Vocations


Book Description

This course leads high school juniors and seniors toward a deeper understanding of God's call in the life of his people. The course covers the call of the laity and the four states of life: married, single, ordained, and consecrated.




Personal Vocation


Book Description

What does God want you to do with your life? Whether you're ordained, professed religious, single, or married, Personal Vocation will show you how to: discover the elements of your vocation; commit yourself to that mission; and remain faithful to your personal call from God. For the young adult making education and career decisions... For the older individual coming to grips with vocation concerns... this book offers information and a perspective that can encourage, inspire, and re-energize.




The Refugee from Heaven


Book Description

The Refugee from Heaven is the greatest story ever known. Cora Evans recounts the life of Jesus Christ as an eyewitness, beginning with the first meeting between Jesus and Peter, on the shores of Mount Carmel Bay. With vivid detail and dialogue, this unique account breathes new life into well-known figures of the Gospels. Readers gain startling insights into Mary of Magdala's conversion, Herod's ferocious personality, and John the Baptist's courage. Experience the awe of the disciples in the Upper Room at the Last Supper, and stand in the holy sepulcher at the moment of the Resurrection. With a book that is sure to renew appreciation for the loving Heart of Jesus, the author has created an enduring masterpiece.




Vocation


Book Description

How shall we live? What is the good life? What is the value of a person? What is my place in this world? Is God active in this world? These are questions that have been asked in every culture and in every era. From the Hebrew concept of Shalom (wholeness/well-being) to the Greek concept of Eudaimonia (happiness) and even to the American notion that all people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, great thinkers have pondered what it means for humans to flourish. The doctrine of vocation uniquely answers these questions. A certain level of security, prosperity, and freedom are essential components of human flourishing. God provides these components by working through humans in their stations in life such as parents and police (security), farmers and bankers (prosperity), and soldiers and governments (freedom). And yet there is more for which we strive. We are the type of beings whose wonderment drives us to the pursuit of knowledge, justice, and achievement. In short, we desire to be justified. We want to be valued. We want to be right or just. We strive for epic-ness. But no mere human adulation will satisfy. Nor can we justify ourselves before God with our broken lives. God justifies Christians through Christ and then uses them. God adds another component to human flourishing: purpose. He uses Christians in his economy of love to take care of the world. He lifts us from the ordinary to accomplish the extraordinary, even as we pursue ordinary tasks. For the Christian, these stations become callings or vocations. This can only be fully appreciated if the Christian knows that he or she is free from pleasing God through works. Once the Christian is freed from this burden the whole of the Christian life is reoriented to the free exercise of love towards neighbor. It is the highest calling, the truly good, flourishing, and happy life.




God at Work


Book Description

When you understand it properly, the doctrine of vocation—"doing everything for God's glory"—is not a platitude or an outdated notion. This principle that we vaguely apply to our lives and our work is actually the key to Christian ethics, to influencing our culture for Christ, and to infusing our ordinary, everyday lives with the presence of God. For when we realize that the "mundane" activities that consume most of our time are "God's hiding places," our perspective changes. Culture expert Gene Veith unpacks the biblical, Reformation teaching about the doctrine of vocation, emphasizing not what we should specifically do with our time or what careers we are called to, but what God does in and through our callings—even within the home. In each task He has given us—in our workplaces and families, our churches and society—God Himself is at work. Veith guides you to discover God's purpose and calling in those seemingly ordinary areas by providing you with a spiritual framework for thinking about such issues and for acting upon them with a changed perspective.




Need to Know


Book Description

How should a Christian think? If a serious Christian wants to think seriously about a serious subject--from considering how to vote in the next election to choosing a career; from deciding among scientific theories to selecting a mate; from weighing competing marketing proposals to discerning the best fitness plan--what does he or she do? This basic question is at the heart of a complex discourse: epistemology. A bold new statement of Christian epistemology, Need to Know presents a comprehensive, coherent, and clear model of responsible Christian thinking. Grounded in the best of the Christian theological tradition while being attentive to a surprising range of thinkers in the history of philosophy, natural science, social science, and culture, the book offers a scheme for drawing together experience, tradition, scholarship, art, and the Bible into a practical yet theoretically profound system of thinking about thinking. John Stackhouse's fundamental idea is as simple as it is startling: Since God calls human beings to do certain things in the world, God can be relied upon to supply the knowledge necessary for human beings to do those things. The classic Christian concept of vocation, then, supplies both the impetus and the assurance that faithful Christians can trust God to guide their thinking--on a "need to know" basis.




