The Glory of God is Man Fully Alive

All of Creation was made to give glory to God. This means that in doing what God created us to do, we can fully give glory to him. Now the question arises, what did God create us all to do? Some believe that fulfilling our lives and being happy is all we need to do, however this is not the case. In everything we do, we must do it in God's name. We must live life so that we may worship him.
We may do this by living a life like Christ did. Christ did everything for the glory of God as the Son of God.

Martyrs in Christianity: The Bravest of Christians

The Martyrs throughout the Church's history have been some of the bravest Christians to ever become members of Christianity. They were willing to give their life to hold up the faith and teachings that they believed and give glory to God in doing so. Just think about if you were faith with death to uphold your belief or to live by denying your faith. This decision is one of the hardest ones to make.

Even some of these martyrs are chosen to be beatified and canonized as saints. These select few of martyrs were steadfast in their defense of the Church's belief and teachings that they would give their life to preserve, and also had lived a life modeled after Christ up to their death.

The Glory of God is Man Fully Alive

How can we all achieve man fully alive? This has been too many times the topic of debate in my theology class. There have been many points to suggest how a man can be fully alive including doing what one loves to do and fulfilling the role that they believe to be given. While some of these arguments seem to be convincing enough, none are the true way to achieve man fully alive.

Through reasoning and some guidance from my theology teacher, I have learned that being man fully alive is to be filled with the glory of God. Only through the glory of God and living a life most closely to life that Christ lived. Christ lived a life most true to God and for one to be man fully alive they must model themselves after Christ.

Mother Teresa: A Soon to be Saint

Mother Teresa was born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in the Ottoman Empire. She grew up Roman Catholic and started  Missionaries of Charity when che became older. This organizations purpose is to care for the people who may no longer care for themselves. These people are ex-prostitutes, STD patients, the mentally ill... etc. This program achieved great success under her and she later received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the Organization. She died in September of 1997 at age 87.

While she accomplished great things, helped the poorest of poor people, and lived a life very close to that of Christ, she is not yet a Saint. There have been many steps to canonize her as a Saint like Pope John Paul II overriding the 5 year waiting period to beatify her, but she has not yet been canonized. Although she is not yet a Saint, there is a very good chance she will become one in the future. 

Canonization

The process of canonization has to be one of the most esteemed honors one can receive from the Catholic church. While the person who is canonized can not be with the people he or she loves to enjoy the honors, that person has to feel very honored in Heaven. Canonization is the process of someone who is dead becoming a Saint.

Now what does saint even mean? The literal definition described by the Christian Church is one "in Christ" and in whom Christ dwells. This is the perfect way to tell what the saint is all  about. A saint is someone who is willing to die for their faith like the first martyr, St. Stephen. A saint is someone who has constantly helped the ones that are less fortunate or in dier need of help like St. Vincent DePaul. These examples are just a few of the many saints who modeled their lives after Christ.

Confirmation

Confirmation is a major Sacrament that involves the confirming of a person as a member of the Church and as a new member of the Mystical Body of Christ. It is one of the seven major Sacraments instituted by Christ. It serves as the initiation into the Catholic church and becoming a member of the community of the faithful where one can worship with a congregation of other people with the same beliefs.

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit are certain things bestowed upon by the Holy Spirit that we can perform only with the help of the Holy Spirit. This belief, in fact, aids the belief of the Christian person that the Holy Spirit does dwell within them because only through the Holy Spirit can we perform these acts or fruits. This fruit of the Holy Spirit are generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity, charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness. 

Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

These seven gifts are received at Baptism from the Holy Spirit to strengthen our personal sanctification. These gifts are even strengthened at Confirmation to make them fully accesible by the person who has received these gifts these seven gifts are wisdom understanding, fear of the Lord, counsel knowledge fortitude, and piety.

