Sophomore Religion Blog

1. I learned many valuable lessons from my group's parable.  I learned that no matter what, God will always forgive us.  His love for us never changes, no matter how great our mistakes are.  I also learned that it is better that we forgive others because we would want them to forgive us.  We should always forgive someone for their wrongdoings just as God always forgives us.  One last thing that I learned is that parables teach us what is truly right in God's eyes, even if they might seem odd or wrong to us.   2.  Although I learned a lot from my own parable, I also learned new things from other groups' projects.  For example, in The Laborers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16), I learned that God treats all of His children the same, no matter what.  Our ideas of fairness differ from God's love for us individually.  However, it is important to know that He will always love us all the same, regardless of any differences between us...

Through this unit, I learned many new things about prayer.  I learned that there are many ways one can pray; there is not one correct way.  Prayer is a conversation between an individual and God and is extremely personal.  It allows someone to talk to God and ask for guidance or protection, or show their gratitude for everything in their life.  A few ways that the class learned to pray were through meditation, gratitude, Lectio Davina, acts, and song.  This unit provided me with more ways to pray and more confidence in my relationship with God. I can definitely see myself implementing new prayer practices.  I learned many interesting and yet simple ways to pray.  A few types that I think I will use in the future would be meditation and song.  It is important to take time for yourself throughout the day and reflect.  This is a great way to pray because your mind is clear and you truly speak from your heart.  Also, since I am a fan of mu...

From the group presentations, I learned that all of the Gospel writers wanted to depict Jesus' life accurately for people to engage in and reflect on.  I learned that John and Mark were direct followers of Jesus, however, Matthew and Luke were not.  Also, something all of the writers have in common is that they all wrote their Gospels in Greek.  Since the different Gospel writers had different relationships with Jesus and were not written in the same time period, the Gospels did not present themselves exactly the same way.  They were written at different times and for different reasons.  The writers' purposes all varied and their opinions were present in their writings.  Even though they all told the same story, I learned of the writers' personal connections and how they incorporated them with the core story of Jesus.    Based on the class discussion, the Gospel writers had some similarities in their writings.  First of all, they were ...

Prior to my religion class this year, I knew much about Jesus.  I have been going to a catholic school for four years before taking this class, and in my religion classes there I learned about Jesus' life and sacrifices that He made.  However, I have also known and learned about Jesus my entire life.  Since I am Greek Orthodox, I believe that Christ is the Son of God and believe everything that I have learned since going to a catholic school.  The teachings that I have learned throughout my entire life at church and at home are almost exactly alike to the Catholic church's teachings because the Greek Orthodox and Catholic churches were once one.  Before this class, I had learned the story of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection and had been growing personally closer to God. Through this unit, I learned more stories about Jesus' life and gained more insights on Him.  I learned the story of His burial, the significance of the garments He wore, and details a...

From my own group presentation, I learned that Jesus was buried by his great uncle, Joseph of Arimathea.  Joseph was a loyal follower of Jesus, however, this risked him his life.  He had to be secretive about his belief in Christ because he could have been killed for being a follower.  Despite his fear of being caught, he approached Pontius Pilate and asked for Jesus' body.  Thankfully, he was given the body and succeeded in burying Jesus in the tomb.  Through this story, I learned that Jesus gave Joseph courage and never left him during his times of worry.  God was helping Joseph through his faith and protected him from being hurt. Through my classmates' group presentations, I learned that Jesus is always with us, no matter what.  He guided the wisemen to find him through a star, performed miracles to feed thousands and provide wine at the wedding at Cana, and died for us and for our sins.  He did not abandon us, even when it seemed like He did...