Religion For Leaving Certificate

Section G: Worship, Prayer and Ritual

Chapter 1: Symbol

Symbolic Actions

Actions, gesture and words often act in a mysterious way by communicating thoughts and feelings that might otherwise be difficult to convey.

Language And Symbol

Symbolic language affects people deeply and seems to point to a deeper and more mysterious reality.

Characteristics Of Symbols

  1. Symbols have many meanings.
  2. Symbols can affect us in many ways e.g. emotionally, spiritually and even sensually.
  3. Symbols participate in that which they represent e.g. water is a symbol of new life in the Christian tradition of Baptism.
  4. Symbols have the ability to relate to mystery e.g. death remains one of the greatest mysteries. The cross in Christianity acts as a symbol for the victory of life over death.

Human Beings As Symbol – Makers

Often people search for meaning when confronted with the mysteries of life and death.

Death

Death is one of the ultimate mysteries and is surrounded by many religious symbols.

Love

It is often very difficult to put words on feelings of love and affection. Wedding rings are symbols that have already been created. Couples also convey love and affection by exchanging presents.

The Power Of Symbols In Contemporary Religion

  1. Believers can’t see God ( John 1:18 ), yet God remains very much present in believers’ awareness. This tension lies at the heart of all religious traditions because believers have to rely on Faith to accept that there are Spiritual realities.
  2. Symbols are powerful because they can act as physical manifestations of Spiritual realities.
  3. Religious symbols come in many forms: symbolic place, symbolic time, symbolic language and the sacramental symbol of oil, water, bread and wine.

The Power Of Symbol In Contemporary Secular Society

  1. Secular symbol e.g. national flag – it rouses feelings of pride and national identity at sporting occasions.
  2. In contemporary society, fashion, music and sport have become highly symbolic.

The Cross As Religious Symbol

  1. The cross is a Christian symbol that represents the instrument of execution that killed Jesus.
  2. Jesus was accused of treason, a crime punishable by death.
  3. He was crucified on Calvary.
  4. Some people find comfort in the cross in times of distress because they know that, through Jesus, God understands human suffering and shares our feelings of loss, pain and grief.
  5. The cross is also a symbol of victory.
  6. Christians believe that Jesus overcame sin and death through his own death and resurrection.
  7. The cross symbolises ‘ Atonement ‘ ( where God and man become one )‘.
  8. The cross symbolises fear, isolation, pain and suffering, which are present in people’s lives.
  9. The cross symbolises hope – for Jesus died and was slain, rose again and was glorified.
  10. Those who suffer isolation and pain in contemporary society, yet believe that one day their suffering will be eased, find their own reflection in the figure who died and rose again on the third day.
  11. Those who fear death see in the cross a powerful symbol of the victory of life over death.

Exam Question

  1. Some people have argued recently that the cross is a gory and distasteful religious symbol and should be replaced with nice music and soft lighting. They believe that such symbols would be more comforting and relevant to people’s lives today. Do you agree with such a position or do you think the cross is a necessary and relevant religious symbol ?

Chapter 2: Ritual

Ritual And Life

  1. Rituals are experiences that we regard as significant.
  2. Rituals carry meaning, they renew us and they often challenge how we understand ourselves and our lives.

The Meaning And Experience Of Ritual

  1. A ritual is a structured human activity that follows a set pattern, using words and symbols to mark important events of transition.
  2. Rituals are made up of word and symbol, significant people, places and times.
  3. Ritual in a society addresses the great mysteries of human existence.

Types Of Rituals

Transitional And Restorative Rituals

Rites of passage are significant transitional rituals e.g. birth, adolescence, maturity and old age and of death and the afterlife, whereas healing rites are familiar restorative rituals e.g. anointing of the sick.

Example Of A Religious Ritual In Contemporary Culture : Bar Mitzvah

Bar Mitzvah

  1. Bar Mitzvah ‘ Son of the Commandment ‘ – determines Religious Maturity in the Jewish Religion.
  2. A Jewish boy reaches maturity at the age of 13 and soon after his 13th birthday he is called to the Synagogue to read from the Torah during the morning service.
  3. The boy now becomes part of the ‘ Quorum ‘ that is needed for religious services in the Synagogue.
  4. The boy prepares for his Bar Mitzvah months beforehand by attending classes with the Rabbi to prepare him to be able to read the Torah in front of the whole community.
  5. On the given morning the boy wears special garments and stands on a platform ‘ Bimah ‘ to read the text.
  6. Afterwards there is a special meal to mark the boy’s coming of age.
  7. The boy now has a role to play in his local Jewish community. He belongs fully to his religious community and this enhances his sense of identity and responsibility within the group.
  8. Finally, the ritual is significant for the boy’s family, as they feel proud that they have given the boy the gift of religious belonging and identity.

