Demonization

     It's always easy to cast a group of people as something that they are not. It happens whenever we feel the need to validate our own view of life by casting people as evil. In wars, we often cast the opposing side as inhumane, reckless, and needlessly violent. Racism always involves the demonization of a certain race of people. In the instance of this specific video, we see the subset of homeless people being subjected to demonization by their fellow man.
     Ronald Davis makes a startling simple yet powerful statement in this video: "I'm not a bum, I'm a human being." When we just call people a bum, it implies all the negative things that go with that title, not taking into account the full story of that person. Ronald reminds the man who is interviewing him that he is indeed a human being, even almost reducing himself to tears recalling some of his experiences. He struggles daily with his homelessness, he has a history. He is more than just a wandering waste of space; he is a man with a story and emotions. He is a man capable of making profound statements even though he does not have a job. Ronald Davis reminds us all that our circumstances do not have to dictate the character of our person, and that by assuming that our circumstances do control us we allow ourselves to give into the temptation of categorizing people into stereotypical placements to fit our individual world views.
     The simple lesson to be learned from this video is this: look beyond the circumstance, and towards the individual. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream that each man would be judged by the content of his character, not the circumstances he was born into (in his case darker skin). That dream can be realized by taking the time to see past the obscured field of this world, and into the nature of each person.

All are Welcome

     The main message that this article seems to try to be putting across to its audience is simply this: God created this world and the rules it is governed by. He created our morality and our sense of conscience. Because of this, he expects us to live up to those standards. He may love us no matter what we do, but he will not condone our actions unless they are in agreement with his own teachings.
     The author of the article, Cardinal Dolan, related this expectation to the Church, and to the sinners of the world. Christ welcomes all to his Church, but to be part of the Church you must grow in holiness. All are welcome, but not all shall accept the invitation. The banquet parable Christ told gives insight into this: many were invited to the banquet, but made excuses, others simply refused. Eventually the man throwing the banquet went out and found men to replace those who refused, and even then some were not ready for the banquet. In order to partake of the banquet, we must meet a certain set of requirements; so goes the nature of the Church.
     The sinners of the world are welcome to the Church, but they must leave behind their sin. As the Cardinal says in his article, "love the sinner, hate the sin." That simple maxim sums up the entirety of the Church's stance on the issue. Although all are welcome to the Church, their sin is not welcome with them.

Similarities and Differences in the Islamic and Catholic Faith

The division between the Islamic and Catholic faith continues to grow everyday,. Throughout history there have been many wars that stemmed from this dispute and millions of people have lost their lives. However, most people fail to recognize that both of these religions are have many similar teachings despite their differences.

For starters, both the Catholic and Islamic faith are monotheistic; that is they each only believe in one God. But the difference between the God that they believe in is that the Islamic faith says that we are slave-like servants to God and we cannot have a Father and child relationship with God. The Islamic faith rejects the more intimate relationship with God and man , but this is very contradictory to the Roman Catholic Church's belief. The Catholic Church believes that God created man to share in his divine life and to be with him for the rest of eternity. This is the proof that God wants to have an intimate relationship with mankind and his love for us can be seen through his mercy and different opportunities he grants us to become closer to him.

Another topic in which the two faiths are similar is that they believe in the covenant of marriage. They believe that man and woman were meant to share a relationship with one another. The great difference between this philosophy is that the Islamic faith believes in polygamy, whereas the Catholics believe in marrying just one man or woman. This is because the covenant of marriage requires both the man and woman of that marriage to devote their complete love to one another, as opposed to polygamy where in a person's love is spread among each spouse.

How Do the Sacraments Relate to Human Nature?

     The Sacraments relate to human nature because they encompass the duality of humanity. We are both spiritual and physical beings. We have souls, yet we also have physical and visible bodies. For this reason, God chose the Sacraments to be his main means of grace distribution. The Sacraments resemble human nature, and fit us accordingly. The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace; they require a physical act, but also act as a non-physical sign of grace.

     This duality of nature can be seen in the sacraments such as Baptism and the Eucharist. In Baptism, we are physically washed, and we are spiritually washed of our sins. In the Eucharist, we physically consume the bread and wine and spiritually consume the blood and body of Christ. Both sacraments involve our dual nature. This is why the God chose the Sacraments as a means of grace: they satisfy both our spiritual and physical essence.

