The Sacrament of Reconciliation

What is the deal with y'all needing a priest for salvation? Recently I was confronted by this question by one of my non-Catholic friends. At the moment I didn't really know, but I told him about the sacrament hoping that that would help him figure it out. But I realized that I really should know why so that I could fully understand the sacrament.

What I found really enlightened me. First, there are two kinds of sin: mortal and venial. Venial sin does not sever your relationship with God, it only damages it. So, technically, you don't need to go to confession for those sins. Those sins get forgiven over time and prayer with God. An example would be your friend keeps on asking you to go to his house and you tell him that you have homework and he sees you going to your other friends house. Your relationship would be hurt, but not severed. Over time he would forgive you by you going to his house a lot. You still have to apologize, but not as severely.

However, mortal sin is different. The sin has to be bad, you have to know its bad, and you have to freely choose to do it. If all of these conditions are true, then you have severed your relationship with God. It would be like if your girlfriend or boyfriend asked you to go see a movie with them and you told her you couldn't, but then you went with one of your friends and he or she was there and saw you with someone else. They would most definitely break off your relationship right on the spot. Of course this a bad example because it isn't God that breaks off the relationship, its you. For these sins you must go to confession. The Eternal punishment of you defying God gets forgiven through Reconciliation, but the temporal punishment is still with you forever saying I severed my relationship with God.

The Glory of God is Man Fully Alive

The glory of God is Man fully alive. What in the world does this sentence mean? Well, to start, we would have to understand what the glory of God is.

Someone living in the moment to the highest extent and he can't be more sure that the action he is partaking in is the right one at that moment in time; that is the glory of God. Someone choosing the right thing even though they could have easily taken the easier path away from God; that is the glory of God. Someone having fun purely without things that abuse his or her body; that is the glory of God. Some one who makes other people's lives better by having a positive attitude; that is the glory of God. Being awesome just because you can is the glory of God. It is an idea, one that cannot be fully signified but requires a person's complete honesty with themselves. I guess the most basic way to summarize it is if you are living the way Jesus would at that moment, you are living in the glory of God.

Now that we sort of kind of understand what it is like to live in the glory of God, we can try to understand what "man fully alive" means. The glory of God could be a metaphor for man fully alive. Or maybe man fully alive is exactly what it says: man the least dead possible. However if you look at the former part of the sentence, man fully alive probably means the same thing as the glory of God. So, when we say that the glory of God is man fully alive, we say live the way Jesus would or you aren't living the best way that you possibly can. God sent Jesus, his only Son, not only to redeem us for our sins and give us a place in heaven, but also to give us an example to live by and for, so that we would always know what to do and what not to do. Jesus' example should carry on throughout our lives and we should always live like him. However, we do fall short sometimes by sinning, which is not man fully alive. Sin is the opposite of the glory of God, and therefore the opposite of man fully alive. So in short, if you don't sin you are being man fully alive.


So often the comfort zone is the thing that we stay in. We refuse to be creative or have too much confidence, because that would use effort. However, in the glory of God is man fully alive, we are called to go outside of the comfort zone in order to live rather than just survive. More fun and success comes from the outside of the circle than just surviving and mediocrity. So try to go outside of the comfort zone and be who you are called to be.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a day that should be more widely celebrated. After all, without moms, where would we be? God put Eve in the Garden of Eden as the Mother figure to all creation. The woman would strike at the serpent's head while the serpent strikes at her heel. Mary was chosen to be the Mother of God, even though, because He is God, Jesus ultimately did not need a mother. In the wedding at Cana, Mary told Jesus to fill up the jars with wine because the party throwers ran out. Jesus tried to resist just like any normal kid, but ultimately he did his mothers will out of respect and obedience. We need our mothers to take care of us! Enjoy and tell your mother you love her!

Ronald Davis

         In chicago there is a man named Ronald Davis who has been standing on the sidewalk for years trying to earn money just so that he can eat and try to have a fresh start at life. The thing that really bothers him  everyday when he is on the street is that people will call him a bum, and he knows just because he is on the street doesnt mean hes a bum everyone is a human being. One person said to him, "Go and get a job you bum!" That frustrated me when I heard that. You dont know if that homeless person on  the corner has been trying to get a job his whole life. Haven't you ever stopped and looked at the clothes they have or maybe the fact that they dont have a phone. Ronald has tried several times to go out and get a job, but when he goes in to apply he isn't presentable and doesn't have a phone to receive calls from the business to know if he got the job or not. Just because someone didnt have the advantages like you might doesnt mean hes a bum. You dont know what they have gone through, not everyone on the street is using that money to go and by drugs. If giving them money is a problem then go out and my a big variety pack of chips and when you see a homeless man on the street give him a couple bags of chips so that he can eat. Also, by doing that your serving God.

A Person is a Person, no Matter How Small

"A person's a person, no matter how small"- Dr. Suess

 

 

Ronald Davis is a homeless man who really hates the fact that he cannot get a job in the modern society. He says that every time he tries to go get a job, they tell him to leave a phone number, which he obviously doesn't have if he is homeless. The fact that sometimes people look down at the man for being homeless is awful. However, in today's society, it is true that some people fake being homeless to make a little extra money. It is true that media tell those of us in cars not to give money to the homeless because if they really need it, they can go to a homeless shelter or a food pantry to get what it is that they need. Despite this, Ronald should not feel that some people think of him less than human because he is homeless. People that call him names really are the only thing that makes him mad. He can stand it that all these people go home and have lives. But what he can't stand is that he should be viewed as a human being as compared to every other person.

 

 

Dr. Suess once said "A person's a person no matter how small." This really applies in this situation with Mr. Davis. No matter how "low" in life you have to stoop in order to survive, a person is a person. This video is a wake up call to all of those people. It really gives you the perspective and positive attitudes of these people who have the most awful problems that humans can experience.

Kentucky Woman Is "Catholic" Priest

Seems pretty ironic. Recently there was a woman who decided not to "wait" for the Roman Catholic Church to change their views on not allowing women to be priests (whatever that means because the Catholic Church will never change what Jesus said). The woman decided to state "It has no sting for me, It is a Medieval bullying stick the bishops used to keep control over people and to keep the voices of women silent. I am way beyond letting octogenarian men tell us how to live our lives." in regard to being excommunicated from the Catholic Church. First of all, I would like to point out that these men are octogenarians, or old dudes, because they have experience and know what is right. This woman believes that she is leading everybody and proving that the Church is Catholic (universal) by bringing universality to the Priesthood. This would be good and fine, except for the fact that by definition of the Catholic Church, you believe that only men should be priests because that is the way that Jesus instantiated the Church. The thing about the Catholic faith is that it is not universal in terms of "you can pick and choose which parts of it you believe in." Jesus distinctly gave us a very concise faith that we are called to believe to be one with God. This woman is considered schismatic by the Catholic Church, the worst of the wounds to unity because it not only separates one's self from God, but also the souls of others.

Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano

Today I am going to talk about the Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano. This event had taken place in 8th century A.D. in the church of St. Legontian. During the holy mass after two fold consecration the flesh was changed into life flesh and the blood into live blood. In 1981 there were several scientific tests that proved it to be True flesh from the muscular part of the heart and that the blood was true blood with the blood type AB, which is the same blood type in the shroud of turin. They have been left in their natural state for twelve centuries which is really interesting. When they interviewed the basilian monk he had said that he did not truly believe that Jesus was in the Eucharist. At every mass around the world a miracle happens, the bread and wine turn into Jesus' flesh and blood. The reason why this is so important is because it actually turned into the real flesh and blood.