In an effort to inspire young people to live their lives well I would encourage them to look at the life of Jesus and those of modern day heroes. Jesus of Nazareth lived in a time and environment very different from our own. He was raised in a small village, Nazareth, in Israel 2000 years ago. His mother, Mary, was a peasant woman and his father, Joseph, a carpenter. Jesus life was influenced by the religious, political and social culture of his day (Knox, 2009).
For his first thirty years, Jesus lived a traditional Jewish life. Like all Jewish boys Jesus attended the synagogue with his father on the Sabbath Day. Here he learnt to read the Law in Hebrew, recite prayers and the commandments. As he grew he learnt his fathers' trade
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and worked in his home town as a carpenter until the age of 30 (Jesus Institute, 2009). At this time he left home to begin his ministry. He travelled the countryside spreading the word of God and living out his message by helping those who could not help themselves (Campbell, 2012). Jesus wanted to teach people how to live according to God's will, to respect everyone and everything. The events of Jesus' life are recorded in four Gospel narratives, written by Jesus disciples 30 years after his death.
By examining the gospels we can see that Jesus was touched by human needs and responded through acts of kindness (Singer & Hari, 1993). Jesus sought out those who needed Him – the needy, sinners, poor, oppressed, foreigners, powerless and the outcasts of society. Jesus' empathy for the poor is revealed through his encounter with the wealthy ruler in Mark 10: 21, 22. Jesus is an inspiration to others because he always stood by his principles and accepted the consequences. Jesus knowingly broke religious laws by helping people on the Sabbath …show more content…
Day. Here are examples of how people apply the message of Jesus in our times. There are many people who we can admire because they lived their lives according to this example set by Jesus. The actions of modern day men and women can be used as examples, to young people, of ways to live out the message of Jesus. I find the life journey of Archbishop Oscar Romero to be an extraordinary example of one person's attempt to make a profound difference in the lives of others. Oscar Romero came from a large family and lived in El Salvador in 1917. His parents were a farming family and quite poor and he had to leave school when he was 12 to earn a living. At the age of 14 he entered the seminary and at 25 years of age he became a priest (Caritas Australia, 2013). Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador spoke out about the high level of violence in his country.
Human abuses such as torture, killing and terrorisation were rapidly increasing due to Civil War. Death squads, supported by the government, were killing innocent people including clergy members. The poor and impoverished members of his community were often targets. They did not have access to basic needs and their human rights were constantly violated (Caritas Australia, 2013).
Romero publicly spoke out against the violence and social injustices. He approached his own government and international leaders asking, sometimes begging, for help. He demanded that everyone had access to demanding that the poor people in his community had access to basic needs their needs and basic rights was assassinated in 1980 The United Nations labelled the situation in El Salvador as genocidal (Moral Heroes, 2010).
There is a clear parallel between Romero's life and Jesus years of ministry. Despite receiving death threats Romero stood up for those who could not and demanded they be treated equally. The day before he died six priests and dozens of catechists were killed. He was fully aware of the consequences of his
actions. To inspire young people to live their lives in the way of Jesus Archbishop Oscar Romero can be presented as an example. These quotes from Pope France at the World Youth Day in Rio best state how Jesus can make a positive difference in our lives. “The measure of the greatness of a society is found in the way it treats those most in need, those who have nothing apart from their poverty.” ”Put on Christ, and your life will be full of his love; it will be a fruitful life.” Pope Francis World Youth Day in Rio 2013 More recently, the activities of an Australian woman, Moira Kelly, serve to show how following the message of Jesus can make a difference in our lives. At 8 years of age Moira watched a documentary on Mother Theresa and was inspired to make a difference. She began to help out at her local special needs school. As a young woman, 18 years old, she became a special needs assistant and then became a probation officer for troubled youth, a lay missionary and worked in the Kimberley with impoverished Aboriginal children. As an adult Moira has travelled the world to help those in need. The poor and dying in India with Mother Theresa, Kalahari Bushmen in Botswana, crack babies in the Bronx, children born with AIDS in Romania and refugees in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Moral Heroes, 2014) In the late 90's Moira Kelly set up the Children First Foundation, a non-profit organisation. This organisation provides transportation and healthcare to children with urgent needs in third world countries. Children in need are evacuated to a Western country where medical personnel voluntarily treat these children. The foundation has successfully treated over 200 children from dozens of countries (Moral Heroes, 2014).
