Joseph Zaghrini
12107
Thology II
Man Fully Alive
Church Chapter Five: Four Marks of the Church
Section 5: Catholic and Apostolic
4/17/13
Rites of the Catholic Church
Assignment: Which of the Marks looks most important?
On paper, One would look to be the most important, just by how long the book spends on it. But that’s incredibly misleading. The mark of Holiness is undoubtedly the most important. Why? All other marks are instituted holily, by Christ. While the Church relies upon its oneness and its apostolicity, holiness of the Church is what keeps these alive and bound together. Without holiness, it is likely the Catholic Church would not exist. Throughout the centuries, the Catholic Church has gone through tons of strife. The only reason she has been able to prevail is through her holiness.
Section Five
4/21/13
1) The point that St. Irenaeus makes is that all people can challenge the Church. However, the caveat to this rule is that the Popes, the successors of Peter, are the only ones able to truly define it as true or false. Why? Popes are infallible when ex cathedra. This means they have the full authority of God when in a state of prayer. So when someone commits a heresy, or reasons through a false teaching, the Pope has the final say in whether it is true or not.
2) A quick biography of Irenaeus explains why he was forced to voice his beliefs. In a situation with Gnosticism, those who followed the heresy could merely say “The Pope doesn’t have the secret knowledge,” and be done with it. The stance taken by Irenaeus is that of steadfast fortitude: he knows the authority of the Church is easily questioned with petty statements. As such, it is obvious why he would feel the need to address the hierarchical structure in the Church and apply it to heresy.
4/22/13
My critical thinking.
When it comes to critical thinking, I think I do pretty well. The critical thinking I engage in usually means saying something other than that which the book explains. Rather, I prefer to think about it on my own. What this means is my creativity becomes more pronounced and I have subsequently developed better critical thinking skills. Overall, I gave myself a four out of five. WHile I was able to generate good examples and ideas, I did get sidetracked. Most of the class was dedicated to theology, but I did slip into a daydream once or twice. One of the best things I did, that I am actually really satisfied about, is the second reason why we ought to follow God (expect a post tomorrow). Rather than just doing it for the generic reasons of happiness and increasing the benefits for our lifestyle, we ought to do it for a moral aspect. I have more analysis there, but you’ll just have to wait to see it.
4/23/13
Chapter six section one
Critical thinking would be about a four office again today. Throughout the assignments I performed, I was able to string together ideas to form coherent thoughts. On number three I was able to understand what the common doubts are and address them. On number four I was able to address the heart if the problem and establish what I can do to fix it. On number five I went further than the textbook to kind of edit and put a play on what it means to be a priest.
4/24/13
Section Two
In todays activities I think I did pretty well. For the first time, I’d say it was worthy of a soft five. The three activities I did were number two, three, and eight. For number two, I think my critical thinking truly helped me redefine the common conception of universal call. It is not just about a call to all people, but a call for all actions. In terms of vocation, we can still use it to participate in God’s glory. The third activity threw me off a little. Before choosing which activities were most important and giving a percentage, I listed the things that make it challenging to become closer to God in everything I do. I realized there is a lot of stuff I can do to glory him and to help myself be closer to him. For the eighth assignment I think I really did pretty well. The discussion about Easter and Christmas is not a hard one to resolve: Easter is infinitely many times more important. However, rather than just arguing why that was so, I decided to address why we get so much different celebration from Christmas. It’s simple. Those who are only tangentially related to the Catholic CHurch use the Christmas season to celebrate a secular understanding of Christ: he was a great guy. In my in class assignment I not only refuted that but helped explain why it is so entrenched that it may even be a part of school.
4/26/13
Mr. Wyrsch was unable to proctor our class, and so the class involved Mr Fletcher standing and watching us for 35 minutes. Because of that, I did not really do this assignment on Thursday, but on Friday afternoon. THe activities I did were numbers 12 and 15. My critical thinking skills were pretty average. I’d give myself a 3. Honestly, I kind of read the book and translated it to my own words. However, I do think I would make a good pastor. The homily was power worded and struck a small tone in me as I wrote it. The analogy I gave for the Eucharist was going for a run. IF you go for a run with an attitude of doing it half-heartedly, you will not get in better shape. Use of the analogy, in my opinion, made it very simple to understand what it means to have the correct disposition.
191-196
4/29/2013
Number six: written homily.
