GCSE Religion Coursework- Christian Vocations
GCSE Religion Coursework- Christian Vocations
Vocation comes from a Latin word-meaning calling. Christians believe that they have a calling. God has called them to be followers of Jesus, to be members of the church to help others in God's name. This can be carried out in a variety of ways. In this piece of coursework I will:
- Describe how a Christian may follow the call to discipleship through daily life and worship.
- Explain why some Christians join communities and the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
- Explain the purpose and practise of a religious community
- Answer the question ' Christians should lead active rather than contemplative lives' and I will show more than one point of view.
- In all parts, I will include bible and church teaching
The term 'disciple', although it means one who learns, also applies to anyone who calls them self a Christian. Christians are modern day disciples and we should try to learn from the example, which has been put down for us. One of the most important teachings of Christ is the passage of the Cost of Discipleship (Mark 8:34-35). This means that anyone who wants to be a disciple must be prepared to put God and his commandments first, and as a result be prepared to suffer for their beliefs. The modern day discipleship vocation is about us dedicating our lives to others and there are many people who do this, e.g. People in the priesthood, religious orders. These people are required to turn their backs on their personal wishes and devote themselves to God, regardless of the cost. People who are able to do this must have a great amount of courage and a lot of support from the people around them. Thousands of people have suffered martyrdom for their faith and there are many unknown martyrs who have lost their lives for their faith in previous centuries.
Oscar Romero was a Roman Catholic priest from South America and he was shot whilst celebrating mass. He was very much an important figure in El Salvador and he felt that he had to speak out after his friend had been shot by a military firing squad. He inspired many people with his speeches and gave the people some hope. The mission, a passage very important for the disciples still has a place in the Christian religion. It remains as the mission of the church and many modern day disciples still go out to preach repentance.
There are Christian organisations, which carry the mission of the twelve disciples in a modern way. The parable of the Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46) is very important fro organisations like Cafod and Christian Aid because they make it a priority in their modern day work that the hungry should have food and those who are naked should be clothed. Cafod works all over the world tackling the problem of poverty, regardless of race or religion.
It is still very difficult for someone to be a modern day disciple because so many things hinder the want and possibility of being able to be one. But the rewards are still great but in a different way, and if the person's faith is strong enough then they will not allow social attitudes to interfere with their chosen path. I think that it is extremely difficult to be a modern day disciple because many people take the modern lifestyle for granted and the mission now has a different meaning to the one in Jesus' time. I think ...
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It is still very difficult for someone to be a modern day disciple because so many things hinder the want and possibility of being able to be one. But the rewards are still great but in a different way, and if the person's faith is strong enough then they will not allow social attitudes to interfere with their chosen path. I think that it is extremely difficult to be a modern day disciple because many people take the modern lifestyle for granted and the mission now has a different meaning to the one in Jesus' time. I think it is difficult to relate to the Cost of Discipleship (Mark 8:27-33) in the modern world because many different aspects of their lifestyle judge so many people.
Communities and the Vows of poverty, chastity and obedience
Many people in the world today decide to join the religious life. They are attracted to this for many reasons:
- Some feel like they want to dedicate their life solely to helping others
- They want to dedicate their lives to follow Jesus in all aspects of their lives.
- They want to deepen their understanding in God
- To proclaim and share their love for God
Vow of Poverty- This is the first of the three evangelical councils, which form the basis of what is traditionally called the religious life. Christians who dedicate their lives solely to God respond to the advice of Jesus contained in the Gospels. To be a true follower a person has to give up earthly possessions to have treasure in heaven. Some Christians do this to show complete trust in God. This enables them to live their lives in the service of others as Jesus did. Being poor themselves they are sensitive to the needs of the poor in a way rich people can never be. This is where the meaning of Christian poverty began. The best-known example of a Christian who recognised the value of Poverty is St Francis of Assisi. He founded a community called the Franciscans who were so poor that they had to beg for food. This vow is shown in the bible as Mark 10:17-22 in 'The Rich man' where Jesus tells a rich man to give up all he has to the poor.
Vows of Chastity- This are the second evangelical counsel. In order to follow Jesus, his disciples had to give up family life. Monks and Nuns take a vow of Chastity. Like Jesus they give up sexual relations so do not have a husband or wife, and do not have children. This is also known as Celibacy. The purpose of celibacy is to allow a person to give complete dedication to the gospel. Christian husbands and wives have duties to love each other and share responsibilities for their children. This limits what they can do to promote the Gospel and to live in service to others. There used to be a belief that the pleasure of sexual and family life distracted a person from the service of God, but since Vatican II Catholics emphasise that marriage is an equal vocation to that of the religious life and celibacy. Mother Theresa is an example of the level of dedication possible to a person who is celibate.
