Month: February 2009

The Parable of the Sower

Several o f Jesus’ apostles recorded this parable.

A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold. (Luke 8:4-15)

Jesus hen explained that the seed in the parable was the word of God. In that case, what is the meaning of the parable?

Have no Fear

Jesus took the apostles Peter, James, and John to the top of a mountain. His friends saw an aura around Jesus. Then the Jewish prophets Moses and Elijah appeared. Jesus’ face was like a sun. His clothes became white as light. According to the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible, Jesus said to his disciples “rise and have no fear.”

What does it mean to have no fear? How would your life be different if you didn’t have any fear?

The Importance of Love

Soon after Jesus’ death, his followers started to teach about his life and deeds. One such man was Paul. Paul was a Jew who had a spiritual conversion on the road to Damascus and spent the rest of his life traveling and teaching about Jesus. Paul believed that all people sin and all people can receive the grace of God. According to I Corinthians, one of the books of the New Testament, Paul said that love is the greatest thing.

How might love be the “greatest thing”?

Doing Good Works

Not long after Jesus’ death, the apostle Peter was speaking to a group who knew nothing about Jesus. He needed to summarize what Jesus had done. Part of his summary was simple: “He went about doing good works.”

How do you imagine Peter’s audience might have responded to this description of Jesus?

Distributive Justice

  1. What does it mean to say that distributive justice exists in a society?
  2. Describe how the story of Lazarus and the rich man is a parable of global distributive injustice today.
  3. How does omission play a role in the creation and maintenance of distributive injustice?
  4. Describe three avenues by which individuals can affect distributive justice.
  5. Find an article that points out the gap between rich and poor people in Canada. Write a brief response to the article.
  6. List some types of omissions by privileged people that can cause injustice to flourish for poor people.
  7. Research and compare government spending on military versus the needs of children.

Concern for the Common Good

  1. Define the “common good.” How does it differ from simply the good of the majority?
  2. What service opportunities exist for teenagers in your community? Write a brief description of three of them.
  3. Choose a public policy decision that is being debated in your community: municipal, provincial, federal. Write about how that decision could affect people one hundred years from now.

Seven Key Themes of Social Justice

Write an essay explaining which of the seven key themes of social justice is most important to you and why?

A Matter Of Conscience

  1. Reflect n writing on a time you chose to pay attention to your conscience versus a time you chose not to. Describe your feelings in each case.
  2. Research and write about an immoral practice other than slavery that was once considered morally right by most people.
  3. Corruption in business or government usually involves laxness of conscience. Focus on one instance of such corruption from a past scandal covered in the news. Write about how lax consciences may have played a role in the corrupt practices.
  4. Give three examples of cases in which a rule or law could be broken in good conscience.
  5. What do you think about the use of nuclear weapons today?
  6. What does the phrase “listen to your conscience” mean?