     We can see evidence of God's attempt to appeal to our duality. His son had both a divine and human nature. Christ was born of a virgin, a physical and spiritual birth. Both his divine nature and his human nature died, and both of them rose again, defying explanation. He ascended, both human and divine in nature.
     Therefore, the Sacraments relate to human nature because it satisfies both our physical and spiritual aspects.

The Pope and The Sabbath

     You have to love Pope Francis. He's a very smart person to say the least. As such, we should take head to his words on leisure. According to this article the pope holds a certain distaste for our society's view of labor and leisure. According to Pope Francis, leisure is no longer something that we work for in order to enjoy. We know disregard the rest that used to be our Sabbath; instead we use that time to work.
     Possibly more than anywhere else, the U.S. has this problem. The stereotypical businessman works week-long, and never has time for his kids or wife. Almost every single restaurant in the United States is open on Sundays. The Pope says that being a Catholic and not spending time with your kids and wife because of your work is the same as living your life as a fraud. And he's right.
     God did not simply set aside Sunday for the sake of us worshiping him. Although that was the main goal, he intended for it to also be a day for rest, and a day for community. He wanted it to be a day where relationships were re-vitalized, where families took time to be together. This is no longer the case. Even I, in flagrant hypocrisy, am writing my post on a Sunday afternoon instead of being with my family.
       So in order to atone for my hypocrisy, I am going to finish up with this statement. Make time on Sunday for those you care about. Make sure to set aside time not only for God, but also for your family. In the end, being with your family probably satisfies God just as much as you going to Church.

The World's Response to Christ

      I was reading the supplementary reading, the second one to be exact, and I noticed the how Pope Benedict commented on how people reacted to Christ's talking about the Eucharist. They had begun to argue over the how a man could give his flesh to them to eat. They did not understand the divine significance of this statement. The former Pope also notes that this reaction stems from the stain of Original Sin; we do not desire consciously the communion with God which will satisfy our souls.
     I thought about the paradox which this presents to us. How can we come to Christ if we do not actively seek him. The world we live in seems to dislike the Church. There is general disdain for it, even sometimes those who are in it. Some would call those in the Church blind or ignorant. How can a world full of people so dedicated to resisting God's will have come to the Church?
     The obvious answer to this question is simply this: We have come to the Church because God has brought us to the Church through Christ. The existence and prominence of the Church is nothing short of divine interaction. Some who resist God would say that the Church was simply created by men who desired to scam the entire world into giving them money. Beyond the smack of conspiracy theorizing that is held in that statement, they cannot answer the question as to how so many people were "tricked" into something so obvious to us. It's not as if the population of the world suddenly became more knowledgeable. God's work in the world provides a more believable answer in my opinion.
     In essence, what I am saying is simply this. God brought the Church to himself, without out this happening there would be no Church. His involvement sustains the Church then, and continues to do so today.

The Church in The Life of The Faithful

     The question has been posed "How involved should the Church be in the Life of The Faithful." The answer to that is very simple. The Church, being the institution from which Christ distributes his holiness, should be as involved in the Life of the Faithful as possible. The Church is like a well in which the faithful must go to for water; it is the source of their grace and a means for creating a community.
     The Church was given the divine task to distribute the sacraments to its members. The sacraments bring grace to those who participate in them, and faithful members of the Church should strive to be Holy. That grace which comes from participating in the sacraments brings us closer to holiness. Just as the Church brings about our eternal lives through grace, a well brings about temporal life through nourishment by water.
     The Church also, almost by default, should be involved in the Life of the Faithful because of its position as a community center. One of the important aspects of the Church is the horizontal communion between members of the Body. This fellowship strengthens our Faith, and satisfies the human desire for community. Just as the well provides the actual means for nourishment, it also creates community because everyone has to go there for water.
      The idea of the Church being a social gathering place existed even before Christ had come to Earth. The synagogue in Judaism was the center of the social life. Being excommunicated meant being separated from many of your friends. In some ways the Church has also come to represent a similar place in the lives of its members. Separating yourself from the Church means separating yourself, at least spiritually, from friends and family and the larger whole of humanity.
     Therefore, The Church should, and already does, play a large role in the lives of the Faithful. Due to its nature, much like a well, it serves as a source of life and a source of community. This aspect of the Church fulfills many of the desires of the human nature, and in doing so serves to create an attraction to itself. In this way, it becomes involved in the life of the Faithful.

