Diploma in Religious Formation

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://192.168.4.170:4000/handle/20.500.12342/343

Welcome to Diploma in Religious Formation collection

Browse

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Touching Hearts: Mentoring In Lasallian Spirituality
(Tangaza University College, 2003) Sanchez, Agustin Ranchal
As early as in the seventh century A.D., Dorotheos stated: "No man is more unfortunate or nearer perdition than those who have no teachers on the way to God."' Mediation, spiritual direction, accompaniment, mentoring... are all synonyms for the art of going hand-in-hand with others during their life journey to help them. see more clearly the path to God. Saint John Baptist de La Salle, the founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, was a dedicated spiritual mentor who had been influenced by the contemporary spiritualities. As a guide for his Brothers, he adopted a unique style of mentoring that has become a significant part of Lasallian spirituality. As the founder of an institute of lay Brothers devoted to the Christian education of children and the young, he also formulated how the Brothers as mentors were and are to approach their pupils. Almost three centuries after his death, Brothers and Lasallian partners try to be faithful to De La Salle's inspiration to be "ministers and ambassadors of Jesus Christ" for young people, especially among the poor. The aim of this essay is to define the principles that John Baptist de La Salle used to mentor his Brothers in the various aspects of their lives and in their ministry, as well as the principles he proposed to mentor students. What has motivated me to write about this topic? I am strongly convinced that in the midst of the rapid changes in our society, religious life, and the Church, good mentors are required to guide others in their search for the knowledge of the truth coming from Christ as the means to discover their own identity. In addition, the Brothers of the Christian Schools, as lay religious educators, have numerous potentialities to respond to the always-urgent need to be models, guides, and mentors for present and future Brothers, as well as for the students who will be entrusted to their care. While the Brothers are the heart and memory of the Institute, thousands of lay Lasallian partners are called today and tomorrow to share the charism and mission of De La Salle. The limitation of pages has forced me to focus exclusively on the Brothers, though virtually all that is presented here can be applied to our lay Lasallian partners as well. Further research upon the specificity of the Lasallian mentoring for and from lay partners would be tremendously useful and complementary to this paper.
The Spirituality of Blessed Francisco Palau As A Means of Fulfilling the Two Commandments꞉ Love of God and Neighbour
(Tangaza University College, 2018) Abonyi, Blessing Anayo
According to the Holy Scripture, the purpose of God is to gather the whole of creation under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, in whom, by the power of the Holy Spirit, all are brought into communion with God (Cf. Eph. 1). All creation is a community of subjects to be communed with. They need to love and be loved. We are created to love and be loved, for when we do not love, we will find our alternatives lies in loneliness, destruction and despair. Love means open arms, sacrifice, it leads to self-surrender. If we close our arms to love, we will find that we are left holding on only to ourselves. This is the problem of our world today. Many people are being denied love from their childhood to adulthood or even till death. Others are dying in loneliness, depressed, confused, disturbed, hostile or hopeless. It is our love that will heal their brokenness and their wounds. Francisco Palau experienced this love in a deeper and unique way since from his childhood; my heart developed its passion from childhood. He knew well that the supreme ideal of Christian life is to love God and to love neighbor. He knew that these two precepts of love have to be integrated in our lives: “you must always remember that perfection consist in the fulfillment of the precept of love: love of God and Love of neighbor.” He exclaimed: “God in creating my heart, breathed into it, and his breath was a law that He imposed on it, and that law says, “Love!”. My heart was built by the hand of God to love and be loved, and it only lives out of love.” The Christian life and consecrated life in particular is a call to holiness. St. Teresa of Avila has named three things that are needed for prayer and spiritual growth to be possible in life of any Christian. They are namely, detachment, humility and love. This paper concentrates only on the aspect of love and it seeks to understand the spirituality of Blessed Francisco Palau the founder of Carmelite Missionaries as a means of fulfilling the two commandments of love of God and love of neighbor. In order to capture the theme, the researcher divided the work into three chapters. Chapter one examines the Palautian spirituality of the love of God and neighbour. This chapter will explore the life, works and legacy of Blessed Francisco Palau. It presents his family background, his education, religious consecration and ordination. It also explores the influence of Blessed Francisco Palau, his Works, especially his Work: “My Relations with the Church,” which portrays the Charism he left behind as his legacy. The chapter also presents a brief explanation of this Charism, his Spirituality and the Foundation of the Carmelite Missionaries. The second chapter deals with the challenges in fulfilling this commandment of love. This lead to exploring some challenges like; gossip and envy, cold- war in Fraternal living, pastoral individualism, digital worldliness, spiritual worldliness, selfishness and spiritual slot, sterile pessimism, clericalism, careerism and vain glory, business mentality, dualistic thinking and excessive rationalism and activism. The third chapter explores the possible solution in living the values of the commandment of love. To achieve this, I propose the following as important in our times: living the beatitudes, prayer and contemplation, Response to listening, knowing one self, discernment, mindfulness, smile, appreciative attitudes to others, holistic thinking, Blessed Francisco Palau’s virtues, integration of shadows, integral self- care, asceticism, fraternal living and finally imitation of Mary the Mother of God.
Spirituality of Prayer as A Source of Unity Among the Sisters of Notre Dame in Kenya.
(Tangaza University College, 2019) Shisiali, Sumbati Dorah
