Monday, November 17, 2014

M.R. 5.F: Problem Solving

 A man was nearing the end of his life.  He bragged about how he rejected God was never baptized and became an athiest.  He got cancer and had a change of heart.  You heard he met with a priest a few times before he died.  What are his redemptive options upon his death? Explain.

So this man has several options. If he truly experienced a change in heart and wants to know God, he could get Baptized for a start. Also if he was closer to death Last Rites after this may be a good option, as Last Rites cleanses you of your sins. Upon his death, it really is not as complicated as some may think. The man, if he really felt God's presence, and he wanted to share in eternal happiness and unity with him them he wouldn't be condemned to Hell. He would most likely go to heavevn, though it is hard to say for sure. Before entering heaven, he would most likely have to go to Purgatory, to cleanse any remainder of sin, mostly from his life before God. Purgatory would make sure that he was all set for  Heaven, and God demosnstrates his great love and justice in allowing people with smudges of sin to be purified. 

I chose to do this analysis activity because I think this option conveys a more real life situation than most. This situation must occur somewhat regularly, so I think that learning about real life situations is better to understand. I collaborated with Topher on this, not a whole lot, but just discussing a few aspects of the question. I was able to explain the repercussions he faces, and what his conversion process would be like.  

Friday, November 14, 2014

M.R. 5.E. Analysis Idea Sketch

This idea sketch I based off of my own perspective of the on the section on the sacraments. The sacraments to other may seem small and insignificant but are indispensible to the life of the Church and it's members. I took the seven sacraments, and put them into each of their own boxes. I then analyzed how each sacrament played a role in a member of the Church, like me. For four of the Sacraments, I added an additional box to explain places in scripture that directly correlate or mention that respective sacrament. I chose four of them not because they are any more important, rather those Sacraments had more information in Scripture to cover, and required an extra box. I think that this idea sketch accomplishes both creativity and an appropriate amount of analysis for a daily project. I tried to balance the aesthetics of the idea sketch while not interfering with the quality of work.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

M.R. 5.E: Analysis on the mark "Apostolic"

The Church is apostolic because three ways: the Church was built on the foundation of the apostles, the Holy Spirit's guidance has kept her on the path for the centuries, and the Church is continued to be taught and guided by the college of bishops, which forms an unbroken line back to the days of Christ. But why is this important?

For the Church today to have meaning in our lives, it was imperative that it was founded on truth. Back to a few sections ago, all of our faith is based on the Resurrection. Without that, our whole faith would be questioned. the same goes for the Church and its founding by the apostles. The apostles were present with Christ throughout his ministry, what better way can the information be conveyed by a primary source. The apostles passed down their teachings into the Church we know today, and though things are much larger and culture has changed, the teachings are in ewssence the same. This leads into the second and third points, that the Holy Spirit aids in. This matter because if our teachings were different than they were 50 years ago, major discrepancies would come about. The Holy Spirit protects from this, with guiding the college of bishops to keep the teachings aligned to what the first apostles actually taught. This is a major part of apostolic succession, that the line is unbroken and so are its teachings. Christ ensured that the Church would be an unbroken line, and that the essential elements would always stay the same. Sacred Tradition is forever the same, ensured with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and its members of the Church. 

I collaborated only for ideas with my group for this analysis on the mark Apostolic. Similar to my post on the mark "one" I tried to keep the analysis mainly on the application to our lives today. It is great if you can learn about your faith, but isn't practicing it even better? That is the thinking on which I carry into the analysis. Our whole faith is made up of many multitudes of beliefs, from the Holy Trinity, to the saints, to miracles and the like. But when it all comes down to one term, it can be based solely on that teaching, similar to the marks of the church. Apostolic can describe many aspects of our faith, even if it is only one of thousands of words in our faith vocabulary. I think that is what I try to convey in my analysis. 

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

M.R 5.D. Analysis on Peter Kreeft's article

Peter Kreeft's article analyzes the four marks of the Church. I will atempt to do the same, with the guidance of the article. I have chosen to analyze the mark ONE. 
     ONE: one is used to describe both the unity of the Church and the mystical Body of Christ. The oneness of the Church is used in context of the of reasons for our faith such as: One God, One Faith, One Baptism, etc. One is used to describe the mystical Body of Christ because there is one leader of the Church, that is God. It is not possible to have two supreme heads governing. The same goes for the Church and the mystical body of Christ. One is also used to describe Christ, and that came about to combat heresies, such as that Christ was two separate persons.This is not true, and the need for the mark "one" came about from this .

This analysis I tried to keep to a minimum to prevent me from repeating myself. I analyzed the mark of the church ONE. One is one of four marks, and attests to the unity of the Church. This analysis I tried to expound on what these meant to us today. It is very easy to just explain the history of something, but to apply it to our lives today is a much more difficult task. The usefulness of applying something to one's everyday life gives us as the thinker to come up with several ways, and to expond on our creativity. 

Monday, November 10, 2014

MR 5.C: Mystical Body of Christ Analysis

The Christian belief that without baptism there is no salvation is so ingrained that Martin Luther even said how necessary baptism was. Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus means "that without the Church there is no salvation" and was a saying created by St. Cyprian in the third century. By through Baptism, we are joined in union with the Church and God, with Christ as our intermediary. The mystical body of Christ is the way that us as followers of Christ are united to Him like parts of a body. With Baptism, we are a member of the Church, and similar to the mystical body of Christ. The Holy Spirit also plays an important role into the reception of grace which is also crucial to our salvation. This is where the banquet example helps. One can be invited to be a part of an event, but with two stipulations. The first one is that the person believes in the event. Without that, there is no possibility of attending the event. The second stipulation is that you must accept the invitation and show up. Similar to our rejection to eternal life and salvation, if we don't accept, we won't recieve it! 

