People of various faiths have unique perspectives on the human relationship with the divine and express this connection through moral living and prayer. In Catholicism, adherents believe in one God manifested as the Holy Trinity, viewing God as the creator who came to humanity in the form of Jesus Christ.
Identify how religious rituals and celebrations promote the community, fellowship and intimate human relationships and within society. This could include festivals and holiday, feast days, sacraments, rites of passage and initiation, milestones in life and death, and spiritual journeys.
Rituals and ceremonies play a large part in the Indigenous faith. They already have quite tight knit communities since most Indigenous people in Canada live on reserves, but these celebrations bring everyone even closer together for various mutual reasons whether it is giving thanks or honoring the memory of someone. For example, a Powwow is a dance meant to renew relationships and heal creation that people do together in a circle. This dance promotes community because several people are needed for it and must work/dance together for it to be a proper Powwow. Despite how someone passing away is a very grief ridden time, death brings Indigenous people together through death feasts, which are held for the deceased person and their spirit. Death also does not end connections people have, as it is believed by the Cree that spirits can communicate through visions.
Jewish people have holidays similar in time to Easter and Christmas, and they are also similar in the sense that they bring people together. Hanukkah spans over 8 days which gives a lot of time for celebrations, and Passover is the most important feast in Judaism, which commemorates Jewish slaves being freed. Synagogues, the Jewish place of worship and study can be a place for human relationships to form, and is especially great for younger people because then they are able to experience their faith and traditions together as they grow up, such as Bat/Bar Mitzvahs.
In every religion rituals are important because they enact what many believe, and they bring people of a faith together. In Catholicism, there are many different rituals people partake in depending on their age, starting with baptism, and with later rituals being communion and confirmation. These ceremonies confirm one’s faith and bring together family, friends and acquaintances. For example, during baptism, a godmother and godfather are chosen to guide the baptized child through their religious journey which creates a caring bond. Holidays such as Easter and Christmas promote fellowship through get togethers and mass. These holidays also have an important lead up, and during lent many people give something up, and they can find support in the community to help them get through the forty days.
INQUIRY QUESTION: How do Catholics and people of all faiths understand the human relationship with
God and express that relationship through moral living and prayer life?
Describe how the understanding of God/the Divine as interpreted in sacred scripture and traditions shapes the moral/ethical life of people of faith This could include sacred stories, including those shared by the Abrahamic faiths, ethical frameworks about how to life while in this world, our responsibility to the other/our neighbour, and the environment, the role of interfaith dialogue, principles of social justice and acts of charity.
Indigenous people live by ethical principles that are do not interfere, community is important, and everything is shared. These guide them to interact with others positively and think about the wellbeing of their community. The Anishinaabeg people have prophets called the seven grandfathers, and with that they have the seven grandfather teachings of wisdom, love, respect, courage, honesty, humility, and truth. These teachings are comparable to the seven gifts of the holy spirit because they are both traits that are learned and used in a beneficial way for a positive life. Just like how similarities open up chances for dialogue between Abrahamic faiths, these similarities between Indigenous and Catholics can create simple interreligious dialogue, even though corresponding things are not needed for interfaith dialogue, and differences should be celebrated as well.
With Judaism being an Abrahamic faith, their moral values are like Catholic ones. They also believe in following the ten commandments which leads people down a content and morally just path of life. Jewish people are dedicated to God’s covenant with Abraham, where God offers protection to his descendants if they continue to be faithful. To follow God and keep the covenant, they live ethical lives and follow their religious principles, treating everyone with dignity and respect. These resemblances between Catholicism and Judaism open up easy segways into interfaith dialogue where these religions can discuss the similarities and differences of their beliefs, while still following rules of their faith.
The Catholic faith is centered around love, which is preached in the bible. So, living lovingly is the ethical way for Catholics. People of the faith also utilize the seven gifts of the holy spirit in their lives (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, fear of the lord), and these attributes help them stay true and connected to their faith. Similarly to the gifts of the holy spirit, there are also the 10 commandments that God gave to Moses in the bible. These rules are used as guidelines for Catholics to live by to keep their relationship with God strong. The Golden rule, “treat others as you wish to be treated” can also relate to interfaith dialogue, because despite differences, it is important that Catholics treat everyone with respect no matter their religion so that everyone can live harmonically and not be ignorant towards varying beliefs.
Explain how people of faith understand the self and God/the Divine. This could include ideas about the nature of God/the Divine, religious creeds, the nature of the soul, the afterlife and salvation.
In Judaism, they believe in the same God as Catholics do, and they see him as the creator, with Genesis’ creation story being in their sacred text, the Torah. As for salvation, Jewish people do not think Jesus was the Messiah, and believe their saviour is yet to come, and this belief divided Judaism. The belief that God has a salvation plan is affirmed in the Tanakh, a set of sacred writings. The Jewish worship and pledge allegiance to God through their most important prayer, the Shema Israel, which is the first and last prayer recited by people of the faith.
Indigenous people believe earth’s creator is the Great Spirit. Similarly to how Catholics believe God’s spirit is in all of creation, the Great Spirit is believed to be in all natural things, with them all having varying quantities of the spirit. The medicine wheel, which is an Indigenous sacred text, depicts how the First Nations people see life as a circle. The circle encompasses birth, death, and rebirth because they believe in reincarnation.
In Catholicism, it is believed that there is one God, who is also the Holy Trinity (the father, the son, and the holy spirit). God is seen as the creator, and in the bible he created earth, nature, and humans. They believe that God came to us in human form through Jesus. Jesus came to save the people from their sins and restore their relationship with God. The Apostles Creed enforces these beliefs, as it retells the story of Jesus and affirms the Catholic beliefs. Jesus also opened the gates of heaven, which is where the afterlife is to Catholics because they believe that if they maintain a faithful relationship with God, their souls will go to heaven once they pass away.
