The key idea of this chapter is taking risks in order to become a true disciple of Jesus in faith. In order to be a living witness to what Jesus preached, you must risk going against society�s values and risk your own wellbeing. However, in order to have the courage to take these risks, you must first grow closer to God with prayer. Prayer leads to a deeper faith, which ultimately conquers fear. Without taking risks you can not affectively spread the mission Jesus began, to bring about the Kingdom of God here on earth. If Mary had never taken risks, Jesus would never have been born, or if Jesus himself had never taken any risks he would have lived a longer and less painful life, but he would have never died on the cross, and never would have saved us from our sins. The Church would have never survived if no one had taken any risks to spread the Word. The Church, just like our faith, is built on taking risks. If we do not take risks our faith would never grow just as the Church could never grow if it had never taken risks.

2) Two major ideas I want to remember.

One idea from this chapter that I want to remember is the story of Jesus� visit to Mary and Martha. In this story Jesus stays at the home of Mary and Martha. While Mary was listening to Jesus, Martha was performing her many tasks. Soon Martha asks Jesus what he thinks of Mary making her complete all of her work by herself, while she sits idle listening to Jesus. Jesus responds that Martha is too distracted by her work to listen to Jesus, and Mary has done the better thing by listening to him. This story shows us that we must not let our work and service get in the way of God. Although serving God is necessary, it is just as important to listen to the word of God and spend time with God in prayer.

The second idea from this chapter that I want to remember is that we must not let excuses keep us from helping someone in need. Many times, we are faced with an opportunity to help someone, but we immediately find excuses to ignore the person in need, like, �I don�t have time,� or �I couldn�t help them if I wanted to anyway�, and continue with our daily routine. Soon we unconsciously pass them by without a second thought. Although it may seem like you do not have the time or the power to help the person in need, it is important to understand that we should always find time to help others and that even if we can not help them physically, we can always make them feel less alone in their time of need. However, we should not help others for our own personal gain, but simply for the concern of others. Once we no longer make excuses to pass by someone in need we can continue to bring about the Kingdom of God.

3) An image that captures this chapter.

4) One significant question I have from this chapter

"How does faith and prayer help us to receive the courage needed to take risks?"

Faith and prayer are the source of our courage because through prayer and faith we grow closer to God. The closer we are to God gives us more of a relationship with God. Having a relationship with other people is a lot like a relationship with God. If we have a close relationship with a friend, we can trust that friend more and we are given a greater sense of security while that friend is around. Since God is always around, we can receive a greater sense of security, depending on the relationship we have with Him. This sense of security causes us to feel like we are never alone wherever we are. If we feel we are not alone, we receive the courage to know that someone is there even if we fall. With this courage, we can begin to take the necessary risks involved with our faith and life.

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