Friday, May 24, 2013

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Live Life Fully Alive



    What does it mean to live life as man fully alive? This answer took a whole school year to find out. We are called out each and everyday to live our lives to the fullest. By doing this, we are giving glory to God. How does living life out give glory to God you might ask? God created us to live our lives out in a certain way. Therefore by living life out as God has commanded us to do so gives glory to him. All things give glory to God. Even trees and squirrels give glory to God in everything they do, they simply live their lives out as God had planned, as squirrels and trees. Now you may be asking how does God want us to live out our life? Live your life to your greatest potential. Never give half effort, always go all out. Live your life out while daily thinking WWJD? or “What would Jesus do?”. By doing this, we think out our every decision and choose wisely in order to give glory to God. Overall living life as man fully alive makes you a happier person. You will feel more complete and important in life. Everyone around you would describe you as a great holy person who truly lives life as man fully alive.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Venial Sin

     The less serious sin is call a venial sin. Venial sins are less serious. After venial sins there is not a complete separation from God. For a sin to be considered venial it has to either not concern a grave manner  not be committed with full knowledge, or not committed with complete or deliberate consent. Venial sin can be compared to pushing your friend in the hall. He may be mad at you, but you are still friends. We can come back into communion with God easily. Venial sins are not to be brushed to the side though. Repeated small breaks in your relationship can build up and if left unpaired can separate you from God.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Original Sin


     We tend to view Original Sin as a punishment, yet it is far from that. Original Sin is the act that Adam and Eve committed by turning away from God and choosing to eat the fruit. Adam and Eve abused their freedom that God had granted them. Original sin wasn't the act of picking the fruit from the forbidden tree; it was a sin of disobedience or choosing to turn away from God. In doing so they lost preternatural gifts or the gift of immunity from sickness, death and concupiscence. Through Original Sin Adam and Eve also lost original holiness and original justice. Original holiness is the harmony between Adam, Eve, and God before original sin. Original justice is gift of supernatural and preternatural gifts. We are not entitled to original holiness and justice. They are gifts from God. Original sin is not an actual sin for us; it is more of an absence in our soul. Original sin is a stain that darkens human will, intellect, and introduces concupiscence. It also weakens our connection with God. All human beings are stained with original sin except Mary and Jesus. Concupiscence is the tendency towards sin. It makes sin more appealing to us than the right thing to do. Concupiscence clouds our intellect and will. Original sin is passed from parent to offspring at conception. Understating original sin and how it works in our world today can help one make the right choices. By understanding original sin you can understand concupiscence. Through one’s understanding of concupiscence he or she can come to understand the reasons we sin. We sin because our intellects and will and clouded and therefore we tend to find sin attractive and appealing to us. Through the understanding of original sin one can come to the conclusion that sin is always bad and turns you away from God no matter how appealing it looks. We can learn to try and do the right thing despite our attraction towards sin in order to bring ourselves closer to God. Through studying and understanding original sin one can come to the conclusion that original sin is not our fault. Adam and Eve chose not to accept a gift. We are not living in a state without original justice or holiness as punishment. We are living in a world that did not accept a great gift from God. God could have never given us a choice to choose, but if He did He would have been limited our freedom. We are made in the image and likeness of God, therefore we have intellect, free will, the capacity to love and we have a soul. Original sin is not a punishment, just the lack of a gift.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Call To Holiness

     We are all called to holiness. The Church calls this the Universal Call to Holiness. God calls each and everyone of us to live our lives to our fullest potential. To be holy, does not mean to be perfect, it means to live a life of seeking God. Holiness is rooted in baptism, when we are united with the Holy Spirit. We are brought into communion with the Blessed Trinity. According to John Paul II holiness is not only a state, it is a task. All Christians should strive to live a better and full Christian life with God. All relationships grow through communication, and we communicate with God through prayer. Prayer allows us to grow closer and more personal with God, therefore making us more holy. The Universal Call to Holiness is a call to be a good faithful Christian.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

WWJD

    What would Jesus do? Jesus is perfect. He never sinned and always made the right choice.We should all live by WWJD. To live life as Jesus would is to strive to perfection. Unfortunately we are not perfect so we cannot be perfect. This however does not mean we cannot strive to perfection. If all of man was to strive for perfection the world would be a much better place. There would be no wars and everyone would be happy and live in  peace. We would all probably go to heaven too. To sum it up we should ask WWJD before each and every decision in order to make sure we are acting our lives out in the most holy way possible. 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

I'm not a bum!

This video shows the flaws in Human Nature. Specifically, one of our greatest flaws is our brains instinctively analyzing a person so we can determine if they are a threat to us. In the process, we also draw conclusions about them and their personality, as it could be helpful if they are a hostile threat. The problem stems from the fact that we now live in a structured global society, and people aren't as much of a threat as they used to be. In response, this instinct puts all its focus on the personality aspect to make up for it.

The actual problem, though, is we tend to base how to treat a person off of this initial glance, and it can seriously harm our perception of life. Everyone has grown up and seen homeless people on the streets, and I doubt that your parents gave you a clear explanation as to how they got there. To make up for the lack of knowledge, people tend to assume that they are too lazy or to unskilled to have a job, but this couldn't be farther from the truth. If we ignore our instincts and take the time to talk to these people, we can learn the true reasons they got to where they are now, and about 99% of the time its not because they're too lazy or unskilled. The man who returned, apologized, and gave money to Ronald realized the flaw in assuming he was lazy or a bum. However, when Ronald said "God bless you.", perhaps it was a reminder to him that he too is one of God's children. He is a contemporary human being. And this is when he began to open his eyes and actually ask: 'How did he get to where he is today?' After realizing he couldn't know the full story, he accepted the wrong of his assumptions and reconciled for them. All it took to do this was the referencing of God, because it is through God that we gain our understanding of Oneness, and how we are all God's children.