Miracles

The things that don't follow physics, biology, or chemistry. Of course, without God, there would be no science, so it makes since that God can bend the "rules" to make something extraordinary happen every once in a while. The truth is that God preforms miracles every day at Mass. God sends the Holy Spirit down through transubstantiation in the Liturgy of the Eucharist to change the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. Babies being born, Marian apparitions, incorruptible bodies, good grades, people that suddenly can see and have been blind their whole life, and other extraordinary things that are divinely moved by God are considered miracles. God said: "You don't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible." (Matthew 17:20)

God in "The Lion King"

I was sitting at home watching tv and "The Lion King" came on. As I started to watch it I was just thinking how it might relate to the bible. I realized that it relates to the story of Moses. Simba and Moses are both princes who were exiled for being accused of murder. While they are exiled they start to mature and basically just hangout until God/Mufasa tells him to go back to his homeland. So, both Simba and Moses both go to their homeland and free their people from the evil ruler Scar/Pharoah. In the end they say, "You see he (Mufasa) lives in you." Since Mufasa is God he lives in Simba like he lives in the hearts of all the christians. Mufasa died to save Simba just like Jesus died to save us from sin. "The Lion King" is filled with several biblical stories. The next time you watch a movie try and see if you can relate it to a story in the Bible.

Four Marks

There are four marks of the church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. First I want to talk about how the church is one. The church is one because its unique, singular, and there is only one God. There is nothing in the world like the church that we catholics have. Second, the church is Holy. The church is Holy because it was established by Christ, Christ is God and God is the most Holy of all things. Third, the Church is Catholic, meaning universal. The church is catholic/universal because it is all around the world. The faith has been spread to the ends of the earth dating back to the apostles. Lastly, the church is apostolic. It is apostolic because it was founded on the apostles with St. Peter as its rock. These four marks define the church. There is no other religion in the world that has these four marks. 

Basics of the Sacraments

The sacraments are gifts given to us to help us get closer to God and to be cleansed from sin. There are seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, holy orders, anointing of the sick, holy matrimony, reconciliation, and Eucharist. The sacrament of baptism is usually taken as a baby. The priest will wash you with water and oil, cleaning original sin from your soul. The sacrament after baptism is the sacrament of communion. This sacramrnt will usually happen when a child is in second grade. The sacrament allows you too eat the Eucharist and drink the blood. The next sacrament is confirmation which is taken around your sophomore year in highschool. It is confirming you full initiation into the church. The sacrament is done by the laying of the hands. The next two sacraments which cann be done several. Times are reconciliation and anointing of the sick. Recolnciliation is a sacrament used to ask God for his forgiveness for the sins you have committed. Anointing of the sick is a sacrament given to those who are in a near death situation and need Gods help for survival or just there is no more suffering. The last two sacraments include holy orders and holy matrimony. Holy orders is a sacrament for people who want to devote the rest of their life to God. Lastly, holy matrimony is a sacrament for a couple who are united together under God with Love. These seven sacraments are only for those who are catholic.

Why Theology is Important

Short answer: It brings clarification. Long answer: Unlike the way teachers so often present it, theology is not a settled issue of firmly established facts. Theology is theory, forever alive and growing. In the early Church questions arose about doctrine and something to answer them had to be developed. For instance, in the Acts of the Apostles, the Church was faced with the problem of what to do with all the Gentiles who wanted to take part in the salvation of man. Did they have to become Jews first, before they could be saved? Or was entrance into Christianity by grace alone? And then, even if it was by grace, shouldn't they follow the laws of Judaism? Later on, people began wondering who, precisely, was Jesus? Was he really God, or simply an emanation, or maybe a created being? These questions were all answered by studying the Bible, God's special revelation, and the universe, God's general revelation, and finding out what they say. Theology gives us the answers about the Church that we want to know in order to fully understand the Church and what It is that made the Church.

The Bible

Sometimes when i have a big problem and i have no idea what to do about it, I will usually grab my bible, open it to a random page, and start reading. The Bible is full of answers for anything that you may run into in your life. For example, "God works all things together for good" - Romans 8:28.This verse says that God does everything for a Good reason even though you may not like it you just need to trust in him and believe that there will be better to come. You can also use the bible as a tool to pray when you want his forgiveness or really need his help in your life. The bible was written by apostles and people who were being guided by the Holy Spirit so you know that God was the one in which the scriptures initially came from. The Bible is a really good tool if you ever need guidance in your life.

Why are there 2 Creeds?

At the Easter Sunday Mass this past weekend, when we said the Nicene Creed, I wondered why we had the Nicene Creed as well as the Apostle's Creed, and what the differences were. At a regular Mass we always say the Nicene Creed, but in the case of a children's Mass or in the Rosary, we pray the Apostle's Creed. Why is that?

When I finally looked it up, I found out that the Apostle's Creed is called that because it was used on the day of Pentecost and was the basic sum-up of the Church's beliefs to the people that crowded around the apostles that day. The council of Nicaea was an Ecumenical Council in 325 A.D. that had the sole purpose of proving that the Arianism, or the belief that Jesus was not divine, was wrong. So, a more precise Creed was made in the Nicene Creed. Later, in 381, the Council of Constantinople modified the Nicene Creed and adopted a creed written by St.Epiphanius of Salamis, called the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Symbol, which is the Creed that we say in Mass starting in around 500 A.D.