To receive the gift of God, you have to be willing to receive it. When you get a gift for Christmas, do you say thank you? Do you act good all year to hopefully get a better gift? Why wouldn’t that translate to God? Remember, the Church gives us many things we must follow to become closer to God. However, most of us just go through the motions, doing nothing fast and not really participating in God’s glory. Who’s better: the person who goes to mass each Sunday, goes to confession each lenten season, and follows all the fasting holidays, or the one who, rather than go to mass each Sunday and go through motions of being Catholic, thinks about what the Sacraments mean to understand them and receive them the way Christ wanted to. I’d say the second person is closer to holiness with God. If you just go to mass because the CHurch tells you so, are you really being close to God? Well if the CHurch says you should, you should right? THat’s false. If the Church says you should, you should understand what that does for you. If you go through the motions of what the Church gives you without knowing what they mean, how are you better than the atheist? LIke Christ said, be hot, or be cold, but do not be lukewarm,for what is lukewarm will be vomited out. Those who do everything the CHurch asks and reason that that’s enough are totally unable to participate in the holiness of God. GOd also knows your thoughts. If you think “Gosh I hate mass; why does it run so long?” God will pay attention to the thought of complaining about mass’s length, and not the fact you’re there. The most important thing is to try to be close to God. Be hot in all of your Church activities and use them to actually become closer to God, rather than just act like you are. If you don’t have the right disposition, you’re just a bad actor.
Didn’t Christ already die for our sins?
NC: If Christ died for our sins already, why on earth do we need to have the Sacraments.
C: We can’t have Christ’s grace without accepting him. Even if Christ offers this kind of Redemption, we have to accept it.
NC: But Christ already died for us, like 2,000 years ago.
C: Think of it like a feast. Christ has prepared this really awesome feast. You know where it is, and (presumably) you know how to use utensils. This feast is free to have, but you must go to partake in it first. If you don’t want to accept the feast offer, you won’t get the feast.
NC: Why does grace matter if Christ has given us redemption?
C: Grace is Christ’s redemption. Essentially, Christ allows us to have the grace needed to be sanctified and become one with God after our Earthly lives. Without Christ’s redemption, there is no grace, meaning grace is a product of his Salvation.
NC: So how does getting married help me get grace?
C: Grace isn’t like an awesome drink you get when you’re a good part of the Church. Grace is how we get closer to God. When we have a marriage under God, we become closer to him because we are united through another person. That means Christ is allowing us to be in a better relationship with each other and with God.
NC: I don’t get it.
C: Get what?
NC: all of it.
C: Grace is there for us to take from Christ. We don’t have to take grace if we don’t want to. We only need to partake in grace for salvation. If you don’t want salvation, you don’t need grace. The Sacraments, which are instituted by Christ, are ways we get grace. If you want to become closer to God, this is how you do it. Grace is gotten through the Sacraments, and gets us closer to God. Clear?
NC: I think I got it.
C: Pray on it, and God will help guide you to understand what it is. Hope I helped.
Blog Post
Human nature guides us toward God. Human nature, as cliched in a huge amount of movies, seems to make us want to be a part of something bigger. While this isn't labeled as God in common culture, that’s what it is. Christ is pouring out, offering, grace for us to have, and it is our nature to take it. Since we want to be closer to God, it makes sense that whatever helps us become closer to God would also be a part of human nature. As such, Sacraments are a part of our nature. Moreover, Sacraments reflect something that humanity has reflected for all of its existence: progress. Grace helps us become better as people, and closer to God. Just like we strive to be closer to God, humanity has strove to become better as a race, be it through technology or philosophy or anything at all. Humanity strives to become better, and Christ gives us the grace to be better than our sin.
However, there is one specific Sacrament that is visibly ingrained into the human psyche. Matrimony. Throughout history, there have been thousands of different cultures, religions, and practices of people from different locations. One thing that remains constant is the desire for love and marriage. People want’ to find love; people want to be a part of a relationship. This makes no physical sense. Rationally, we do not love. There is no love we can fathom rationally because it is inherently an emotive thing. That means love, and the quest for love, brings us emotionally closer to those of the opposite sex and to God.
Rating.