Early Heresies in the Church

A heresy is a blatant denial of a truth by a person who has been baptized of the faith and Scriptures taught by the Church. Heresies are serious sins that make wounds in the unity of the Church by creating different teachings about the faith. These ideas contradict the teachings of the Church and are usually formed by individuals who have a misunderstanding of the teachings. Some of the early heresies in the Church included Gnosticism, Nestorianism, and Arianism. These heresies threatened to break the unity of the Church, but the Church was able to keep the One Mark of the Church by the guidance and teaching of the Holy Spirit.

Gnosticism means "knowledge" in Greek and this refers to the Gnostics' idea that they had a secret knowledge of God that only they could know.Gnostics primarily believed that there were two gods; one god was good and the other god was evil. This not only completely contradicts the teaching of the Church, but it also goes against monotheistic aspect of the Church. This was proven wrong by the Church teaching that there is only one and omnibenevolent God who can only create good. However, what he creates has free will and that is when evil can enter the world. For example, we as humans have free will and can choose to sin or not to sin; when we choose to sin, we go against God's will which makes evil enter the world.\

Nestorianism, was a heresy that was created by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius. Nestorius believed that Christ was to separate beings; one divine and the other one was human. He believed that all the miracles and other supernatural actions done by Christ was his divine self and that all of his suffering, including his death on the cross was his human self. This is false because it denies the fact that Mary was the Mother of God and gives no purpose for the resurrection. Christ is one divine person with two natures, human and divine. This is called the hypostatic union

Arianism was created by Arius who believed that Christ was a kind of demigod or super human. He believed Christ was chosen by God to save mankind but he thought that Christ was not God. This completely denied the existence of the Blessed trinity. These was settled by the Nicene Creed which proclaimed that Christ was the son of God and showed the belief in the Blessed trinity.

Four Marks of the Church: One

Christ established one and not several Churches through which we could obtain Salvation; this is where the Mark of the Church, One, originates. It is also through this Church that we are not only unified with Christ, but with every other member of the Church. This is why the Church is referred to as the Mystical Body of Christ; because we are all unified with one another as one body or community, with Christ as its head. But throughout history, the unification of the Church has been wounded by a series of schisms and heresies. However, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church was able to heal these wounds and continues to heal them today.

The first schisms from the Roman Catholic Church started with the Eastern Orthodox and Protestant denominations. These then led to many other denominations such as, the Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, and Lutherans. Although these schisms are due to the misunderstanding of the Sacred Scripture and Tradition by some people, they are also caused by the Church's failure to communicate well enough to these people. The Church is given the authority to teach the Scriptures and must do this in a way that all people can relate to. This is why the Holy Spirit continuously guides the teachers of the Church; by the help of the Holy Spirit, the teaching of the Church is infallible and any one who has been baptized and learned the truth about the faith and yet still denies the authority of the Pope, commits the sin of schism.

On the Pope, and a Poor Church

     I have decided that as long as the Pope is going to continue to do interesting things, I am going to continue to comment on his actions. The thing that caught my attention was his policy on Vatican spending in terms of bonuses to its employees. When a new pope is elected, usually Vatican employees receive a bonus for their efforts and in celebration for a new term. However, this time around, the 4000 employees did not receive their 1500 euro bonus. For this cut, he claimed that their was no need to stress the balances of Vatican in these strenuous economic times.
     Similarly, the Pope has made bonus cuts to the five cardinals who supervise the Vatican Bank. These cardinals receive the same paychecks as all other bishops, but on top of that they were receiving monthly bonuses of 2100 euros. Pope Francis has cancelled these bonuses. The money is going to a variety of papal charities.
     All of these actions fall in line with Pope Francis's desire to make the Church a Poor Church; to humble it. Many criticisms have been made against the amount and the methods of handling the Church has in regards to its bank account. However, Pope Francis knows how to help the Church identify with the poor, starting with its leadership. The cardinals who supervise the bank should not be doing it for the bonuses to their paycheck; they should be doing their job to help the Church which they have devoted their lives to. Because of this, taking away their bonuses will help them prioritize this goal.
     The leadership of the Church should live the most humbly of all. The apostles lived in poverty, both spiritual and financial. They were essentially living off the goodness of others. If the idea of apostolic succession should hold true, then the bishops who stepped in to fill the roles of the apostles should live in humility. The bishops of today should follow suit as well.
     My final comment will be on Pope Francis's own lifestyle. He practices what he preaches. He has refused the Papal rooms that are usually used by the Popes. Instead he uses the Vatican guesthouse. He lives humbly and treats all of those around him with respect and dignity. He devoted his name to Francis in order to show his care for the poor. So far his entire reign as Pope has been filled with somewhat unexpected acts of humility. He is the perfect man to lead the Church towards Christ-like humility. (Perfect other than Christ himself of course.)

