or service as we expect.

A Christians’ responsibility

-Primarily, to love each other with the ‘agape’ type of love which is a love that manifests itself in our service to others. We were given this call and strength to do this at baptism and confirmation as witnesses of Christ all our life and in all of our relationships.

-To make sure that in every action we take we’re guided by Christian values by following the teaching of Jesus as God is interested in every section of our life.

-To behave as Christians in every sphere of our life not only when we attend mass or church activities.

-To continue living in this reality in execution of our duties even when in a responsible way, we enjoy ourselves with each other in our leisure time as our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the eucharist when he totally surrendered on the cross, giving up his life for us in its totality so when we receive the Eucharist we get closer to God and are given the strength and courage to do this. Its effect is clearly evident when we are ready to make sacrifice for the good of each other in our actions, its important since at a certain time we have to give an account of how we have used our freedom which will be measure on the love we showed to others.

ex; In the gospel of St. Mt 25:40 we read that the King answered them saying, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Importance of being accountable for our behaviour

As we form part of the society we live in so we have to be conscious of everything we do by not separating the values taught to us by Jesus from the values we live by daily, so everyone feels comfortable and accepted. As students we should do our work well and use the talent that God gave us as the more we mature, the more we have to use our talents for our own good and others.

A parable showing us the importance of being accountable for our behaviour

The parable of talents (Mt 25: 14-30) where a rich man, his workers and the talents that the he gave them where the rich man is God and the servant are we, the human beings and the talents are the abilities to answer God’s calls. This parable teaches us that we are responsible to use our talents for the common good and not only for our benefit and joy but also so that through them we show God’s love to others. Just like how in the parable the rich man showed faith in his workers and let them act freely meaning God has full faith in our good will and will guide our actions through our conscience.

How God’s word guides us on giving an account our behaviour.

-As it’s full of valuable teachings that help us examine how we’re living our lives, it helps us remember that at the end of our lives we must give an account to God for this beautiful gift of life.

ex; An extract from the bible which shows us that, Mt 25: 34-40 where it says the when I am hungry you give me food and when I was thirsty you gave me to drink and “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

-It shows and guides us that we’re responsible for our actions as God wants to get to others through us.

ex; his letter to the Hebrews 10, 24, St. Paul writes, “let us consider how to provoke one another to love and deeds”

-It’s a good thing to instil in ourselves the attitude of encouraging each other to mature in the good aspects of life since we shouldn’t allow the sense of jealousy or competitiveness to overcome us so our attitude will be that of helping others and not being better than them. By growing in our trust of each other and finding someone who’ll listen to us and encourage us to lead a good life helping us make new relationships and to respect other people more.

ex; In the letter of St. James, “You must understand this, my beloved let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.”

-We should be ready to correct each other and accept the fact that those who love us correct us for our own good if we truly love each other in a spirit of love so we become better as a person.

ex; when your friends’ actions go against Christian values you should show them their errors with gentleness, forgive them and guide them non-judgementally but since we want to help the other person grow in goodness.

In a letter to the Galatians, St Paul writes, “My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a on in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted.”

-It warns us to not judge others by remembering that not everybody has the same opportunities in life, people don’t know that what they’re doing is wrong or because they’re going through a tough time which nobody knows about. So we should take great care about what we say about others, especially when they’re not present as we will be giving an account to God of all that we say especially when we talk about others.

ex; the gospel of Matthew (7, 1-2) “With the judgement you make you will be judged and the measure you give will be the measure you get” and “On the day of judgement, you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter” (Mt 122. 36)

Conscience

-A voice, which is the voice of God in our hearts that always calls us to love and guides us to do what’s right and to avoid what’s wrong. Acts as a personal judge helping us to see the truth and to understand our position.

-We did not create it ourselves but we must follow and live by it as without it we would be lost without direction meaning a well-formed conscience can help us find our path and make the best choices in life.

-A tool by which we discern carefully what we’re doing or about to do helping us reflect on what we’ve already done so we evaluate what we’re doing in our lives so we should learn to pause and dedicate time to listen and follow the voice of our conscience.

-The Second Vatican Council in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes tells us, a person recognizes that they must obey the voice within them telling them to love, do good and to avoid evil, that conscience is a sanctuary where a person is alone with God and where God’s voice is heard with us. (Par 16)

How to act according to our conscience

-By remembering that God is present in our life and wants to be part of all that we choose to do helping us to be responsible for what we do.