I’d give myself a soft five. Throughout my assignments, I think i did a pretty good job of making simple analogies to try to explain complex theological truths. For instance, with the Catholic Non-Catholic discussion, I made a simple feast example that I believe helped clear up the cloudiness surrounding the question. With the homily, I connected it to what people intuitively know. Rather than just say “God said so,” I explained that going through the motions is much worse than having a good disposition without all of the actions. A good disposition, I contended, is seen more by God than your location on Sunday. It is weighed higher because God is a metaphysical thing, so even if you physically do what is “right” you are not metaphysically growing closer to God. In fact, I said, you alienate yourself because you connect him with a physical reality. With the Sacraments as a part of human nature, I didn’t just fabricate a reason why Christ said it’s a part of human nature. Rather, I gave a specific example of how one of the Sacraments is ingrained into the human form. I also connected different theological ideas to come to the conclusion that we seek God intuitively and thus look to the Sacraments intuitively.
4/30/2013
Short stories.
Baptism by repentance
Johnny was atheist. Plain and simply. He believed there was no God, never will be a God, and that everyone who believes there is a God is a stupid, bigoted idiot. While stringing himself out with sex and drugs, Johnny thought he was right. He thought he had the correct sense of morality from obscure post modern teachings of what it meant to be human. But he felt that something was wrong. He wanted to be a part of something bigger. But he had no idea what it was. While living is definitionally unholy life, he had a kind of vision. For a split second, while performing one of his sinful deeds, he felt an odd feeling that he’d never felt before. For the first time, he felt like he was starting to get what it means to be human in a totally meta-rational way. Then it was gone, and he felt empty. Totally empty with no idea what it means to be human. For the next few days this troubled him. Not like “hmm I wonder what that was.” His thoughts seemed to drift toward it in everything he did, wondering what it was he felt. One day, he met a strongly convinced Catholic. Feeling insecure, he picked an argument with him. While Johnny let loose with a slur of arguments against the existence of God, his new acquantence waited. He waited and just stared at Johnny until he finished his rant. At that piont, the Catholic began to respond. As Johnny listened to the Catholic speak, he felt something change. He felt that feeling he had felt before, that elusive feeling of righteousness and total happiness. The difference was that this time,he knew what it was. He felt God calling him, a God he previously did not believe in, and began to turn his life around. As he reflected more and more on the existence of God, he became more and more convinced it was right. He began to volunteer for Catholic charities, dedicate his free time to reading about Catholicism, and began to attend seminars at the university he attended. The more he grew, the closer to God he became. But he wasn’t sure about what the Catholic Church was. While he ideologically agreed with the CHurch, he didn’t truly understand it. He didn’t understand the concept of a Sacrament, nor did he know what they were. As such, he had to receive grace another way. Without knowing, he became closer to God and received grace, until he finally passed away and went to purgatory to become one with God.
Baptism by Fire
Gorklunk was born in the jungle of a South American country. He did not know that. He did not know any modern languages.. He didn’t understand the concept of a country, or a state, or a city, or even of other peoples in his world. He only understood the concept of his family and those around him. However, there was one specific understanding he had: that of an intuitive morality. He knew that he should save those in need. he had an idea of not killing or stealing or assaulting people. Of course, since he knew no medicine, he died around the age of twenty. However, because he was aware of this common morality, he was able to be “baptized by fire” and was sent to heaven at the end of his Neanderthalic life.
Baptism by water.
Billy was a steadfast agnostic. That’s pretty contradictory, I know. However, he was totally unsure about the existence of something greater and totally sure he would never know. So that meant he had no care to learn about God theories. As such, he kinda just decided to wing it and assume whichever has the best historical reference would be the most likely religion. As he learned about World History, his hardcore evangelical professor focused much on the life of Christ. He focused on the Bible and built the class around that. While Billy didn’t really like the idea of being forced to study a religion, he studied the bible dubiously and learned more and more about Christ. However, despite the beliefs of his professor, he became more and more inclined to believe that the catholic Church is the correct Church. The more he read, the more curious he became. One day, he went to a catholic mass. From his perspective, they did weird stuff like beat their chests and make arbitrary cross signs. But as he listened to the homily, it began to make sense. But he felt more than just a rational understanding of God. More and More each time, he began to sense a theological truth in the center of his gut. He realized that God did exist and that Christ was the true Son of God and that the Catholic Church was the true Church, but he didn’t do so rationally. As such, it took a few weeks for the irrational realization to reach his conscious mind. Once it did, however, he felt God in the core of his being, was taken up by the Holy Spirit, and became a part of the Catholic Church.
