HRE2O1 - Religion UNIT 7 Notes
Unit 7: Family Life
Chapter 1: Commitment
Real Commitment Is a Virtue, Not a Transaction
When you hear the word “commitment” there are several words that
can come to mind: virtue, integrity, honour, relationship, contract, imposition,
restriction. Some words have positive connotations and others are negative.
It’s normal to feel both.
Think of the commitments in your life. Common areas for commitment
would be school, family, friends, work and extracurricular activities. Do you
value your commitments equally within all the areas or do you take one area
of commitment more seriously than another? We tend to base the level of
our commitments on the level of need we have for those commitments. For
example, if you can always count on your parents to clean up after you then
you might not feel the need to meet your family commitments in order to
preserve the relationship. That could cause you not to take your family
commitments seriously. Likewise, if you are insecure about your position on a
sports team, you might take your team commitments very seriously because
you need to stay on the team.
It is typical for people to give only when they expect to get something
in return. That describes a trade mentality. But having a trade mentality isn't
necessarily good for you when it comes to your spiritual life. Your spirit craves
joy. But joy comes not from serving oneself but from serving others for their
sake. To serve others, one needs to make a commitment and expect nothing
in return.
As Christians, we believe that humans are uniquely equipped to be able
to choose to serve complete strangers - and even enemies - for no other
reason than love. That is because we were made in the image of God, who is a
Trinity - a community of persons who serve one another.
What Can the Dead Sea Teach Us about Service?
The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth. It is located south of the Sea
of Galilee, the area where Jesus began his ministry. It is fed by the Sea of
,Galilee through the Jordan River. Both the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River
are freshwater bodies. So why is the Dead Sea full of salt? Even freshwater
bodies have a little salt in them, but that salt never accumulates because all
the water flows out to the oceans where the salt accumulates. However,
because the Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth, water does not flow out
from it to the ocean. The salt accumulates in the water until it kills all life in
the sea. The Dead Sea teaches us that if we only receive but never give, we will
die spiritually.
As Christians, though, we are called to serve others not because we fear
spiritual death but because we long for joy - we long for life.
🛈 The Dead Sea has no much salt in it one cannot drown. One simply floats.
Chapter 2: Relationships
You Were Made for Love
At the end of each of the first five days of creation, God declared that
everything that was created on that particular day was "good." On the sixth
day God created land animals and then humans made in God's image. At the
end of the sixth day, God declared that creation was "very good." No
explanation is offered for why creation is now very good but unlike the rest of
creation, humans can love God, which seems to be the point of creation:
creating humans in God's image who can share love.
The Bible says ‘God is love’ (1 Jn 4:8). Love happens when there is a lover
and someone else who is loved. The ideal experience of love is reciprocated or
shared between the lover and the one who is loved in a communion of
persons. A communion of persons is created when two or more persons give
themselves to one another in love just as each person in the Holy Trinity loves
the other persons. The Mass is also called communion because Jesus and the
faithful give themselves to one another through the Eucharist. United in
Christ the faithful form a community called the body of Christ. As images of
the Triune God (God as a Holy Trinity), we were made to love and be loved in
our human communities and in our relationship with God.
What Is Love?
St. Pope John Paul II, in his message to youth, explained that "love is not
merely a feeling; it is an act of the will that consists of preferring, in a constant
, manner, the good of others to the good of oneself" (Message of The Holy
Father John Paul II to The Youth of the World on the Occasion of the XIX
World Youth Day 2004). But in reality, people have the understandable but
unfortunate habit of thinking of love mostly as an intense emotion. Feeling is
important but it is not enough. Feeling takes no effort. Love takes effort. In
addition, emotions can deceive us because they can be manipulated by
others and ourselves. To really love, one must not only feel love but also
commit to putting the good of the 'other' above one's own good.
People Deserve Only Love
St. John Paul II said that, ‘the person is a ‘good’ towards which the only
proper and adequate attitude is love.’ People who adopt that attitude live by
the personalistic norm, a rule that says that people deserve only love, and we
should never treat anyone as less than a person.
Of course, real love is not one-sided; thus is it not only about giving, it is
about receiving as well. We need to accept love from others as freely as we are
called to give it. To accept love is to say that you are worth loving and so is the
person who loves you.
🛈 The word "love" comes from luba, a word in Old Saxon, a language spoken in
a part of Germany more than a thousand years ago. In modern German, the
word for love is Liebe.
Chapter 3: Seven Signs of a Healthy
Relationship
We know that love cements a relationship. But how can we tell if love is
present or working? Here are seven signs of a healthy relationship rooted in
love from Christ and Culture.
