• Chapter 1 What experiences in your freshman year brought you closer to Jesus? Explain.
• Chapter 2 Do one of the "Living the Gospel" question at the end of the chapter, page 40. Write out the question and then answer it well.
• Chapter 3 Pick one organization working for social justice today. Describe the organization and what it does. Make sure to provide a link to its web site.
• Chapter 4 Do a three level interpretation on the "Parable of the Sower," Mark 4:3-9.
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6 Do the "Living the Gospel" question at the end of the chapter, pae 118. Write out the question and then answer it well.
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8 What is your favorite parable or miracle story? Cite the passage (book, chapter and verse) and explain why you chose this.
• Chapter 9 What is your most favorite passage from an epistle? Copy the passage and tell why it is important to you.

In my life, I was called to spread the word of God a lot, sometimes I did, sometimes I did not, and sometimes I did not know if I did or not. An example of me not knowing if I did or not would be the time after my great aunt had knee surgery, I went over to her house, and just did what I was supposed to do, some minor painting around her house, but little did I know that she was so happy just to even see me. I was just doing my job, and she looked at me like I was a saint standing right before her. I did not know what I had done to make her so happy, but I accepted her joviality and continued on with my work.

The first thing that I learned in this chapter is how the church itself is a miracle. I learned this from the Peter and Paul video. It took either an extraordinary effort, and a divine being to take a parochial belief, and make it the world's largest religion.

This is important to me because I think that the odds of this happening in any time period would be so microscopic, not even the world's best microscopes could see it. Plus, today we just go to church and after mass, we think nothing about it. However, we do not think about how the church as a whole came to be. I think that we should honor and respect the people who spread the word of God, even if they did not want to do what God was calling them to do.

Also when you factor in the type of climate that they were in, the type of government that they were surrounded by, and all of their enemies that wanted to kill them still, the odds of the Christian faith succeeding would be microscopic. Not to mention, Paul and Barnabas took the hard road, and they chose to travel to all of the lands that were outside of their home. Paul and Barnabas chose to go where God had never been heard of, except for the pagan gods, yet they still did not give up, and they kept of miving.

Another important thing that I learned was how hard the Council of Jerusalem must had been. With James being an extreme with wanting Gentiles to become Jewish, then Christian, and then with Paul, the other extremist, who said that Gentiles do not have to become Jewish to become Christian. Peter was caught in the middle because he was half and half.

I believe that this is important on several different levels. The first level would be: The disciples are having trouble deciding what to do. The disciples' lack of decision making is important because it kind-of lays the ground work for contextual interpretation. They interpret what Jesus had said in order to come to a decision. The second level is: If they ended the council of Jerusalem by saying that Gentiles had to become Jewish first, then there would be a lot less Christians, and the growth of the faith would be stunted severely. Let's face it, not many male gentiles would want to be circumcised. So, if they would not have done what they did, who knows, probably a lot of us would not be Christian today. Just think about it, most of our ancestors were not Jewish, so that would mean that our ancestors would have had to become Jewish first. If that would have happened, then how would the outcome be? Would I still be the same Catholic that I am today?

You can click on the picture to see where I got it from.

While I cannot speak for Paul, I think that he knew from three different sources: Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Gentiles with whom he worked. I think that Jesus worked through Paul, and everyone who supported him, to further the cause of allowing Gentiles to become Christians, without taking on Jewish customs. The Holy Spirit worked through Paul because Paul was very motivated with his cause. Paul almost had a certain attribute of a prophet, the inability to hold in his message that he must spread. Finally, I think that Paul was influenced by the Gentiles because he had seen them, and how dedicated they were to becoming Christian.

My favorite epistle is from 1 Corinthians 9: 1-2.
Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

This is my favorite passage from an epistle because I like how Paul uses a commanding tone in the letter. In the beginning, I think that it is kind-of humorous because it is like a parent to a child, "Are you the boss around here?", or in Romeo and Juliet, "Am I the master here or you?" When you hear those words, you know that you are in trouble. Then I like the second part because it is just Paul stating that he does have the authority to preach to the Corinthians. I just love how you can see modern-day reflections in this passage.