Diploma in Religions Formation

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End date: 1998

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    Franciscan Penitential Spirituality
    (Tangaza University College, 1998-04) Kyalo, Boniface
    Penance for most people today can mean a variety of things: it is looked at as sacramental rite, acts of mortification and flagellations, as reparation for sins committed, as prayers for satisfaction or as a complete change of life. It comes as a result of one's consciousness of one's sinful tendencies and inability to do everything as one would like to, and turning to God for forgiveness and healing. Penance is a requirement for all Christians. It is an integral part of Christian life. Its purpose is to express and develop the ongoing conversion to which all the faithful are called. The term penance in Franciscan tradition is equivalent to the Biblical metanota, which in its proper understanding stands for an intimate conversion of the heart to God. It is not so much a question of doing penance but of being a penitent. It is at the same time a state of continuous being, an attitude and orientation of one's whole life. It is an answer to the evangelical call and a way of seeking evangelical perfection. It is, therefore, not seen as a simple purification for sin. It, rather, goes beyond mere purification from sin to a more profound insertion into the paschal mystery of Christ. It is a commitment. Its foundation is God, from whom, through whom, and in whom is found all pardon, all grace, all glory, for all penitents. In this long essay I am looking at penance as a way of life and not so much as a practice. I am following the biblical understanding of the term Penance as Metanoia. I have chosen this topic in order to explore this very important element in my Franciscan spirituality.
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    A Case Study of the Spirituality Of The Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph
    (Tangaza University College, 1998-04) Aringo, Margaret
    The presentation of this study is divided into three parts, as follows; Chapter One discusses the spirituality of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph. It begins with the general background, then it deals with the charism, spirituality of the Institute. Chapter Two deals with the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience. Chapter Three discusses the apostolate of the sisters. It also analyses the data collected from the sisters through the use of the questionnaire. The study ends with specific references to the Franciscan Sisters by giving some reflections and observations. God is the initiator of each and every call. He has the absolute freedom to call one to himself to a particular style or type of life. God may call young women to a religious life style and therefore she is invited to live in a particular or specific religious community. The one invited to religious life has the freedom to respond to God's initiative and gratuitous call which depends completely upon God In responding to this call, the religious women exercises her humanness by seeking oneness, unity and integrity with her God. The religious is called to love God wholeheartedly without qualifications, conditions, or reservations. Today, the religious face serious challenges in responding to God's call in the world. Their identity as religious is often challenged. Today's religious men and women live in a period where most of the formal structures that had supported religious life in the past are questioned and some are also reviewed. Hopefiilly this study and reflection will help the religious restructure their purpose and place in the world. The real priorities in religious life are questioned quite seriously. The dichotomy in attitudes and the shift in values have blocked the realities of the pristine ideal. For many, a dichotomy exists between human-spiritual, individualcommunity, action-contemplation, work-prayer. But in reality, these are not contradictions. Attitudes towards poverty, celibacy, authority-obedience have changed due to shifts in values concerning human person, and evangelical life. Community dynamism calls members for openness and this offers challenges for growth towards the better. New areas of apostolate, new avenues and values are inviting the religious to review their former and traditional apostolate. The Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph (FSJ), like every other religious congregation live within a technological and consumerist society filled with demands of all sorts. The difference in attitudes, shifts in values and morals, the number of members who join the congregation and those who leave, etc., tend to influence their lives, their theological stability and their inner consciousness concerning the religious identity. These factors also influence their call and response to religious life. The FSJ have based their Constitutions, with regard to their life of prayer, community life, vow of obedience and vow of poverty, on Franciscan spirituality. Since this work is a case study of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph, for the primary data, the author administered a questionnaire among the same sisters plus five other Congregations following the Franciscan spirituality. She also delivered a questionnaire to another Congregation following the Jesuit Spirituality. The general background of the questionnaire gives the details on the age, related differences in Religious Profession and their level of education. The next section deals with the way the sisters live and express their charism and spirituality within their community living, vowed life and apostolate. The last section refers to the Constitutions of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph. The author gathered information by herself The objective for the field study was to find out what the Franciscan spirituality means to the sisters and whether it gives a relevant meaning to their lives or offers some challenges to the living out of their religious commitment. The responses did help reflect the living of the Constitutions. This whole study is meant to promote suggestions on how best the sisters could best live their vocation in today's Church and society.
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    Religious Life
    (Tangaza University College, 1997-03) Hang'andu, Revy
    In this context, Religious Life is a consecrated way of life that people choose voluntarily in order to dedicate themselves fully to the service of God. Religious life is sometimes referred to as the consecrated life. It stands at the very heart of the church as a decisive element of its holiness and mission'. Prayer, service to the community, community living, characterizes this way of life. It also demands that people living it show good witness to society around them. They should lead a simple and yet valuable kind of Christian life. In order to achieve this kind of life style, people that pursue this life follow some guidelines. These are rules that have been bound together in what I could call Religious vows. These rules are actually based on scripture. In this essay, I would like to highlight these rules or vows as they are commonly called and relate them to some aspect of scripture and the general day today living of the religious. I will make reference to the rules in the constitution of my own congregation as an example. Rules of many congregations would be similar to these. I would also like to write about how people live them out; what is good about them and how challenging they are I would also like to write about how people live these vows when they are under temporal vows and how they live them when they have attained their final vows. In order for me to come out with some concrete information. I have tried my best to conduct some interviews with people in Religious Life, mostly from my own congregation. These are people under temporal vows I have also talked to people under final vows and have tried to find out from them if they have met their expectations. I have not forgotten to talk to a few people who were once in religious life but have since left. It was good to listen to them I will also base my arguments on what the scriptures say. Religious vows cannot be lived out fully without putting them in the scripture context The writings by the Pope in "The Consecrated Life" cannot be left out also. This hide book gives an insight on the expectations of a religious person. The various constitutions of the various congregations also have expectations on the religious person. I have tried also to look at these expectations. Most importantly, I have enjoyed talking to the actual persons who have made these final vows. Have they so far met their expectations as religious? This is the big question for this essay. If they have not, where did they go wrong or what is missing in religious life?