Four Marks of the Church: Holy

     There are four marks which are used to identify the Church of Christ. One of them is the mark "holy." The Catholic Church is the Church of Christ because, like the other three, it fulfills the mark of Holiness. There are a couple of reason why the Church is Holy. It is holy because Christ, its head, is holy. It is Holy because it is guided by the Holy Spirit. Finally, it is holy because through the Church, its members can become Holy.
     The Catholic Church is Holy because its head, Christ, is Holy. In the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church is the body, and Christ is the head. Although the individual members of the Church are Holy, because Christ is the head of the body the entire Mystical Body is Holy. Christ bequeaths grace unto the Body through his paschal mystery, making up for the sins of the the Church's members.
     The Holy Spirit guides the Church, leading it to Holiness. The Mystical Body is headed by Christ, but its soul is the Holy Spirit. Like our souls give our body meaning and direction, so does the soul of the Mystical Body. Through the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit, among other things, the Church is guided in all that it does and is lead to Holiness. The Church is Holy because it is lead by a Holy Spirit.
    Finally, The Church is Holy because it distributes the sacraments to its members, which in turn make it Holy. Christ, who is Holy, instituted the sacraments. He then entrusted his Church to distribute those sacraments to all people. Those who compose the Mystical Body of Christ are made Holy when they participate in the sacraments. Because the Church makes its members Holy, it in its entirety is Holy.

     Therefore, the Catholic Church fulfills the mark of the true Church of Christ, which is that his Church is Holy. The Church is Holy because of its head, Jesus Christ, transcends the sins of the body to make the Church holy. The Church is Holy because the Holy Spirit guides it to Holiness through its gifts and fruits and other methods. Finally, the Church is also Holy because it makes its members Holy through the sacraments which it distributes.

Four Marks of the Church: Apostolic

"On this rock I will build my Church... I will give you [Peter] the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:18-19).  When Christ established the Church, he made Peter be his rock upon which he would build his Church. This meant that Peter would be given the authority to lead the Church and be the vicar, or mouth piece of Christ. Thus, Peter would become the first Pope and the Apostolic Succession would begin; this is the basic idea of the Apostolic Mark of the Church.

The first point of this Mark is the Apostolic Foundation of the Church. This refers to the Church being on the foundation of the Apostles and their authority to teach, govern, and sanctify. Christ gave the Apostles the Great Commission, which was their instruction to "go and make the disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:16-20). At this moment, Christ reveals his plan to establish a Church.

When the Great Commission was given to the Apostles, they were afraid of the persecution that would follow. However, at Pentecost, ten days after the Ascension of Christ, the Holy Spirit filled the Apostles with the courage to deliver the Good News. This is where the second point of this Mark, the Apostolic Faith is introduced  the reason that the teaching of the Magisterium today is infallible;  Although all of the teachers of the Church are sinners, the Holy Spirit guides them to teach the true word of God.

The last and most controversial part of the Apostolic Mark is the Apostolic Succesion. For a significantly large amount of time, many people have believed that the authority of the Apostles to teach, govern, and sanctify died with the first twelve Apostles. This of course is completely wrong and the first example of this is the replacement of Judas of Iscariot by Matthias. The Apostles were able to elect a new apostle through prayer and guidance by the Holy Spirit. Even today this is how a Pope is elected as was most recently demonstrated at the last conclave in which Pope Francis was elected. The Church continues being taught, sanctified, and governed by the Apostles through their successors in the pastoral ministry.