Exam Question

  1. Write an account on one religious ritual and one secular ritual in contemporary culture that you have studied.

Example Of A Secular Ritual In Contemporary Culture : Registry Office Marriage

Registry Office Marriage

A Civil Marriage is a civil contract, and in order that a civil marriage is valid in Ireland, a number of requirements must first be met:

  1. The couple must be free to marry each other.
  2. The persons involved must freely give consent to marriage, and they should not be coerced.
  3. Those wishing to marry must be 18 years of age.
  4. The couple must give three months - notice to the civil authorities of their intention to marry.
  5. A civil marriage should be treated with the formality and solemnity that is required.
  6. The marriage takes place in a registrar’s office.
  7. The marriage must involve at least five people: the registrar, the couple about to be married and two witnesses.
  8. In the presence of the registrar and witnesses, both parties each make the following declaration : ‘ I do solemnly declare that I know not of any lawful impediment why I ( name ) may not be joined in matrimony to ( name ). Each person then says : ‘ I call upon these person here present to witness that I ( name ) do take thee ( name ) to be my lawful wedded wife ( or husband ) ‘.
  9. Immediately after the solemnisation of the marriage, it must be registered.
  10. Once the registration takes place the couple are then legally married.
  11. This is a very significant secular ritual because both parties have entered into civil contract to be married to each other.
  12. It is a decision that they have freely made and marks their desire to enter marriage and its responsibilities.
  13. The couple have now transformed their status within society and publicly declared their love and commitment to each other.

Ritualism

Ritualism is a term that is applied to regular and excessive use of ritual. Rituals involve set patterns of word, rite and symbol, yet if they are repeated regularly the practice can revert to ritualism, whereby those who participate become increasingly unconscious of the true meaning of the ritual. Viewed in a negative way, ritualism simply becomes empty ritual. Those who attend are unaware of what they are doing but attend the ritual through force of habit or because of social pressure. For example, if a person attends Mass regularly, yet fails to listen or actively participate in the sacrament, then the experience won’t be very fruitful. If rituals are repeated regularly, then they lack newness because they are a set pattern of activity and at times become tedious. The emptiness and lack of awareness and meaning constitute ritualism.

There are, however, some positive features associated with ritualism. Formal prayers, for example, benefit from the fact that they are part of a set pattern of words and actions, which are regularly repeated. In this way they are easily memorised and recited. The Rosary, for example, is regularly recited in many different contexts in Catholic worship, but it is this regularity and repetition that makes it easy for Catholics to remember the format of the prayer.

Exam Question

  1. Explain what is meant by ‘ ritualism ‘ and give one positive and one negative feature of it.

Chapter 3 : Sacrament

Catholic Sacraments

What is a Sacrament ?

‘ The Sacraments are perceptible signs ( words and actions ) accessible to our human nature. By the action of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit they make present efficaciously the grace that they signify ‘. ( Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1084 )

  1. The purpose of a Sacrament is to sanctify people and to worship God.
  2. Sacraments nourish and strengthen Faith and they confer the presence and love of God, traditionally known as grace.
  3. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the origin of the church’s existence and is also in a very real way the source of the Sacramental life of the church.
  4. Christ continues to act in the church through the sacraments.
  5. The Sacraments are the lifeblood of the church.
  6. Those who celebrate the Sacraments participate in the death and resurrection of Christ, they can be healed and reconciled through the power of the Holy Spirit and they are called to share in the future in the fullness of God’s own life. Herein lies the meaning and relevance of the seven sacraments in the Catholic tradition.

Protestant Sacraments

Martin Luther in the Protestant Reformation

  1. On 31st October 1517 Martin Luther is said to have posted ninety – five theses on the door of Wittenberg Cathedral to debate a number of points of Catholic Doctrine.
  2. He was a German Augustinian priest who was tormented by doubts about his own personal salvation, even though he regularly received the sacrament of reconciliation.
  3. Continually plagued by temptations, he questioned whether he could be just in God’s eyes.
  4. Then in the letter to the Romans ( 1:16 – 17 ) he discovered that God saves those who have faith.
  5. This was significant for Luther, as he began to believe that it was faith alone, not good works, that saved a person and made them just and upright in God’s eyes.
  6. Luther was excommunicated in 1520, but by that stage he had rejected the authority of the Pope and Church tradition anyway.
  7. Luther favoured and trusted his own religious experiences and beliefs and turned to the authority of scripture above that of the church tradition.
  8. Catholics regarded God’s spoken word through the church as the greatest authority, whilst for Protestant the greatest authority for God’s spoken word was the scriptures.
  9. Following on from Luther, Protestants emphasised the role of personal experience in religious belief and practice.
  10. Catholic theologians argued that the effects of the sacraments need not be experienced, for they operate at a deeper or spiritual level.
  11. Catholic sacramental theology still holds that sacraments are valid and give grace.
  12. However, the lack of experiential evidence led the reformers to reject the church’s teaching on sacramental theology.
  13. By the time of the reformation the accepted definition of a sacrament was that it was a sign instituted by Christ to give grace.
  14. The reformers felt that several of the sacraments weren’t instituted by Christ.
  15. Based on scriptural evidence, the reformers accepted that only Baptism and the Eucharist were instituted by Christ.