Scriptural beginning of Baptism
Baptism starts in the Bible with John the Baptist (ironically) baptizing people in the Jordan River. WHile baptism by water is not the only kind of baptism, it is by far the most common. Why? Water is a synonym for washing. It means we are having our Original Sin washed away. With baptism in the common sense, Christ’s grace washes away our sins and we become whole again. The second reason water is the most common form of baptism is its pronounced role in baptism. While baptism occurs in other ways, it is less common in the Bible nad more of an implicit baptism rather than an explicit “this guy got baptized.” While there are other ways to be baptized, baptism by water is by far the most common. That is also due to the fact that it is an explicit baptism. One moment you’re not baptized, the next you are. That’s what makes baptism so popular: it is convenient and tangible in a way that lets us understand that someone is baptized after a certain moment.
Critical thinking: 4.
Critical thinking was pretty good. I read a little bit of articles to understand concepts, but everything else I kind of figured out on my own. By doing so, I think I understand it better, as my knowledge stemmed directly from my own thought process. With the short stories, I pinpointed the drawbacks some people may have and addressed them. I also gave some unconventional reasons why scripture seems to endorse baptism by water.
Creativity: 5.
I think my short stories were pretty good. They took into account what people actually think and then built upon that, making a story that is easy to read but also conveys plenty of information.
Content: 3
Content could have been better. I don’t think I really put all the effort possible into it. Rather, I kind of idd just over the minimum, trying to do as little as possible without being obvious about it.
5/1/13
Blog Post
The miracle of Lanciano is a physical miracle about the Eucharist as Christ. The priest who was blessing unleavened bread was unsure of the nature of Christ in the bread. As he blessed the bread, the bread became Christ and his flesh, and the priest had no more doubt. So what does this mean?
THe Eucharist is Christ. Not necessarily in a physical way, but in a metaphysical way. WHile Christ is a human and not a loaf of bread, the part that makes Christ our savior is metaphysical in nature. THis is because his nature as God is spiritual and transcendental, meaning it is above physical existence. Because of that, Christ can be instituted in the host as GOd himself. Further, the host being Christ is important for the sake of what it means. The reason for Communion is to be one with God. When we partake of Christ, we make him a physical as well as a metaphysical part of us. Furthermore, Christ need not be represented in his physical form. After the Ascension, Christ became totally metaphysical, meaning he doesn’t need to be represented in a physical form. Because of that, he can be present metaphysically anywhere at anytime, including in the host during the celebration of mass.
THe flaw the priest had in the miracle of Lanciano was that he was doubtful of the true divinity of Christ. Had he truly believed in the divinity of Christ, he would have realized Christ does not have to be physically present to be present. As such, the priest committed a theological error in doubting the nature of Christ as metaphysical when he didn’t believe Christ could be a part of the Eucharist.
5/2/13
Sixth Grader lesson.
Hello to all of you sixth graders. My name is Joe, and I’ll be teaching you about the history of anointing of the sick. To start off, let’s establish what anointing of the sick means. It is the practice of anointing those close to death or threatened by death with oil to bless them as they (potentially) are sent to heaven. This means the Church is responsible for helping bless and heal people’s souls. The Church’s practice of Anointing of the Sick is a Sacrament. So just as a review, a Sacrament is a sign of grace instituted by Christ. Now, class, what does that mean for the history of anointing of the sick? If you’re thinking it means Christ instituted it, and the history starts with Christ, you are 100% correct. Christ began the tradition of anointing of the sick with his many healings. As many of you know, Christ’s most common miracle was healing people. Whether healing the paralytic or the blind lady, Christ’s miracles always seem to help people. So what about after Christ? Well, in the third century (200’s), it became common for people to use oil to anoint those near death. WHile this wasn’t the most popular Sacrament by any means, Apostolic Tradition included a liturgical manual for Anointing of the Sick. Further down the road, about two centuries later, the first document of the Magisterium, the teaching arm of the Church, discussed anointing of the sick and what it meant. This document formally showed that both bishops and presbyters could participate in giving this sacrament. Towards the beginning of the First Millenium, it became an unspoken rule that it seemed to be meant once after Baptism. As a result, the tradition of having Anointing of the Sick near death was established. Later, in 1439, the Council of Florence established rules for Anointing of the Sick i.e. what qualified, what the ritual and who qualifies. THis made the sacrament official.