From the excerpt from the novel, “Under the Feet of Jesus” by Helena Maria Viramontes, the main character is Estrella, a young Spanish girl with a powerful desire to learn to read. Although she is persistent, her teachers refuse to educate her because they are more concerned of Estrella’s personal hygiene. This leaves Estrella resentful because of the barrier between herself and knowledge. Estrella remains silent until a man named Perfecto Flores teaches her how to read by using his expertise in hardware and tools to represent the alphabet. Viramontes depicts the heartfelt growth of Estrella through her use of tone, figurative language, and detail.
...here were so against Romero those at the end disrespecting the law of God they still kill him in March 24 of 1980. Many of the Salvadorans decide not to listen to Romero in which between 1980 and 1989 more than 60,000 Salvadorans still got killed. But as good fighters for freedom and respect still goes on.
Romero urged the government to investigate, but they ignored his request. Romero started to investigate himself to see how he could help the people of the campesinos that have been kidnapped. Later Romero spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations and torture and the ones that were kidnapped as political prisoners. When he spoke of this, this brought many more enemies towards his way because they did not wanted an archbishop speaking of such things and saying that El Salvador government was not doing and this made the people with power furious and they decided to take actions in their hands. Also, Archbishop Oscar Romero utilized the broadcast as an oral newspaper: every documented case of killing, assault, disappearance, or torture – whether by the left or the right was broadcast.
Gerhard Lohfink, in his book, “Jesus of Nazareth” believes that Jesus’ person and ministry are intertwined, or actually one and of the same. After Lohfink clarifies the difference between the "reign of God" as distinct from the “Kingdom of God,” he asserts that in Jesus, there is this active, ongoing reign which is not only revealed, but is manifested in all He says and does. Lohfink states, that Jesus is “not just preaching about the reign of God, but He is announcing it,” going on to indicating that Jesus is manifesting this reign in His own self disclosure and the actions of His ministry. Jesus ways of teaching and interactions with others, is shown as compassionate, gentle, direct and personal, as well as definitive and bold. As we also find in Ch. 3, “All that is happening before everyone’s eyes. The reign of God is breaking forth in the midst of the world and not only within people.” (51) And for Lohfink, this is taking place in the actual preaching, actions and life of Jesus Christ. Simply, we are personally and collectively and actively a part of establishing this “reign” right here, right now. A “reign” of mercy, compassion, forgiveness, self-giving, sacrificial love, as well as of justice and peace.
Kindness can really make a difference in a person's attitude. In “A Christmas Carol”, the Cratchits and Scrooge's nephew Fred show kindness to Scrooge, even though Scrooge showed quite the opposite to them. Or in “Thank you M’am”, when Ms. Jones makes Roger food and gives him money to buy his shoes, instead of reporting him to the police. Even in “Little Things Are Big”, when Jesus decides to help people even if he has to face prejudism. These stories all show turning points, and these examples show
...t years of the war started after 1980, and ended in 1992 with the Peace Treaty of Chapultepec, Mexico. This treaty did not bring the desired peace and progress to El Salvador. Instead, the fight continued in a way of political opposition without arms. The revolutionary forces became a political party that represents the rights of the workers. The right wing party, which was originally founded by D’aubuisson, stayed in power until the elections of 2009. The popular sectors of El Salvador still face extreme poverty and oppression caused by large companies. The church continues its work with the poor but in a more limited and conservative way. After 30 years of the death of Romero, the Salvadoran Church remembers him as the hero of the oppressed and the voice of the voiceless and cries on the fact that the church was never the same after the death of its major leader.
