Y9 Assessment 2 (2015 onwards): Greed

Image courtesy of the Daily Mail

Your second assessment focus on the Gospel messages related to greed and wealth.

“A few peoples’ greed leaves millions in need.”

Write a feature article for the Financial Times with this headline.

Think about the following to help you write the article:
Describe and show understanding of Christian teaching on greed and helping those in need including quotes and references to scripture. [L4]
Explain what Jesus asks of all Christians and demonstrate different responses to this. [L5]
Analyse the consequences of these responses for different people. [L6]
Give your own opinion, carefully backed up with evidence. Consider another opinion and explain why you disagree with it. [L7]

Useful Bible passages

• Luke 06:24-25 (woe to rich & fed)
• Luke 12:15-21 (rich fool parable)
• Luke 16:19-31 (rich man & lazarus)
• Mark 10:23-24 / Luke 18:24-25 (camel & needle)
• Matt 06:19-21 (treasures in heaven)
• Matt 06:24 / Luke 16:13 (god & money)

Bible Quotes on greed <here>

These may also be useful

• A Poor Pope: Is it Possible?
• Priests and Nuns Should Drive Humble Cars!

Remember to select the ones you think you can explain and show that you understand

World Cup Prayers

Image courtesy of The FA

It was a frustrating start to England's World Cup campaign, despite an encouraging performance, loosing to Italy. However, Daniel Sturridge managed to get on the score sheet and after doing so, clearly offered the goal up in prayer to God.

It is not the first time that Sturridge has mentioned his faith. In an interview in May 2013, he said: "I've kept praying every game – which I always do. God showed me how I need to be strong mentally. Being strong mentally is the one thing that can separate you from anyone else. When I worked with Didier Drogba at Chelsea, the one strength he had above everybody was his mental strength. I learned a lot from working with him about what it takes to be a top player. Hopefully I'll become one." (see more <here>)

[Drogba has been featured in a previous blog post about prayer <here>]

When he first broke in to the England team in October 2013 he said, "At the moment, things are going well and I've been blessed by god to have this sort of form and my faith in god has got me to where I am today" (see more <here>)

It's not the only prayer that has featured so far at the World Cup. When Algeria scored against Belgium in their opening game, they celebrated with this:

Image courtesy of Yahoo

Sofiane Feghouli and several teammates ran to the corner flag and celebrated by kneeling down together. It was rather subdued compared with some of the general craziness of other teams' goal celebrations. However the Sujud (a prayer position in which the forehead, nose, hands, knees and toes all touch the ground) has become a customary goal celebration for Muslim players including Chelsea's Demba Ba.

Aside from the players praying, there is also a encouragement for fans to get praying too. The Bible Society are distributing free World Cup edition Bibles (see <here>), papers like the Catholic Herald have written articles reminding Christians to learn from the World Cup (see <here>) and CAFOD have used the opportunity to educate young people about some of the global issues connected to Brazil including poverty and fair trade putting their prayer into action (see <here>).

Thankfully Pope Francis has promised to not pray for his homeland in Argentina, see <here>. However Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera has asked Mexico to pray to their team! <here>

The Church of England have even gone as far as to release five prayers for the World Cup:

Prayer 1 - A Prayer for the World Cup

Lord of all the nations, who played the cosmos into being, guide, guard and protect all who work or play in the World Cup.
May all find in this competition a source of celebration, an experience of common humanity and a growing attitude of generous sportsmanship to others.
Amen.

Prayer 2 - A Prayer for Brazil

God of the nations, who has always called his people to be a blessing for the world, bless all who take part in the World Cup.
Smile on Brazil in her hosting,
on the nations represented in competition and on those who travel to join in the party.
Amen.

Prayer 3 - A prayer for those simply not interested

Lord, as all around are gripped with World Cup fever, bless us with understanding, strengthen us with patience and grant us the gift of sympathy if needed.
Amen.

Prayer 4 - Prayer for the England Football team

"Oh God..."

Prayer 5 - Prayer for the England Football team

"God, who played the cosmos into being, please help England rediscover their legs, their eyes and their hunger: that they might run more clearly, pass more nearly and enjoy the game more dearly. Amen."

(Based on The Prayer commemorating Richard, Bishop of Chichester in 1253 and used by the Church of England on 16 June each year)

See press release <here>

Do you think the World Cup is a good place to pray? Do you think the footballers do provide good Christian role models? Is it right that Christian organisations use this opportunity? Will you be praying for England?!

Can You Survive Extreme Poverty?

I lived for 4 days... the challenge was to survive for 30. Why so short? I decided to give my child some medicine and try to buy a uniform to send my child to school.

Have a go and play the game here: www.live58.org/survive125 (It didn't seem to work on my mobile device and wanted a Facebook login on PC)

Live 58 is a group of partners who are aiming to end poverty by 2035:

Based on Isaiah 58, Live58 provides engaging and practical ways for Christians to impact the world - and do it with friends. We are people who want to live differently to end extreme poverty by 2035. Recognizing the pull of culture toward excess and self-centered living, we strive to live out the True Fast of Isaiah 58 where God tells His people to put their faith into action:

"To loose the chains of injustice... to set the oppressed free...

to share your food with the hungry... to provide the poor wanderer with shelter...

when you see the naked, to clothe them."

Watch the trailer for the film here:

The full film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHtwHEHAt8Q 

How long did you last? Did it leave your frustrated? What do you think of Live 58's aims?

