Developing Teaching Materials Based on Social Care Characters Based on Franciscan Spirituality With Contextual Teaching And Learning (CTL) Strategies

This study aimed to: (1) produce appropriate teaching materials to shape the social care character of early childhood, (2) produce effective teaching materials to shape the social care character of early childhood. This type of research was research and development (R&D) using the ADDIE development model. The quantitative data analysis technique used in this study was quantitative descriptive. Qualitative data obtained from the questionnaire were then converted to qualitative data on a scale of 5 (Likert scale). The findings showed that: (1) Teaching materials met the requirements and were appropriate to be used as teaching materials, based on the assessment of material experts, design experts, linguists, and practitioners/ teachers. The result of the validation of the material experts in all aspects of the material was 87.8% in the very good criteria, the result of the validation of the learning design expert in all the aspects was 90.4% in the very good criteria, and the validation of the linguists in all aspects was 93% in the very good criteria. The result of the teacher's response to teaching materials with a total average percentage of all aspects was 93.7% with the “very good” criteria. (2) The teaching material developed was more effective than without using the teaching material. The effectiveness of teaching materials based on social care character based on the values of Franciscan spirituality developed was 80.2%, and based on Siswanto's theory was 81.36%. The effectiveness before teaching materials was reviewed based on the values of Franciscan spirituality was 40.72%, and based on Siswanto's theory was 41.2%. Therefore, the development of pictorial story teaching materials was good enough to shape the social care character of early childhood.

Attitudes and Behaviors Related to Franciscan-Inspired Spirituality and Their Associations with Compassion and Altruism in Franciscan Brothers and Sisters

In Christian tradition there are many different ‘schools’ of spirituality which address an ‘inner transformation’ referring to an individual experience of the Sacred. The focus of this study was to examine the ‘core’ component of Franciscan spirituality (life according to the Gospel) and the ‘transformative’ components (living with and for others in need and respectful commitment to the creation) in a group of brothers and sisters of the Franciscan family. In particular, the reflection on how this spirituality is connected with the perception of the divine in daily life, with feelings of awe and subsequent gratitude on the one hand and compassion and altruistic behavior on the other, was an essential aspect of the present work. Data from a cross-sectional study with standardized instruments among 388 Franciscan brothers and sisters (mean age 61 ± 25 years) showed that “Living from the Faith” and “Seeking God in Silence and Prayer” scored highest, followed by “Commitment to the Creation” and interpersonal factors such as “Peaceful Attitude/Respectful Treatment” and “Commitment to the Disadvantaged”. In all cases, women achieved significantly higher scores than men (with values of F between 5.3 and 23.5, p < 0.05). These dimensions were moderately to strongly associated with experiential aspects of spirituality (i.e., Perception of the Divine, Gratitude/Awe), particularly “Living from the Faith” (r > 5.0, p < 0.0001). With regard to the prosocial ‘outcomes’ (e.g., Compassion and Altruism), stepwise regression analyses showed that Compassion was best predicted by “Peaceful Attitude/Respectful Treatment” and Gratitude/Awe (both explain 27% of variance), and Altruism was best predicted by “Commitment to the Disadvantaged” and Gratitude/Awe (both explain 21% of variance). Mediator analyses with the standardized z-factor values showed that Gratitude/Awe is also a significant mediator of the effects of the Perception of the Divine (as a further significant predictor of prosocial behaviors) on Compassion (beta = 0.05 ± 0.02, p < 0.01) and Altruism (beta = 0.03 ± 0.02, p = 0.04). Surprisingly, “Commitment to the Disadvantaged” was only weakly linked to “Living from the Faith”. It could be shown that “Living from the Faith” was much more connected to Compassion as an intention rather than to Altruism as an action. “Living from the Faith”, as the fundamental aspect of Franciscan spirituality, mediated the effect of the Perception of the Divine on Compassion (beta = 0.08 ± 0.03, p < 0.01) and Altruism (beta = 0.06 ± 0.03, p = 0.04), as well as mediating the effect of Gratitude/Awe on Compassion (beta = 0.07 ± 0.02, p < 0.01) and Altruism (beta = 0.06 ± 0.02, p < 0.01). However, there are significant differences between more contemplative and charitably engaged Franciscans; “Living from the Faith” scored highest in contemplative brothers and sisters within the different branches of Franciscan orders when compared to more charitably engaged persons, while their “Commitment to the Disadvantaged” was significantly lower. These differences could also be ascribed to the different charisms and missions of the Franciscan branches.

Franciscan Spirituality and Economics

St. Francis was hostile to money and material wealth. He was also against exploitation or misuse of natural creatures and promoted voluntary poverty, sharing, and universal brotherhood. This paper examines the implications of St. Francis’s views for economics. It is argued that St. Francis’s views imply the substantive notion of the term “economic” and favor material sufficiency instead of financial efficiency. Pope Francis’s encyclical letter “Laudato si’” is consistent with and supports St. Francis’s views, which emphasize the frugality of consumption and acknowledging the intrinsic value of nature. The overall vision of St. Francis can be characterized as “The Commonwealth of Life” based on a God-centered, spiritual way of living and acting. The paper suggests that the models of a sufficiency-oriented community economy are relevant for realizing St. Francis’s legacy in today’s reality of climate change described by climate scientists as the “Hothouse Earth” pathway.

Tending this Fragile Earth, Our Island Home: The Pope's Encyclical in Dialogue with Anglican Theology

Laudato si’, Pope Francis's 2015 encyclical on the environment, drew on the Roman Catholic magisterium and his own background as a Latin American Jesuit influenced by Franciscan spirituality. He described a planetary ecological crisis and spells out a response based on a theology and spirituality of creation and invites dialogue with voices from other traditions. The Anglican theological tradition offers resources for dialogue with the encyclical, including nineteenth- and twentieth-century theologians, as well as insights from the liturgical movement, and the dialogue with science that issued in the Episcopal Church's “A Catechism of Creation.” Flexibility in liturgical experimentation, affirmation of the role of laypeople in decision making, and Anglican openness to examining faith and practice in the light of new understandings and insights are all resources that the Anglican tradition can bring to a conversation with the concerns of Laudato si’.

El salmo 59 como base de la interpretación apocalíptico-milenarista de la misión fundadora de los franciscanos en Nueva España

Psalm 59 as the basis of apocalyptic-millenaries interpretation of in New Spain Franciscans the founder’s missionArticle treat about the criticism of sources. In this case it comes to appeal to the Spanish chroniclers Motolinii and Mendieta to Psalm 59. In Mendieta comes to special translate a fragment of the same psalm, which is one of the foundations of apocalyptic-millenaries interpretation of the Franciscan missions in Mexico in the first half of the sixteenth century.Using specific translating tools we show that the said base includes acceptance of confusion mentioned Psalm, which allows us to identify the specific validity of source criticism. It should be mentioned that the analysis of a fragment of Psalm 59, which in this context is the first to carry out the extensive literature on the subject, both when it comes to apocalyptic-millenaries perception of Franciscan spirituality among the missionaries operating in New Spain including Phelan, Baudot as well as the critics of such perception Lino Canedo, Andrés Martín, Zaballa Beascoechea.