-By in situations when we do something wrong so we feel guilt the role of our conscience pricks us since it knows the leading us to realize our mistake so our conscience leads us to ask for pardon and out of our own free will we change course and go in the right direction along our journey on Earth but, it also instils peace when we do something good. The older we get the more difficult the decisions will become as our circumstances change so we must make the best decision with good advice, the help from the holy spirit and from the cardinal virtues, prudence, fortitude, temperance and justice.

Education of our conscience

-A life-long process as when we’re still children both in the family and at school we start learning what is right and wrong and what God wants from us through his word.

-Through the continuous discovery of what’s true and good that’s found in the word of God a conscience is formed especially for children with the help of our parents, family, society and as well as the Church

-Remember what advice mother Mary gave us, “Do whatever he tells you.” Jn 2, 5

Forming our conscience with the help of people from the Old Testament as their faith in God had grown

Abraham - When God called Abram, He asked him to leave his homeland and go to the land that he would show and guide him to.

He obeyed but this wasn't an easy decision because he had to leave the comfort and security of his home and travel to a foreign land. Even though he and his wife Sarai was old and had no children, Abram always believed God's promise that he would one day be the father of a great nation. Abram welcomed God into his life and became 'Abraham,' meaning 'father of many nations.' Sarai became 'Sarah,' meaning 'princess.' Eventually, God's promise became a reality and Isaac was born. After some time, God asked Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, though a truly difficult choice for him to kill the son that God Himself had promised him and he couldn't understand God's plan, he still chose to trust in Him and took Isaac to the place God told him. Just as Abraham raised his hand to kill his son, an angel of the Lord stopped him. In this way, Abraham strengthened his faith in God, who was always with him, and he always chose to do what God asked of him.

Moses - At the time when Moses was a baby, a law was issued that all boys under the age of two were to be killed, to save him, Moses' mother placed him in a basket, and he was found by Pharaoh's daughter, who took him in and raised him in the palace, where he received the best care and education. When Moses grew up, he saw an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew and killed him due to this, Moses had to make the difficult decision to flee and leave the family that had raised him. He went to live in Midian, where he married Zipporah. One day, while Moses was tending sheep, God appeared to him and spoke to him in the form of a burning bush. God ordered Moses to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. God commanded Moses to return to Egypt and free the Hebrews from slavery. Moses didn't feel confident about doing this, but God reassured him that He would be with him always. In the end, Moses decided to return to Egypt with his brother Aaron to fulfill God's command. Moses went and did as God instructed, but Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go. As a result, the Egyptians suffered ten plagues. During their journey through the desert, the Hebrew people complained against Moses and against God. God sent them many signs to show He was with them. He gave them manna and quail for food and water from a rock to drink. Moses instructed the Israelites to pitch their tents in front of Mount Sinai.
After spending 40 days on the mountain, Moses came down with the commandments and found the people worshipping false gods, having made a golden calf. Moses was furious because while he was on the mountain, the people had forgotten everything God had done for them and turned away. He broke the tablets of the commandments. Later, he went back up the mountain and received the commandments again.

Ruth - Ruth lived a simple and hidden life; however, she had a strong character. She shows us that doing the right thing is not always easy. In fact, many times we have to make sacrifices in order to make the right decision. Ruth was free to leave and return to her family, to return to her gods, and she was free to seek a new husband to take care of her, since her husband had died. But because she followed her well-formed conscience, Ruth made a different decision; she chose to stay with her husband's mother, Naomi.
She also chose to dedicate herself to the God of Israel and decided: "
Your people shall be my people, and your God my God." (Ruth 1:16). Her commitment to accompany her mother-in-law Naomi was a good, generous, and loving action. Ruth is an example of a person with a well-formed conscience.

Factors which help us form our conscience

-the adults who care for us, the Church, and society.

-the family/those who care for us when we are still children by helping us to understand what it means to be in a relationship with God and to live by Christian principles.

Ex; Even Jesus, as a young boy, learned from the good advice and example of Mary and Joseph how to keep God close to him so much so that from a young age, he used to call Him "Father."

-By the example of how we can enter into a relationship with God through prayer and good behaviour.

-Through reading the Word of God, as from a young age, we learn that God speaks to us through the Bible, so, we begin to hear God Himself speaking to us deep within our conscience.

-By always renewing their efforts, trusting that God loves them and desires their salvation and by learning and practicing the Commandments and building virtues through which they can make wise decisions.

-Not an easy journey, especially in cultures that are indifferent or even hostile to Christianity. When we face these challenges, we can seek help from a trusted adult.

ex: our parents, a community leader, or a priest.

-By having a regular confessor or spiritual director. As when forming their conscience one must avoid letting personal emotions take control over reason enlightened by faith. We must also be careful not to be carried away by values that go against the teachings of Jesus.