Vows of Obedience- This are the third of the three evangelical counsels. Once again it follows the example of Jesus. The New Testament portrays Jesus as being in perfect obedience to God. Christians believe that he died not because he wanted to, but in accordance with God's will. His death is the source of salvation. It would not have necessary but for human disobedience of God which is a sin. Obedience to God includes obedience to human authority because all authority comes from God. Human beings find it difficult to submit to authority because of their pride, but dedicated Christians want to be obedient like Jesus. Christians who live in a community choose a leader. Just as the original disciples accepted Jesus as their leader so monks choose a person to abbot or by nuns to be mother superior. The vow of obedience enables a religious community to be united in the service of God and other people.
The Life of the Missionaries of Charity
There is a purpose of religious life and to follow a religious community these people must: follow Jesus in all aspects of his life, be a sign that the kingdom of God transcends the world and be a sign that this world is transient.
This Order is an apostolic order, which means it is a group that is sent out on a mission. It was started in Calcutta by Mother Teresa, and has two branches in Bangalore, which takes care of the destitute, abandoned and dying of all Castes and Religions. It survives on the Love of God, and by donations given by persons of all Faiths. They reach out to the poorest of poor, and take the old people and children into their premises and look after them with the Love of the Lord, bathing their wounds and helping those who are dying to die with dignity and surrounded by the Love of the Lord. Agnes Gonxha Bejaxhiu was born in Albania (* see below) on 27th August in 1910. She entered the order of the Sisters of Our Lady of Loreto at the age of 18, and took the name of Teresa. She taught in the Order's school in Calcutta until 1946, when she experienced what she described as a "call within a call" to aid the desperately poor of India in a way that required she leave her Convent. She received permission from Rome to do this and began her work by bringing dying persons from the streets into a home where they could die in peace and dignity. She also established an Orphanage. Slowly other women joined her, and in 1950 she received official approval for a congregation of sisters, called the Missionaries of Charity, whose members are dedicated to serving the poorest of the poor. Mother Teresa was awarded the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.
The life of prayer is central to their vocation; in fact it is their desire and aim that their whole life should become a profound prayer to God, in which they remain united with Him whilst engaged in all their various activities, both inside their houses and beyond them during periods of apostolate.
As a help towards reaching such a level of union with God they are supported by a solid daily programme of community prayer, including Holy Mass celebrated by one of the priests, at least two hours of Eucharistic Adoration, the Liturgy of the Hours - of which they always sing Lauds and Vespers - the Rosary, daily Litanies etc. There is also time set aside each day for spiritual reading and there is always some time for further private prayer if this is desired. They also have the opportunity for a day of profound prayer in complete silence and solitude once a month.
Penance also plays a special part in their life in order to make reparation both for our own sins and for the whole world. They have opportunities to receive the sacrament of reconciliation very regularly, and their daily life is characterised by a spirit of reparation. They are not a strictly silent order - their apostolic works forbid this - but outside periods of prescribed recreation they observe a spirit of silence and prayerfulness, which respects the need of each Brother for intimate and personal communion with God. Their daily life includes a number of specific forms of penance, but more important than all their is the underlying trend of our life in which they aspire to daily conversion to the Gospel by accepting with joy all the crosses which God sends us, often unexpectedly.
Evaluation Question-
'Christians should lead active rather than contemplative lives'
I understand this statement to mean that Christians should lead a life in which they physically help people by raising money for the poor or by using there resources to support the lives of others. They shouldn't only pray and hope for the lives of others to be good.
This statement could be said as true for many different reasons:
- Some Christians measure what is active by what is materially productive. For example, they could provide opportunities for others to support their lives. By this measure, the lives of many people in Church, including priests, would spend their time producing goods to help the economy.
- Some Christians might only join contemplative orders to escape responsibility of the real world.
- People in contemplative orders could miss out on things such as having families of their own by not living the active life.
- The gospel message teaches Christians to bring the light of Christ to others; leading a contemplative life can't do this. This is shown in the gospel in the passage Mark 6: 6-13 - the mission of the twelve disciples.
- Those in apostolic religious orders devote their lives to meeting needs throughout the world: theirs is a selfless dedication.
However, this statement could be said as false, also for many different reasons:
- If a person believes strongly in the power of prayer, it is plain that places of contemplative prayer channel blessings to a spiritual wilderness.
- Those in contemplative orders pray for all the people in the world who don't have time to pray themselves. In Mark 14: 32-36, Jesus emphasises the importance of prayer and contemplation.
- Those in contemplative orders give a lot to their different communities and they help many people who are in need.
- Those in contemplative orders do not marry or have a family so they are able to dedicate a lot of their time to care for those people who feel neglected.
- In the time of Jesus, his followers demonstrated the importance of contemplation and because we are followers of Jesus, we should do the same.
My personal opinion is that it shouldn't matter how someone worships God, as long as they worship him. The Benedictine monks are followers of the contemplative orders and use all of their time, day and night, to worshiping God. So I think that if those with as strict religious lives as the Benedictines live this enclosed life it is perfectly okay for other Christians to do so.
However I do feel that if Christians live this life only to avoid responsibility, it is wrong and should be dismissed.
Liam Simpson 11 More
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