1. Mutual Respect 4. Support
2. Trust 5. Fairness
3. Honesty 6. Separate Identities
7. Good Communication
1. Mutual Respect
Friends who mutually respect one another show each other kindness,
care and consideration. They listen to each other, help each other, support
Unit 7: Family Life
Chapter 1: Commitment
Real Commitment Is a Virtue, Not a Transaction
When you hear the word “commitment” there are several words that
can come to mind: virtue, integrity, honour, relationship, contract, imposition,
restriction. Some words have positive connotations and others are negative.
It’s normal to feel both.
Think of the commitments in your life. Common areas for commitment
would be school, family, friends, work and extracurricular activities. Do you
value your commitments equally within all the areas or do you take one area
of commitment more seriously than another? We tend to base the level of
our commitments on the level of need we have for those commitments. For
example, if you can always count on your parents to clean up after you then
you might not feel the need to meet your family commitments in order to
preserve the relationship. That could cause you not to take your family
commitments seriously. Likewise, if you are insecure about your position on a
sports team, you might take your team commitments very seriously because
you need to stay on the team.
It is typical for people to give only when they expect to get something
in return. That describes a trade mentality. But having a trade mentality isn't
necessarily good for you when it comes to your spiritual life. Your spirit craves
joy. But joy comes not from serving oneself but from serving others for their
sake. To serve others, one needs to make a commitment and expect nothing
in return.
As Christians, we believe that humans are uniquely equipped to be able
to choose to serve complete strangers - and even enemies - for no other
reason than love. That is because we were made in the image of God, who is a
Trinity - a community of persons who serve one another.
What Can the Dead Sea Teach Us about Service?
The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth. It is located south of the Sea
of Galilee, the area where Jesus began his ministry. It is fed by the Sea of
,Galilee through the Jordan River. Both the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River
are freshwater bodies. So why is the Dead Sea full of salt? Even freshwater
bodies have a little salt in them, but that salt never accumulates because all
the water flows out to the oceans where the salt accumulates. However,
because the Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth, water does not flow out
from it to the ocean. The salt accumulates in the water until it kills all life in
the sea. The Dead Sea teaches us that if we only receive but never give, we will
die spiritually.
As Christians, though, we are called to serve others not because we fear
spiritual death but because we long for joy - we long for life.
🛈 The Dead Sea has no much salt in it one cannot drown. One simply floats.
Chapter 2: Relationships
You Were Made for Love
At the end of each of the first five days of creation, God declared that
everything that was created on that particular day was "good." On the sixth
day God created land animals and then humans made in God's image. At the
end of the sixth day, God declared that creation was "very good." No
explanation is offered for why creation is now very good but unlike the rest of
creation, humans can love God, which seems to be the point of creation:
creating humans in God's image who can share love.
The Bible says ‘God is love’ (1 Jn 4:8). Love happens when there is a lover
and someone else who is loved. The ideal experience of love is reciprocated or
shared between the lover and the one who is loved in a communion of
persons. A communion of persons is created when two or more persons give
themselves to one another in love just as each person in the Holy Trinity loves
the other persons. The Mass is also called communion because Jesus and the
faithful give themselves to one another through the Eucharist. United in
Christ the faithful form a community called the body of Christ. As images of
the Triune God (God as a Holy Trinity), we were made to love and be loved in
our human communities and in our relationship with God.
What Is Love?
St. Pope John Paul II, in his message to youth, explained that "love is not
merely a feeling; it is an act of the will that consists of preferring, in a constant
, manner, the good of others to the good of oneself" (Message of The Holy
Father John Paul II to The Youth of the World on the Occasion of the XIX
World Youth Day 2004). But in reality, people have the understandable but
unfortunate habit of thinking of love mostly as an intense emotion. Feeling is
important but it is not enough. Feeling takes no effort. Love takes effort. In
addition, emotions can deceive us because they can be manipulated by
others and ourselves. To really love, one must not only feel love but also
commit to putting the good of the 'other' above one's own good.
People Deserve Only Love
St. John Paul II said that, ‘the person is a ‘good’ towards which the only
proper and adequate attitude is love.’ People who adopt that attitude live by
the personalistic norm, a rule that says that people deserve only love, and we
should never treat anyone as less than a person.
Of course, real love is not one-sided; thus is it not only about giving, it is
about receiving as well. We need to accept love from others as freely as we are
called to give it. To accept love is to say that you are worth loving and so is the
person who loves you.
🛈 The word "love" comes from luba, a word in Old Saxon, a language spoken in
a part of Germany more than a thousand years ago. In modern German, the
word for love is Liebe.
Chapter 3: Seven Signs of a Healthy
Relationship
We know that love cements a relationship. But how can we tell if love is
present or working? Here are seven signs of a healthy relationship rooted in
love from Christ and Culture.
1. Mutual Respect 4. Support
2. Trust 5. Fairness
3. Honesty 6. Separate Identities
7. Good Communication
1. Mutual Respect
Friends who mutually respect one another show each other kindness,
care and consideration. They listen to each other, help each other, support