This blog post demonstrates my analysis of an outside source, and finding connections to real life and in the book. I took an outside source that detailed why baptism is so important, and connected Baptism and its direct correlation to salvation. I also mentioned the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit plays a role in our belief, along with the 902 example. I try to reach a deeper understanding of the material, and touch on some important concepts that recur throughout the chapter. 

Analysis-MR5.C-Catechism

This relates to our chapter because it talks about how Baptism is necessary for our salvation. Baptism is necessary for everyone that has a legitimate opportunity, people who dont being, unborn children, mental illness, etc. If somone dies trying to recieve baptism than that person has what is called a "Blood Baptism," which means that because you died for the faith you get to go to heaven.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Idea Sketch 5.F


M.R 5.B: Idea Sketch Analysis

For our idea sktech, I worked on finding a balance and connections between the terms and outside ideas, mainly from the book. The terms are connected in a creative way, and I try to incorporate colors into the Idea Sketch. The white boxes help explain some of the terms in the red boxes, and then elaborate on how, why, and who these events concern. I collaborated partially with Topher on this, and looked to the book for advice. 

Idea Sketch


Wednesday, November 5, 2014

5B Notes on lecture

KIngdom of God
-What is God's cosmic plan for man?
--Share in his divine life
--inagurated by creation/salvation history
--reached fullness with Christ and his Church
--will be fullfilled at the end of time
--when all who cooperated with grace are gathered in the univeral Church
---How does one cooperate with grace?
----Man has a share in divine life through
------the Incarnation and 
------the graces of the redemption
------the apostles recieve the grace of H.S. after "I believe"
------I believe is a necessary requirement, but it is not the source of grace or means by which we recieve it
------Mediated through the Church Christ founded
-------Baptism, Nicodemus, Go baptize
-------Who is given the commission by Christ?
-What is the Church?
--Church is the new assembly of God's people, redeemed by Christ, and is the instrument of the redemption
---the role of the Church is to bring redemption to each subject
-----that baptism example again
-----without peter and the apostles, what would happen when Christ ascended?
---New assembly of God's chosen people
----Ekklesia(Greek)- those called out
----Qahal- chosen people
----successors of the Chosen People of the Old Covenant
----the People of God
--God created man to partake in his divine life
--Man rejected it
--God sought out man to reconcile him and restore him to what he was created for
--The son broght redemption by his Paschal Mystery and preached of the Kingdom of God
--He instituted a New Covenant, with a new Passover and New Paschal Lamb
--The New Chosen People, New Priesthood in this New Covenant he established and calles the Church with Peter as the Rock
--He formed the Apostles and taught about the Kingdom of God, preparing the for the reception of the Holy spirit, the sanctifying grace God created us to participate in.
--It is in the new church, established by Christ that the Holy spirit and sanctifying grace is recieved for our transformation
-What is the Kingdom of God?
--Christ is the King and he brings about the Kingdom of Heaven
--Bold Claim the Kingdom of Heaven on earth subsists in the Catholic Church
--What is the Kingdom of God?
---Christ
---In the Catholic of Church is found Jesus Christ

Monday, November 3, 2014

Section 5.A Analysis: the Necessity of Baptism

This passage relates to our chapter thus far because it discusses why we need Baprism. We need baptism because it gives us the grace to go to go to heaven. Baptism is when we are cleansed of original sin and we are reinstated as one of God's children. This applies to my daily life because I now know that I need to Baptise my future children (if I am called to become a parent) and that if I don't they won't go to heaven. 

M.R 5A: Analysis on Ascension and Pentecost

  1. ARTICLE: The Necessity of Baptism (Click here).  Analyze this article (before the quotes) and show how it relates to our sections/chapters/course thus far (highlight Pentecost and its connection with Grace and Redemption.)

Most Catholics should know that there are two types of grace: sanctifying and actual. Sanctifying graces is basically what makes up our soul; its what gives us life eternal. Actual grace is little pushes along the way, if sanctifying grace would be a big push towards heaven and eternal life. If God gave you help during your day to get through it, that would be actual grace. I think that Pentecost gives us both types of graces, that is the Holy Spirit inspires us to live the Gospel Message (that would be actual grace) but at the same time it would be giving us sacntifying grace to see God and live for his glory. Pentecost was the act of the Holy Spirit coming down upon the disciples to preach the Good News. Similarily, Pentecost for Catholics today accomplishes the same, but I would say that nowdays it only gives us actual graces, not sanctifying grace, mainly because the faith background most of us are brought up in today. For most of us, we are brought into the faith and don't have any great trial that really gives them sanctifying grace. We do recieve actual graces though, I know, little pushes that help us to live in God's divine life. I know that God watches over me and helps me through my day even if I don't know it, that is actual grace. 

This blog post accomplishes two things and incorporates the ideas learned in the article and the aspects of my life and others' today to tie it in to Pentecost. I collaborated mainly with Topher, discussing ideas and other connections between ideas in the chapter. I like this blog post because it shows deeper understanding of the material in the fact that I relate it to my life today.