Nelson Mandela - 1918 - 2013

 

Free after 27 years in prison

Nelson Mandela, one of the few true greats leaders, passed away on the 5th December 2013. Many words will be written about him but this collects a few resources to help understand something of the tributes being made.

 

 

CAFOD often use his speech to remind us to the 'Great Generation'... there is more information on his Make Poverty History speech here:

http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/extras/mandela.shtml

 

There is a further tribute from CAFOD here:

http://www.cafod.org.uk/News/International-News/Nelson-Mandela

 

 

Priests & Nuns Should Drive Humble Cars!

Pope Francis has said, “It hurts me when I see a priest or a nun with the latest model car, you can’t do this.”

He went on to say, "A car is necessary to do a lot of work, but please, choose a more humble one. If you like the fancy one, just think about how many children are dying of hunger in the world."

Much has been made of Pope Francis' attitude to the poor and the way in which he is living his life (see previous blog post <here>). He has given up some of the trappings of Office including living in a guest house rather than the opulent papal apartments.

Apparently the Pope's car of choice for moving around the walled Vatican City is a compact Ford Focus. He also borrowed Fiat as a popemobile for his first papal visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa last Monday (see above).

Do you think the Pope is right to challenge the clergy on their materialistic attitudes? Do you think by setting an example he is able to change the thousands of priests around the world? Do you think it is too simplistic to say they should be thinking of the staving children?

Read more <here> and <here>

A Poor Pope? Is It Possible?

This picture has been shared widely on Facebook and Twitter, showing Pope Francis 'Server' (of the poor). It shows Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio kissing the feet of a sick young child in an act of love and solidarity with the poor. However, how poor can the Pope ever be?

 

Right from the very first moment of being Pope,  Francis declined the use of the ermine mozetta (cape) they provided him, he also kept his bishops crucifix rather than a more ornate Papal version. Additionally he ditched the traditional red shoes for the brown loafers he brought from Argentina.

 

Straight after this he declined the arranged car and jumped on the bus with all the other cardinals.

The next day, he returned to the hotel where he stayed pre-Conclave to bill his bill, as it was the 'right thing to do' and would 'set a good example'.

As people got to know the new Pope, various stories began to emerge from his life in Argentina. Swapping his Bishop's Palace for an ordinary flat, taking the bus and tube rather than a chauffeured limousine, flying economy class and carrying his own lugagge:

The question is, to what extend can a Pope really live in poverty?

 

Video: Why the Pope chose Francis

Video: Living in poverty in the Vatican?

Video: Two revolutionary Popes (JP2 and Francis)

Video: St Francis: Saint and Pope

 

What do you think? Can Pope francis really live up to St Francis of Assisi? Can be live out his Jesuit commitment to poverty? Is a poor Pope possible?

The Big *IF*: There Is Enough Food For Everyone...

Nearly 100 leading charities, including CAFOD, want to make 2013 the beginning of the end of the global hunger crisis. It is a major campaign to lobby David Cameron, the prime minister, to use Britain's presidency of the G8 to leverage action on ending global hunger.

There is Enough Food for Everyone….

we force governments and investors to be honest and open about the deals they make in the poorest countries that stop people getting enough food.

governments keep their promises on aid, invest to stop children dying from malnutrition and help the poorest people feed themselves through investment in small farmers.

we stop poor farmers being forced off their land, and use the available agricultural land to grow food for people, not biofuels for cars.

governments stop big companies dodging tax in poor countries, so that millions of people can free themselves from hunger.

The launch of the Enough Food for Everyone IF campaign is supported by One Direction, Orlando Bloom, Natasha Kaplinsky, Bill Gates, David Harewood, David Gyasi, Anjelique Kidjo, Nina Wadia and Myleene Klass. 

Sign up for change here: http://www.cafod.org.uk/Campaign/Take-action-today/Joint-campaign-on-food 

Read more at: http://www.enoughfoodif.org

Homeless Hotspots: New Charity Idea

A new charity initiative in America has drawn much criticism from the world's press. The basic idea is that in the digital age, people are not buying publications (such as the Big Issue) from homeless people. This means the small income they gained from this, has been lost.

An organisation came up with what they thought was a good idea... attach a wireless hotspot to a homeless person and get people to donate, by text, to that individual to use the internet connection.

The BBC reported people's reactions:

Comments posted to the BBH's site accused the project of being "unseemly" and "wrong".

Members of Twitter asked "what has this world come to?" and accused the project of being a "gimmick".

However, others praised the idea as being "inspirational" and a chance to create a "positive interaction between the public" and homeless people.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17345926

The advertising agency and the organisation have defended their idea and it is being used at the SXSW music festival currently taking place in Austin, Texas.

Read more: http://homelesshotspots.org/

What do you think? Is this a good idea or not? Is 'being' a wifi hotspot the same as selling a magazine in 2012?

Fighting Famine With Faith Communities

"The common goal of love of God and love of neighbour in the Abrahamic faiths is a strong bond in tackling crises in Africa"

"When Christian, Muslim and Jewish NGOs work together on an issue like feeding the hungry, their collective quest toward a common good can cut across their traditions when they meet others of differing theologies who are doing the same thing."

What lessons can be learned from this work? Why do faith communities show such care and love to 'the poorest of the poor'? Is it just because of Gospel values?

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2012/jan/25/faith-communites-fight-famine-sudan?CMP=twt_fd