Baptism from the Holy Spirit

Another form of Baptism recognized by the Catholic church is the Baptism from the Holy Spirit. This Baptism is characterized by the receiving ,of a member of the faithful, of the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit. these gifts are separate from the fruits of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are separate because these gifts benefit others while the other bestowments are for personal sanctification.

Baptism of Fire

We recognize the Sacrament Baptism as one of the major Sacraments and the only one required by the Catholic church's teachings for admittance in to Heaven. One particular type of Baptism is Baptism of fire. This type of Baptism deals with the martyrdom of people who gave their lives for their belief of God. This is a recognized type of Baptism by the Catholic church and is only granted to the martyrs throughout history.

The Church's Stance on Gay Marriage: From the view of a gay male

Gay Marriage, or even being gay in general, really seems to be a big issue in our country today. The following is my understanding of the Church's beliefs about homosexuality. Yes the sacrament of marriage was established by the Church to be between a man and a woman, and that is the Church's belief and it definitely has the right to hold that stance. These beliefs are based off both verses in the Bible and the natural law of Creation. From the beginning, woman was created from man to be a complimentary partner to him. The understanding of God's intention for humankind is to procreate, which can only be done in a complete, loving, manner through marriage under the Church. Gay people in monogamous relationships with the same gender, share a deep love for each other, however are unable to procreate in the same manner. Because the church believes man was created to be in union with man, gay couples are unable to be married in the church, and any homosexual activity is seen as being sinful. The love we share is no less than that of homosexual couples, but since we can not procreate, we can not fulfill our love completely in the eyes of the Church.

Homeless Man Video

This video in particular really spoke to me. It really gave me a good perspective of the life of a homeless man. Just thinking about going from growing up in the suburbs to living as a homeless man in the streets. He explained his daily routine that he goes through every day and I truly feel sorry for him and all he has been through

There was also a recurring theme through the video. He certainly did not like being called the word"bum." There were certain instances where he described people calling him a bum and that really got to him and made him break down in tears. I think this gets go him because he knows he can do better than this and he is trying so desperately to get back on his feet.

All Are Welcome!

The article All Are Welcome really has a special message on how the Church should be perceived. First, the Church has said that anyone is welcome to join the Church, and this in fact is the case. The Church, to its very core, has always been open to anyone joining it and learning the teachings of Christ. It was in fact Christ that founded the Church on this primary basis.

Though anyone could join the Church, there is one condition that the faithful must keep. The faithful must always love and respect all members of the Church, but must always uphold the truth that Church keeps. This means that although a member of the Church has committed a sin, other members must continue to love and respect that person, but also recognize that the sin was a bad thing to do. It is important not judge the person, but the sin.

The Healing Water of Lourdes

Lourdes, France is home to one of the most miraculous miracles to ever take place. In 1858, a fourteen-year old girl named Bernadette claimed to have seen a lady in a cave outside of town. Later, the lady told her to dig and drink from the spring within that cave. The stream seemed to have cleansing power healing people from many illnesses. This has attracted many Catholics to Lourdes over the years to witness the miracle before them.

The Ordained Woman Priest

There has been an interesting story developing in Louisville, Kentucky, where a woman, Rosemarie Smead, has been ordained a priest outside of the Roman Catholic Church. This has caused major controversy in the Catholic Church as there has been a long standing ban on women being ordained as priests in the Catholic Church. While she was ordained outside the Roman Catholic Church, she still has considered herself to be a Catholic. The former pope, Benedict XVI, took a firm place to oppose ordaining women and keeping the old laws. He even took to stripping male priests of their Holy Orders if they did ordain women. While this has already caused a lot of commotion, there will most likely be new developments in this story so keep an eye on it.

The Miracle of Lanciano

The Miracle of Lanciano stands out as one of the more significant Eucharistic miracles throughout history. It took place around 700 in Lanciano, where some people of the congregation were doubtful of the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Upon saying the Words of Consecration, the bred turned into real human flesh and the wine into blood. This gave the people of the Church faith in the Eucharist and Christ's presence in the Sacrament.