This paper explores different method and ways to approach prayer among the sisters of Notre dame in Kenya. One section of the work presents the preliminary information which will include; the introduction, reasons for writing, problem facing the sisters of Notre dame, the objectives, possible questions, rationale, dimensions, challenges remedies and methodology. The paper outline, the general conclusion and bibliography will summarize the work. The first chapter of the work shall be based on prayer [vocal, meditation and contemplation], While the second chapter will explore about prayer as a source of unity. Lastly, the third chapter will address the challenges and the solutions towards prayer. Then the general conclusion will be followed by bibliography.
Inculturation - Incarnation: The Challenge of Religious Life In The Third Millennium
(Tangaza University College, 2001-03-19) Angelica Aguilar Ochoa, Paula
Today, in our changing world, we Religious are experiencing a period of crisis and of witnessing. We are living in a time of rapid change where globalisation is taking place. Our world has been defined as a "Global village" where cultural change is greatly impacting the local culture.' Understanding culture as our way of being human in the world, as our identity, we can see the influence of a global cosmopolitan society coming to tell us how to live, to feel, to act and react... This global culture is passing through our hearts and minds and it is reflected in our behaviours. For example: we can see here in Kenya Christian youth knowing "something" about the cultural heritage of the clan/tribe they belong to, but rarely this knowledge has been integrated, reflected upon and challenged so as to have a clear stand in their behaviours and options as members of the society. Few people have been able to discern which are the cultural values2 the person has received, which are the ones that this global culture is presenting and which are the Gospel values one uses to make a choice in his/her way of living. As daughters and sons of their times they are experiencing a dualistic life standard that weakens their self-identity, sense of belonging and the all-embracing African worldview of the human person.3 Consequently, we can say that we are experiencing a state of total confusion in a society of frustration and addiction. Although in a false way, addictions supply what the real cultural values formerly provided in terms of self-identity. These changes that we are facing are taking place so fast that awareness of them seldom has room in our daily lives. They leave no space to reflect, integrate and make choices about questions like: Who am I? Who am I called to be? To whom do I belong? How to deal with so many different issues: anger, stress, 'freedom', war, hatred, the mass media, consumerism, new forms of Gnosticism, etc. This is happening not only in Africa but in other continents as well. This general situation, of course, also affects the life of the Church. The Church as a body is composed of different members who belong to different social, economic and cultural backgrounds. As in the society, we are experiencing a period of transition. self-awareness and self-emptying, such as the one of the Father who, moved by perfect love that is God's essence, was revealed in the Son, the Word. Thus, God humbled himself, taking the form of a humankind who collaborated and participated in freedom in the salvation of humankind (cf. Phil 2:6-8). It is through Mary who in total availability to God was overshadowed by the Spirit, that the Word, the Son of God, became one of us in response to the Father's love. The Incarnation, something no human being could ever have imagined, constitutes a dangerous memory6 for us, prompting us to be what we are called to be (Chapter 2). That is to know ourselves as well as the Gospel' and the charism' of our institutes, in such a way that Christ may be born once again in each one of us, in our communities and consequently in the Church and the society (Chapter 3). We are called to the integrity of a prophetic love that has as its core the Kingdom of God. As expressed in the Beatitudes which embody a spirituality of conflict so necessary and urgent in the current times (Chapter 4).
Childlike Simplicity and Our Lady in the Congregation Of The Little Children of Our Blessed Lady
(Tangaza University College, 2001-04) Muchingami, Florence
At the heart of humility or childlike simplicity lies faith. Faith gives this virtue value and this faith means trusting someone. Little ones according to the Gospel values are always cheerful for God is not happy to see long faces. In the world today most people prefer to discuss humility rather than live it and with that they never achieve since the true source and meaning of humility are to be found in God alone. My intention is to find some practical examples of living humility as God wants. It has been my desire since my Novitiate to explore the charism of our congregation. I am privileged this third Millennium to begin exploring this theme. I say this because what the paper contains is very limited and I feel there is more unwritten material to enrich me in the exploration of this childlike simplicity. The gift of my studies in Tangaza College has made it possible and I thank God for that. Our founder thought it best to give us childlike simplicity as our Charism and Mary our Blessed mother as our advocate and patroness. "Nothing is higher than humility says saint Ambrose, since humility is highest placed of all". In gratitude therefore, under Our Lady's patronage I would like to explore the relationship between Mary and our charism and how we as a Congregation can follow suit. The first chapter is going to be our founder Aston Chichester's biography together with the history of our foundation and the Charism and Spirituality of the Congregation. The second chapter concentrates on the theme and sources. This is to consider childlike simplicity in the Gospels i.e. (Mt. 18: 1-4) and in other sources like in the Benedictine spirituality whose contribution seems to have enriched our founder, in St Francis of Assisi whose humility he asked us to reflect on and in the Ignatian spirituality that was our founder's own. I consider too St Therese of the Child Jesus whose simplicity he asked us to contemplate on. The third chapter is focused on Our Lady and the Congregation. This would include elements of her Immaculate Conception, one of our feast days as a congregation. I will also consider her model in living childlike simplicity as well as her challenge to the congregation. Chapter four concentrates on integration of the element of childlike simplicity in one's life. I will concentrate on formation in the congregation. The virtues that surround childlike simplicity are numerous and call for a lot of contemplation in order to bring the message home. In all 'what God wants is poverty of spirit, the denial of covetous desire and the charity of self-giving, which alone opens the heart of perfect love of God and generous love for others'.1

Diploma in Religious Formation

Browse

Filters

Settings

Sort By

Results per page

Search Results