How to build our Conscience

-It must be built in the context of a good relationship with God leading us to make decisions that bring us closer to God and improve our relationships with others.

-By asking God to guide us along his path.

-By reading the Scripture regularly helping us allow God's Word, with all its teachings, to lead us toward truth.

-By practicing the values found in the Word of God so we continue to grow in the spirit of Jesus.

-By receiving Jesus in the Eucharist and draw near to the sacraments, especially Confession as it helps us find the strength to put into practice what our conscience tells us. Confession is a great grace because it renews our soul and helps us heal from our mistakes. The Eucharist is the sacrament that deepens our union with Jesus, guiding us to seek the truth and live morally upright lives.

-By reflecting on the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes as our guide to being true Christians and to be careful in every decision we make.

-By discovering and seeking out the teachings of the Church, such as the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and read sound Christian material-some of which is also available on trusted websites.

-By educating ourselves on what the Church teaches and understand the reasons behind those teachings. When we don't understand something, it's good to ask our parents, our youth group leader (if we attend one), or a priest in our parish or local church.

-By being attentive to the environment we are growing up in as we are surrounded by many media sources. Like giving importance to what we eat, we should be equally cautious about what we feed our mind and soul.

We must protect ourselves by surrounding ourselves with people and activities that align with our morals, so we can continue to grow stronger.

-To look for role models we can imitate, who live virtuous lives and who can help guide us on the right path.

-To always seek what is true so, remember that Jesus said He is the way, the truth, and the life.

How to help others build their Conscience

-Instead of judging others we should remember that different people come from different backgrounds and are not all brought out the same way so we should, seek ways to help them to listen to the voice of God in their hearts so we’ll be promoting love and building each other up.

-We give advice so, helping others to the truth of the Evangelical values and to making decisions based on the voice of the conscience giving us an opportunity of becoming a light for others.

The change a well-formed conscience has on a culture

-By the observation of other people of our good behaviour and so they can imitate us.

-As the education of conscience is the basis of a good society especially when it’s based on the values of the Gospel as we will be leaving a good moral influence on society by our message and our actions helping maintain good values like, love respect and solidarity, values that reflect the goodness of God. We then become a light that shows God’s wishes.

-We live in a society where Christians are not always understood by others so we shouldn’t be afraid to talk when we’re defending the Gospel and its values we believe in as God will guide us even when others do not agree us.

ex: After Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles they started talking about the Good News

Where our strength to be the light for others comes from

-From our great faith in God who’s always with us helping us spread the values of the Gospel.

-From God who‘ll be with us through the power of the Holy Sprit and when we pray for his gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.

-Even in a multicultural environment our voices will still be heard and even in a culture of death we can bring hope which comes from Jesus Christ who means life helping us to show the truth and evangelise the place where we live.

-As we love we can share with others the way to true success.

-By the reminder of Jesus from Luke’s Gospel Lk, 12:8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Sob of Man also will acknowledge before the angles of God.”

Role of Christians in society

Jesus does this by comparing them with salt and light of the world “salt of the earth” and ”light of the world” Mt 5, 13-16

-Just like how salt preserves meat from rotting we should preserve good values and protect the world from being destroyed through wrong choices.

-Like salt and light, Christians should teach others about what God wishes and guided by the spirit of God to use their conscience to foster justice in society.

-This shows us that Christians are expected to leave a good moral influence on society, to live their lives according to the Gospel so to understand what is good, to live accordingly and be examples of the love ‘agape’.

-To be first to raise their voices in cases of injustice, corruption and lack of love. Firstly seeking the protection and well-being of the weak and the vulnerable like, speaking up against abortion and euthanasia, adopting children in need of a family, helping refugees, putting a stop to drug and human trafficking, bringing hope to prisoners/victims to vices, taking care of the vulnerable and those who don’t have roof on their heads.

Dignity and human rights

-Respecting human dignity is one of the main ways in which we can show our faith as in a materialistic world the respect for every type of life is decreasing. According to the moral and social teaching of the church the protection of the fundamental right to life should be the basis of all the principles the social policy of the country is built. Meaning, every law and action should be towards the protection of life and the dignity of each person so we should work together so life is protected and defended always and everywhere.

-A strong community can only be acquired if human rights are protected and if every member of the community shoulders his/her responsibility, each person should have not only the right to life but also a right to all those things needed to live life in a decent way. Therefore, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, was an important step in the progress of humanity.

-These rights include, the right to life and freedom, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to religious belief, the right to work and education. Everybody should have access to these rights, without any discrimination.

