28th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
He threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him (Lk 17:11-19)
During the Ordinary Time of the year, for Sunday liturgy we normally listen to a particular Gospel. This year we are listening to the Gospel of Luke. The first reading is selected from the Old Testament in such a way as to correspond to the gospel text, while the 2nd reading from the Epistles follows its own sequence. Today, the first reading and the gospel text have extraordinary similarities. Both are stories about lepers being healed; in both stories there are expressions of gratitude; and both are about outsiders!
Let us begin by looking at some of the interesting details in the gospel text of today so as to appreciate the context of the story, and then we can reflect a little […]
Character Strengths
Character Strengths in Africa 1 (Towards an African List of CS)
In Africa, in the wake of HIV/AIDS, much of youth training focused on life-skills. With the number of new infections stabilising and the frequency of HIV prevention training reduced, life skills feature less in the discourse of youth formation today. On the other hand, globally, youth trainings increasingly focus on character development (CD). In Africa, however, character strengths remain largely unexplored. Character Strengths (CS) are virtue-like habits and attitudes that influence individuals’ behaviour in such a way that their wellbeing and that of the society are enhanced. Psychologists Seligman and Peterson have suggested a list of 24 CS that are said to be ubiquitous across cultures and religious traditions.
The present study is part of a larger project, “Character Scaffolding – Kenya and Tanzania”, that aims: (1) to develop a […]
Lecture 7: Values in Action – Catalogue of Character Strengths
Values in Action – Catalogue of Character Strengths
Click here for a PDF version: Character strengths summary
DOWNLOAD MY CLASSNOTES IN PDF: PP 7 Values in Action Intro
Peterson & Seligman, 2004
A Summary by Sahaya G. Selvam
CLICK HERE TO TAKE AN ONLINE SURVEY OF VALUES IN ACTION
CS1. Creativity
Creavity can be observed in behaviours that exhibit, and ideas that express, great degree of originality and adaptive character (Peterson & Seligman, 2004, p.110). It may be seen as a mental process, expressed by certain individuals, and can be analysed in terms of tangible products (Simonton, 2005, p.191).
CS2. Curiosity
Curiosity represents “one’s intrinsic desire for experience and knowledge” (Peterson & Seligman, 2004, p.125). Curiosity is particularly noticed when someone seeks knowledge that goes beyond the principle of “utility of the information to the agent.” It is as if information is sought for its own sake (Loewenstein, 1994, p.75).
CS3. Open-mindedness
This character strength consists in the ability to seek actively […]
Strengths Based Journaling
STRENGTHS BASED JOURNALING
Wisdom
Try to answer the following questions as you write your diary for the day: were there statements that you heard or read from others that rang a bell for you? Were there certain insights deep within you that made some special sense for you?
If there were some difficulties or unpleasant experiences during the course of the last few hours, ask yourself now: how are these experiences challenging your own beliefs about your self, God, world, and other persons? Was there in these experiences any particular insight about the meaning of life for you? Gently and calmly write these lessons down. If you so wish, you could end up writing a poem or a verse.
If you have longer time you could try to answer these questions in writing: how would you want your life to be narrated to your grandchildren. Write a summary of your life. A few days […]