An Anglican Understanding Of Sacrament

  1. A Sacrament is : ‘ an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and as a pledge to assure us thereof ‘.
  2. This means that for Anglicans a sacrament must be given by Christ to act as a means of grace.
  3. Anglicans only accept two sacraments i.e. Baptism and the Eucharist.
  4. The book of common prayer does accept that there are five other ministries : confirmation, ordination, holy matrimony, ministry of absolution and ministry of healing.

The Function Of Sacramental Symbols

There are two functions to sacramental symbols :

  1. Sacramental symbols reveal and participate in Divine realities.
  2. Sacramental symbols signify and actually bring about a different reality.

Water In Baptism

  1. Baptism is a sacrament of initiation.
  2. Baptism is understood as ‘ the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments ‘ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1213 ).
  3. In Christianity, through Baptism, a person is given a new life in Jesus Christ. Water, as a symbol participates in this act in so far as water is life giving. Those who are baptised are a new creation in Christ, it was over water that the spirit of God hovered at the moment of creation in the book of Genesis.
  4. The symbolic actions in the sacrament of baptism transforms the person and makes them a Christian.

Anointing In Confirmation

  1. Anointing is used in Baptism, Confirmation, Ordination and the Sacrament of the sick.
  2. In confirmation the anointing is a spirit – filled event.
  3. In Confirmation the person is anointed with chrism.
  4. The anointing in Confirmation strengthens the person in wisdom, courage, and understanding.
  5. In the rite of Confirmation the Bishop traces the sign of the cross on the person’s forehead with the oil and says : ‘ be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit ‘.

Bread And Wine

  1. The Eucharist is the source of the Christian Life.
  2. The Eucharist is a memorial of the sacrifice that Jesus offered on the cross.
  3. At the Eucharist Jesus is present and so is his sacrifice on the cross, because they are one and the same thing.
  4. The bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ and we too are changed when we are told to go forth and spread the good news and to love and serve God. By doing this, we too may have to make sacrifices.
  5. The Eucharist is the greatest act of worship for Catholics.
  6. The Word Eucharist means ‘ thanksgiving ‘. We are thankful for him having given us life for our creation. Jesus’ death on the cross meant that each of us could be saved from sin
  7. The order of Mass :
  • Introduction
  • Liturgy of the Word
  • Liturgy of the Eucharist
  • Conclusion
  1. In the Eucharist Jesus is referred to as ‘ the lamb of God ‘.
  2. The Hebrews were freed by the blood of the lamb on Passover night, just as Christians were freed from sin and death by Jesus’ blood on the cross.
  3. The host is made from unleavened bread.
  4. The bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ.

Exam Questions

  1. 2009 O.L. (a) Outline the understanding of sacrament in One Christian denomination you have studied. (b) Examine the part played by two symbols in a sacramental celebration you have studied.
  2. Write an account about the functions of two sacramental symbols you have studied.
  3. 2010: For Christians the things of this world are so transparent that in them and through they know God’s presence. Discuss this statement with reference to the meaning of sacrament in two Christian denominations that you have studied.

Chapter 4 : The Need For Reflection

  1. Reflection is when we take time out and reconsider our understandings, feelings, desires and concerns.
  2. Reflection turns the person inward to think about their understanding of themselves and the world around them.
  3. Without reflection we can fail to understand our relationships properly and fail to pick up on tensions and frustrations.
  4. Without reflection we can ignore our true feelings in a relationship we may deny the fact that deep down we are unhappy with the way the relationship is moving forward.
  5. Reflection allows us to imagine other possibilities, be that in work, relationships, ambitions or deep within our own spirituality.
  6. Reflection puts a person in touch with their true identity or authentic self.
  7. It facilitates self – understanding and the ability to know who I am.
  8. A person who doesn’t reflect may lose sight of the fact that often times in life there actually is a choice.
  9. Young people present crucial choices that need to be reflected upon, such as the choices surrounding sexual responsibility and issues of alcohol and drugs.

Exam Questions

  1. Why do you think reflection is so important in the life of a young person ?
  2. ‘ The young person who enters adulthood needs to reflect on the following key issues which determine their identity: dependence and independence, freedom and responsibility, commitment and vocation, faith and spirituality ‘. Do you agree ? Give reasons for your answer.

Religious Experience