Christian life and politics

-We are called to holiness by means of the way of faith and their social experiences and have been created to live in a community. The way we organize our society, both economically and politically, will directly affect the protection of human dignity and the common good.

-The Church teaches that the role of governments and other institutions is to protect the life and dignity of persons and promote the common good.

-The common good is achieved when the conditions of social life allow each member of society the opportunity to live and develop his/ her life in a total way. (See Gaudium et Spes, 26).

-The common good belongs to everybody and we should all work together to obtain it. A responsible society should also work so that future generations can enjoy the common good.

-To live together at peace so that the common good can be achieved, there should be order and justice by means of a strong judicial system, totally separated from any other power.

-The Government which administers the country in all its sections, together with Parliament, should pass laws according to the real needs of the country,
always respecting the dignity of every person, and in the light of the natural
law.

-Essential services, like those of health, social services and education are vital so that the common good can reach everyone.

-It’s the duty of a Christian to pay just taxes. Jesus spoke clearly about this duty in St. Mark's Gospel, chapter twelve.
"Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." (Mk 12:17) as all these services are provided for, by the collection of taxes.

-This is an invitation for Christians to participate in politics, such as voting in a responsible way and seeking the well-being of everyone.

-Some Christians are called to take part more directly in the running of their country which is is a very difficult vocation in today's world, where the Christian values are being disregarded and replaced by absolute power, egoism and the satisfaction of instincts. This vocation, like every other vocation which comes from God, requires persons to put into practice, like Jesus did, the love agape, in the service given.

-Christians should be committed to the creation of an environment, where
everyone participates in the economic, political and cultural life of society, making sure there is no discrimination, so that nobody lags behind.

Solidarity

-We live the value of solidarity as Christians since, we follow the example of Jesus and love all people without distinction as we believe that all people form one human family despite different nationalities, race, economic status or ideology. Which leads to common good.

-Ex: In the encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (par38) it says that we are all responsible for everyone meaning solidarity is a virtue that helps to build the common good.

In the Gospel Mark 10, 44:45 we find the warning of Jesus that we have to give our life for the genuine service of each other, “And whoever wants to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life in ransom for many.”

Importance of solidarity

-Without it and peace common good cannot be achieved among people as its seen where there are projects that unite people and social groups.

Ex: When money is collected to help mission countries and when groups of people go to do voluntary work in other countries.

-As through it meaning using collaboration and understanding we achieve peace meaning, no fighting, wars and we gain reciprocal respect and trust among people as where there’s common good there’s solidarity there’s peace and the fruit of justice

Ex: In his message on the day of peace in 1972 Pope St Paul VI said “If you want peace, work for justice”

Justice in practice

-St. Theresa of Calcutta among other saints lived the Gospel in giving service to the poorest of the poor as the ministry of Jesus emphasizes of the help he gave to those in need so the church follows his example such as that since its institution it ahs funded various works of charity that are still indispensable everywhere.

-In a society where respect for someone is based on their material wealth, the Church urges us to live the Beatitudes and work for justice with the poor which can exist in various forms, material, intellectual, cultural, religious or spiritual poverty.

-The Church takes from the Gospel and teaches us that we should help others in their various needs and to create services in the community to show compassion with the needy and to give hope of a better life to orphans, people with disabilities, emigrants, refugees, rehabilitation of people with drug addictions, victims of domestic violence and the elderly.

-By showing charity by not just giving alms or helping individuals but also when Christians make their voices heard politically to address the problems of each type of poverty at its very roots.

-By identifying the systems that are causing any form of injustice in society so that we change these situations.

ex: Mt 25: 30-36 “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave ne something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” This reminds us to give priority to the needs of the poor and vulnerable.

How to take care of the environment as Christians

-Since man is part of creation we’re called to protect the planet and live our faith in harmony with all of God’s creation so we work for justice among us and for the good of all creation.

-By remembering that we have the ability to transform and develop the world through our work and that nature is a gift from God.

Role of Christians in the environment

-As co-operators with God in the work of creation but if we put ourselves instead of God we end up abusing nature creating a rebellion in nature as it finds itself more dominated than worked on by us.

-The challenge we face of respecting the environment has moral and ethical dimensions of great importance as caring for the environment is a question of a common and universal duty with respect for creation created for everyone. This means that creation which is animals plants and the elements shouldn’t be used simply to satisfy one’s own wishes and economic and egoistic needs.

-Let us remember that God could completely trust in us as he was aware if the good he sowed in us and he created us according to his image that’s why he blessed us and said in Gen 1, 28 “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; and have domain over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”