Class eval
Critical thinking: 3. While the assignment did not require much critical thinking, I didn’t make an effort to do anything above and beyond. I described the history of Anointing of the Sick in a pretty straightforward way, but did not really build upon it as well as I could have
Creativity: 4. I think I did a pretty good job of meeting what the assignment asked. I kept the lesson in simple terms most sixth graders would understand, and tried to make it a little interactive like a teacher normally would.
Content: 2. I was unable to actually finish the history of Anointing of the Sick, so I don’t think I did as well as what we would call “fair.”
5/3/13
Kentucky
Kentucky is the home to the Kentucky derby, bourbon country, and now... female priests? While the Church treats all people as equal in God, it does not allow female priests. This has caused the Church to come under a huge amount of fire. However, there are good reasons for this.
First: Christ instituted the Church with twelve male disciples. Does this mean Christ was sexist? No. Absolutely not. Christ did not choose men because he thinks them superior. Rather, Christ chose men as they held a greater amount of power in the time. In the culture around Christ, women did not have much freedom. They did not go out in public often, and were not treated equal to men. Why hasn’t this changed? Well, Christ has further reasons for choosing men. God gave men and women different roles. While women have led in the past, they do not have as much of a seat in the Church. Rather, women have a different role. This role is not just to serve men, but it doesn’t involve Church leadership, either. The Bible is structured with men in charge for reasons unknown to us. We don’t know why God designed it that way, but that’s the way he did. That means that, since God is perfectly good and infinite, the reason, whatever it is, is valid and true. Now why can’t roles change? Roles don’t reverse because if a woman is not purposed with a deed they ought not do it. You don’t get a dog to pull your carriage. You get a horse. You don’t power your car with a flashlight. It’s absurd. THe same way, since women aren’t necessarily purposed with leadership in the Church, they have no reason to serve in positions of “authority.”
Second: The Church is not at all oppressing women. No matter how many feminists say the Church is made to be oppressive, it is utterly ignorant of what it means to be Catholic. To be Catholic is to be in Communion with God. We are made to be close to God, and the Church is our instrument to do that. As such, all women and men are equal as children of Christ. Moreover, the Church isn’t like a government. THe Church does not give people power within it. Rather, the Church allows people to become larger servants. Being Pope isn’t like being king. Rather, being Pope means being a larger messenger of God, a larger speaker to amplify his message. As Pope, your only extra ability is conveying God’s message.
Third: we are all priests in different ways. Just because women can’t be ordained as the “official” priests we call priests, does not at all mean they don’t participate in the common priesthood. THose who support priesthood for women are more than a little bigoted, as their heads are too big to realize that women are priests in the Church with different, but equal vocations. Just because you didn’t go to a Catholic school as a child does not give you an excuse to butcher Catholic doctrine and call it true. Moreover, those who support ordination for women are just posers. They aren’t Catholic, and never will be Catholic if they do not understand what it emasn to be a priest. Being a priest does not just mean leading a mass. Being a priest means helping with God’s mission of spreading the word. So, to any of you feminists who want women to be ordained, read a little about what priesthood actually is before you try to preach heretical blasphemy.
5/6/13
Archbishop Dolan's sermon has a lot of good metaphors. He does a good job of using examples to convey a point. His point is that the Church is universal. As has been said, the Church is not just for those who consider themselves holy. Rather, it is for the humble who choose to be redeemed. Just like Christ said, we are all sinners, and we cannot condemn others for it without addressing our own problems. So what does that make the Church? Rather than some kind of society where you are punished by earthly means for your sins, the Church is more like a hospital. The church has guidelines on what it takes to be fully cured, and not meeting those guidelines means you are still sick. That's how the Church is. If you're part of the Church and you still sin, you aren't breaking a rule. You're just sick, like every other human being on Earth. So what does that mean for those who have committed atrocities?
For those who have committed horrible deeds, the Church welcomes with open arms. The church has no elitist structure. Rather, it has the opposite. Being Pope or Cardinal means nothing in terms of authority. You just become more of a puppet of God. This also shows a key to sainthood. Saints did not free themselves totally of sin. Christ even condemned those who stated they were sin free, denouncing them as hypocrites and showing all people how they are not holy. Rather, saints, on the other hand, are those who accept their sinfulness. They say "Wow, I'm a pretty sinful guy. I'll change that." So those who become free of sin first must deny their holiness. If you have the idea that you're sin free, it means you aren't going to ever compensate for your sins. You'll go on thinking you're perfect. Rather, we are called to overcome our sin and become better people, closer to God, because of it.