Romero (main character) is a second Mexican–American generation that has emigrated from Mexico (“In Mexico, where his parents were born… Just as his parents had, Romero always thought it was a beautiful place for home”); he is married with children, a hard working guy (“calls himself a handyman”), who appreciates and enjoys his simple life. Romero one
In the movie Romero, Archbishop Romero changes very much in his understanding of love and in his understanding of true conscience. At first Romero is just a priest who isn’t really concerned about the poor and how they are being oppressed, but when Romero is chosen to be the new Archbishop his friend, who is assassinated, I think has a slight impact on him. But I think when his friend is assassinated is when he really starts to realize what is happening to the country of El Salvador and how the government doesn’t want anyone to speak out about this. So, now Romero is starting to action against the government and tries to speak out against them. Here we see Archbishop Romero’s true conscience and love grow for the people around him because we see him taking more action against the government. I think that Archbishop Romero defines love as helping others who are in need and others who need his help whatever it may be. We see Romero do this when he starts to lead the revolt in trying to tell the El Salvadoran Government to stop oppressing the poor and treat everyone as human beings. I think Romero has to make a very big decision considering, the gorillas were sending out flyers that said “Be a Patriot, Kill a Priest”. The decision that Romero had to make was whether or not to help the poor or just be a puppet for the cardinals that selected him to be a puppet in the beginning. I think the thing that made Romero choose to help out the poor was the love he had for them. I also be...
Oscar Romero was at first a quiet, ordinary priest in the democratic country of El Salvador. But things change once newly appointed Arch-Bishop. Romero quickly finds out the way the country is run by the military. The poor people of Salvador are missing and being executed by the military. Romero tries to stop these events through the power of the Church.
...cs of the government, a government portrayed in the film as being corrupt and cruel towards its people. With his immense influence in El Salvador, he was able to encourage the church and its people to fight for justice, equality, and human rights for all. His and the churches actions displayed a sense of liberation theology. They saw the situation, assessed it, and then judged what needed to be done. The actions that the church raised served as critical actions towards the peoples struggle for what is right, and although justice was not fully fulfilled the footstones were set for a great upcoming. The church along with Romero served as a great authority towards bringing Gods kingdom here on earth. The struggle for social justice was a critical factor of how the church is a community of all people, and how everyone deserves an equal potential at life without obstacles.
At the age of 12, Jesus was seen in the temple talking with, listening to and teaching many learned men. It was then that Jesus declared that he was the Son of God with a divine purpose here on earth. Jesus lived a traditional Jewish life as a simple carpenter. At the age of 30, Jesus was baptized and recognized by John the Baptist. It was now that he began his earthly ministry.
In the beginning Romero is just a priest, he keeps things to himself and remains quiet about social issues. But when he is chosen to be the Archbishop he slowly starts to develop a voice. Especially after his good friend, Father Grande is murdered Archbishop Romero becomes an active fighter for religious freedom and the people of El Salvador. He loves God even more and becomes a greater advocate for nonviolence and is no longer afraid of standing up to the corrupt military of El Salvador. As we see when he retakes the church that was turned into a barracks. He bravely entered and gathered the Eucharist while being threatened multiple times and then proceeds to pray with the
Jesus is said to have been born around 4-6 BC. When Jesus was 30 he began his ministry. Many of the reasons that his religion succeeded were that it treated everyone equally promised eternal life and was centered on on your personal relationship with God. Jesus¹ teachings included love for God, neighbors, enemies and yourself. The ten commandments and the basic foundation of Judaism was included in his teachings as Jesus was born a Jew.
Jesus was raised in Nazareth in the home of Joseph, a carpenter, and his wife Mary. Jesus most likely went to school in a room attached to the synagogue. He
Early Christian monasticism was influenced by the lives of John the Baptist and Prophet Elijah, as they both dwelled alone in the desert, but the ultimate inspiration was the life of Jesus Christ. His life was entirely dedicated to God, devoted in prayer, preaching, teaching and fasting. In Matthew 4:1-11, we read about how Jesus went into the desert and fasted for forty days and forty nights, before he could begin his public ministry.