Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues - Pastoral Guidelines For Ministry to

Typical Pastoral Guidelines For Ministry to Homosexuals This essay takes a typical Catholic parish and presents the guidelines used by this parish in the treatment of gay/les types. The guidelines illustrate the welcoming attitude of this church toward gays. The guidelines are pastoral in character, intended to help priests and parish ministers meet their obligation to serve kindly and conscientiously all who turn to the Church with real needs and honest hope. They do not presume any particular social or psychological analysis of sexuality in our society, except for a generally accepted premise that individuals do choose and can change their sexual orientation and must understand it and integrate it into their life of faith and conscience. The guidelines accept, without elaborating, the perennial teaching of the Catholic Church on sexual morality, conscience, and personal sin. Deeper probing of the ground of this teaching and the contemporary challenges to it must be left to the educational efforts proposed in these guidelines. The guidelines also accept the teaching of the Catholic Church on social ethics but do not propose a social action agenda. When the voice or action of the Church is needed in the religious or secular forum, appropriate agents of the parish and diocese will be informed and enlisted to uphold basic human and civil rights against social or legal discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or violence. The guidelines do not resolve the dilemma surrounding terminology. "Homosexual" seems clear and objective but has come to be regarded by some as too clinical and impersonal, with unwarranted implications of pathology, inferiority, or alienation. "Gay" and "l... ...ll establish its own organization and procedures to address its principal tasks: (a) to inform and advise the bishop on all aspects of this ministry; (b) to enlist the interest and cooperation of diocesan agencies in implementing these guidelines; (c) to recommend, promote, or provide, in consultation with these agencies, programs of education and information. The Pastoral Resource Committee will regularly evaluate and recommend publications to support these education programs or the personal study resources for pastoral ministers. The Pastoral Resource Committee will evaluate, in accord with these guidelines, organizations to be served, consulted, or enlisted in this ministry. There we have it - a pastoral approach to gay/les members. WORKS CITED: "To Live in Christ Jesus," 1976 US Conference of Catholic Bishops

Old Testament

How is this relationship made clear? A. Heehaw is Davit's leader, protector and provider. David describes Heehaw as the Sheppard that leads him through the storms of life. In the beginning of the passage, the author speaks of how he does not want this shepherd, I believe this is due to the author not feeling worthy of the shepherd and all he provides, which makes the relationship so beautiful because it illustrates complete love and trust Just like a sheep following his shepherd.The author illustrates how the staff of His shepherd comforts him through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. The author fears nothing because he know he is looked after and well cared for. The language throughout the entire passage speaks of a sheep to his shepherd, this theme can been seen through all of the Old Testament because the People of God lived a life led by Heehaw. David was known as a man after God's own heart showing how close David was to Heehaw Just as a sheep Is very close to Its shepherd. Ide ntify several themes that run through this Incredible short story of Joseph consider loyalty, family, envy, compassion, work). . Joseph shows deep compassion to his brothers even when his brothers wanted to kill him. Joseph was second in command In Egypt and could have easily turned his brothers away leaving them to die, but instead he decided to love them and help them through the famine. Envy Is the basis for how Josephs brothers behaved. It started with them envying Joseph because he was his father's favorite. Then they were envious of his coat of many colors, and finally they were envious and offended y the dreams Joseph experienced.This new drove them to sell their brother Into slavery, which leads to another theme, diligence. Joseph showed diligence and devotion to God. Even when he was thrown In Jail and framed for things he did not do, he still diligently sought God and followed his commandments. HIS diligence eventually paid off and he was given high honors and responsibili ties. Discuss Joseph as both visionary and man of action. What does he value? How does he rise? What Insights Into human nature and the nature of faith and trust In God are revealed?

How to Study for a Philosophy Exam

Perhaps youve heard this story: Thirty students are waiting to write a final exam for a philosophy course on the Theory of Knowledge. The professor enters the room, hands out blue books, picks up  a chair, places it on top of a table, and says, You are to write just one essay on this exam. Prove to me that this chair exists. You have two hours. A minute later one student gets up, turns in her answer book and leaves. The rest of the class slave away for two hours, explaining foundationalism, pragmatism, materialism, idealism, and every other ism they think is relevant.  But when the exams are returned, only one essay receives an A—the one turned in early.  The classmates of the student who got the A naturally demand to see her essay.  She shows it them. It consists of two words: What chair? If you have a philosophy final coming up, and youre feeling witty, you could try a strategy like that. But we wouldnt recommend it. Theres a 99.9% probability that in the real world, the two-word essay would have received a big fat F. In the real world, the most important thing to remember is to study for the exam in an active rather than passive way. What does that mean? Passive studying is where you look over your class notes, notes taken from books, old essays. Research has shown that this is not very effective. This may be especially true in philosophy because the abstractness of the material can often make recall difficult. So how can you make your studying active?  Here are four ways. Write Practice Essays, Preferably Timed This is probably the single most valuable exercise you can do. Writing under exam conditions—time limits and no notes--forces you to organize what you know, strengthens your ability to recall details (definitions, arguments, objections, etc.), and often prompts original thoughts of your own that you might end up including if you write on the same topic in the exam. Most teachers should  be able and willing to give you sample questions that you can use for this purpose. Read, Keeping Practice Essays in Mind Before writing a practice essay, youll naturally need to prepare by studying the relevant material. But doing this sort of focused, purposeful studying is much better than just scanning many pages of notes and texts and hoping that some of it sticks. Think up Your Own Examples to Illustrate Abstract Points For instance, if youre writing about how utilitarians might be willing to sacrifice individual rights in order to promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number, you might think about a group of peeping toms who are all spying on someone in the shower. Its much easier to remember concrete examples than abstract principles; but once you do, youll probably find it easy to  recall the theoretical point the examples are making. Whoever is reading the essay may also give you credit if you use original illustrative examples: it shows you really understand what you are talking about and not just mindlessly repeating what someone else has said. Practice Making Outlines After youve written a practice essay and you have the material fully in mind, draft an outline for the essay youve just written, perhaps with some improvements. Again, this will help to organize your thinking and should help improve your ability to recall the material during the exam. Bottom Line The  mechanical basics of preparing for any  final are pretty much the same for all subjects: get a  good nights sleep; eat a good breakfast (or lunch) so your brain is fueled; make sure you have a spare pen. Some people also think it helps to sleep with the textbook under your pillow. Experts are skeptical about this strategy but, to date, its ineffectiveness has  never been conclusively proved.