Luther on Vocation


Book Description

...[C]oncern about the [inherited doctrine of vocation and its relevance for modern life] was generated out of the complexities and frustrations especially of industrial life, and it has produced a voluminous literature of a popular and semi-popular kind which has served to drive home the problem of daily work upon the conscience of contemporary Christians, and also to provide certain resources for handling it. In addition to this varied literature, the last years have also seen a very general discussion of the question at every level of church life: in ecumencal conferences, in the curricular material of the major denominations, and in conferences and study groups of all kinds. About the urgency and importance of the problem of vocation there is now no doubt. But now we find that the rather simple formulae in which we have been dealing with it do justice neither to the Biblical and Reformation inheritance, nor to the profound dilemmas that appear not only in industry, but in every area of professional and commercial life. The problem now is not only to equip our lay-people with fuller theological resources for the understanding of the meaning of discipleship, but to utilize their practical experience of day-to-day dilemmas and day to-day decisions. ...Gustaf Wingren's conscientious analysis of Luther's teaching on the matter...remains our prime resource for the understanding of the relation of faith and works. Nothing could exceed the patience and thoroughness with which Wingren has combed through the Luther corpus.... [I]t will serve to put the full range of Luther's insight at the disposal of those who care for theology as part of their care of all the Churches. Alexander Miller Stanford University




Single for a Greater Purpose


Book Description

In these fascinating pages, author Luanne Zurlo shows that, contrary to popular opinion, single life is often a holy, joyful vocation lived out, sometimes in a hidden way, by souls who have had an authentic encounter with Christ. Here she sheds light on this little-understood vocation discerned and embraced by a growing number of single persons who neither marry nor enter religious life. These souls are joyfully single for a greater purpose, nourishing both the world and the Church with the unique spiritual strengths and graces that God gives to souls who deliberately remain single for Him — in the world but not of it. Read these pages to learn: Why dedicated single life is uniquely suited to our times How it builds on our baptismal vocations The special role that dedicated singles have in the Church How the dedicated-single vocation complements marriage and religious life How celibacy for the sake of the Ki




Catechism of the Catholic Church


Book Description

Over 3 million copies sold! Essential reading for Catholics of all walks of life. Here it is - the first new Catechism of the Catholic Church in more than 400 years, a complete summary of what Catholics around the world commonly believe. The Catechism draws on the Bible, the Mass, the Sacraments, Church tradition and teaching, and the lives of saints. It comes with a complete index, footnotes and cross-references for a fuller understanding of every subject. The word catechism means "instruction" - this book will serve as the standard for all future catechisms. Using the tradition of explaining what the Church believes (the Creed), what she celebrates (the Sacraments), what she lives (the Commandments), and what she prays (the Lord's Prayer), the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers challenges for believers and answers for all those interested in learning about the mystery of the Catholic faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a positive, coherent and contemporary map for our spiritual journey toward transformation.




Your Christian Vocation


Book Description

Understanding the rewards of a lifelong commitment to Christ is the most important goal of a new high school religion textbook from Ave Maria Press. Your Christian Vocation helps students learn how to live their lives to the benefit of others as they consider a vocation of service--in marriage, priestly or consecrated life, or the single life--to the Church and their own communities. Students will explore a variety of topics in each vocation, including friendship, dating, and courtship related to choosing a spouse; family planning and raising children; the importance of the Sacrament of Holy Orders to the whole Church; priestly celibacy; and other forms of religious life including religious institutes, eremites, consecrated virgins and widows, secular institutes, and societies of apostolic life. Students will find the encouragement and practical skills to practice discernment for their lifelong vocation. They'll also learn how to consider the differences between vocation, jobs, and career. A bonus chapter on the single life is available online, along with a variety of teacher resources. Your Christian Vocation replaces the Marriage and Holy Orders textbook. Developed in collaboration with experts in theology, catechesis, and pedagogy, Your Christian Vocation is part of the Encountering Jesus textbook series and features the same pedagogical design and features that have made the series popular with both teachers and students: Chapter Focus Questions: Each chapter's main idea is posed as a question to the student to provide a broader context in which new ideas can be integrated and understood. Infographics: A wide variety of visual and interactive designs throughout the text help students understand theological concepts in ways they will remember. Currents Events: Each chapter opens with a story from the contemporary world that teens can relate to their own lives. Educational Photos: Images throughout the text have been carefully chosen not only to illustrate the chapter but for teachers and students to use as educational tools. Note-Taking Graphic Organizers: Designed to help students organize, summarize, and sequence the text, various types of organizers were customized for every section of the book. Section Assessments: Each section includes pedagogically designed assessment questions with labels that show how the questions serve a variety of different learning styles. Online Resources: As always, teachers can access a wide variety of online resources at the Ave Maria Press website, including videos, PowerPoints, handouts, crossword puzzles, reading guides, and tests. The enhanced digital edition of Your Christian Vocation includes exclusive access to videos from the Apostleship of Prayer, America Media, Catholic Relief Services, the Congregation of Holy Cross, and Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. These videos enrich the written text with expert explanations of key theological concepts, sacred people, and sacred places by Bishop Robert Barron, Dr. John Bergsma, Rev. Kevin Grove, C.S.C., Rev. James Kubick, S.J., and Rev. James Martin, S.J. A Teacher's Wraparound Edition (TWE) offers strategies and lessons to facilitate several different learning styles. Guides, approaches, rubrics, questions, and answers all ease a teacher's planning and coverage of each student text chapter. The text has been approved by the Subcommittee on Catechism for use with Elective D, Responding to the Call of Jesus Christ, of the USCCB curriculum framework.