Man Fully Alive by: AJ Peters

   What is our mission on Earth? One way to summarize it is man fully alive. Man fully alive is living with God. It's something that we are unable to achieve by ourselves on Earth. For us to be fully alive we would have to find God. We would have to live with him in Heaven so that we would be in the same state that we were in when the World created. Completing our mission on Earth is also a large part in being fully alive. 

     How can we achieve the fullness of life on Earth? The complete fullness of life isn't possible to achieve on Earth for us to complete that we would have to meet God in heaven. This does not mean we can't make steps towards that fullness of life when we are on Earth. The one thing we can do on Earth is live our lives like Christ did during his time with us. We can follow the Decalogue and be the best Christians that we can and all of that stars with accepting God into our lives. Once we do that we open the doors to everything that is Holy. 

Man Fully Alive by: Peter

What does it mean to be Man Fully Alive? Over this past year of Theology class, I have thought a lot about this question. Mr. Cole asked us this question on the first day of class and then proceeded to ask us the same question throughout the year. At first I did not really know what it truly meant to be Man Fully Alive, but as the school year has gone by, I think I have a decent idea of what it truly means to be Man Fully Alive. 

For one to be Fully Alive, he or she is not required to be perfect, as no person in the history of the world was perfect, except Jesus. For one to be Fully Alive, they do not have to be a part of the priesthood. Nor does that person have to excel in an activity over others. All that is required for a person to be Fully Alive is for that person to have the desire to be Fully Alive: to have the desire to be close to God and learn what He has to teach. The person must desire to help other, but not help others just to help others, but to help them in a loving way; a way that is not purely something to add to their “resume” so they can go to Heaven, but in a way that is purely helpful and selfless. I strive everyday to live my life Fully Alive, although I fail everyday. Everyday I do something selfish or I help someone for the wrong reason; I may use swear words, or hurt someone’s feelings, or not give my life to God and do something that He is not proud of. However, my drive to get better and learn from God is good. I strive to love myself and to love God, and to thank God for putting me on this earth as a healthy, capable man. I challenge you to live your life Fully Alive. 

What is the Universal Call to Holiness?

Throughout these last few weeks I have been discussing the Universal Call to Holiness and how we can complete it. I have related many things to it but I have never completely focused an entire post to it. The Universal Call to Holiness is built and based off of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Scripture states, “In the Church everyone does not proceed by the same path, nevertheless all are called to sanctity and have received equal privilege of faith through the Justice of God.” The term used to show this mission is the universal call to holiness.

There are very many ways to respond to the call in the way that God intends us to respond. There are five responses that are proper and. Jesus taught us them so that we will be able to accept God which will lead us to heaven or paradise with God. The five responses are active and regular participation in the liturgy of the Church, especially the Holy Mass; Frequent reception of the sacraments, particularly the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation; A well-informed life of prayer as a focal point of each day; The practice of sacrifice and self-denial; The sanctification of ordinary life- family life, professional work, and all human relationships; and Our witness and apostolate in the Church community and in society.

Priesthood

I believe that all people in the world are called to do something. Whether it be to be a married person or to join to priesthood, we all have something we are called to do by God. As a priest says in the video, “it is not natural to be a priest, it is supernatural.” Another priest said that priesthood is anti-cultural. It is hard to overcome the pressures of society. Many people may be being called to be a priest or something else and they are just not hearing the call because all of the world’s distractions such as TV, movies, sports, cellphones, computers, parties, and many more things are blocking them. Not that any of those things are bad, they must be used in moderation and not be put in front of or before your relationship with God. All of us needs to keep our ears open and listen for the call that God is sending us. While he might not be clear with His message about what He wants you to do at this moment, at some point in our lives, it will become clear and that is the time we need to pay attention and listen to whatever call God gives us. The priesthood is an incredible calling that not all people are called to, but those who are called to the priesthood need to heed that calling and follow God because He has a plan for us all. Priests do m any things, such as being a counselor, but they are also a leader among their congregation and to all people who hear him. It is an important calling or job and if you are called to be a priest you need to take that calling. I found it touching when the priest got out of his car and blessed Matthew, the 17-year-old boy injured badly in a car crash. This shows priests are not only “on duty” while they are preaching or in their Church, but they are called to help people everywhere at any time. 

Stress

All teenagers who are currently attending a school right now are facing the one of the most stressful things all year...finals. Finals are a test at the end of the semester over everything you have covered throughout that semester. Every person in high school, middle school, or college are facing, about to face, or have already faced this difficult and very stressful task. It takes a lot of studying and the tests really affect your grade. This test usually causes stress to everybody facing them. Stress can be very harmful to the people it affects and those who care about that person.

What does the Bible say about stress? The Bible does not say anything specific about stress but it does constantly remind us about God is always with us. Sometimes when you are under stress you feel all alone and that can be the hardest thing to deal with but if you know God has a plan for you and is watching you, that can make all the difference.

Reflection on Papacy

In Apostolic tradition from On the Papacy, Apostolic tradition is described through examples and references from Scripture.  The letter talks about apostles along the line of Apostolic Tradition ranging from Papias to Pope Agatho. I picked apostolic tradition because of my limited prior knowledge on the subject.

This passage starts off with the question, “Is Scripture the sole rule of faith for Christians?” It then says no based off of the Bible’s references to the necessity of holding on to apostolic tradition. Then he mentions and describes how Paul tells us how important apostolic tradition is. An example of this is when the passage says, “I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you.” Then the passage describes other Church fathers and their teachings on apostolic tradition such as, Eusebius of Caesarea, Clement of Alexandria, Cyprian of Carthage, and others.

I feel that this passage does a good job on getting the point of apostolic tradition across to the readers. It says, “Not according to the Bible.” This was in reference to the question asked, “Is Scripture the sole rule of faith for Christians?” The passage then goes to mention the references from the Bible about apostles, such as Paul, speaking of apostolic tradition. This tells us that that inspired writings of disciples of Christ shows us the importance of apostolic tradition. To make sure that the apostolic tradition is passed down after the deaths of the apostles Paul told Timothy, “What you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” This quote shows how Paul knew the importance of apostolic tradition and how he wanted it passed down to the fathers of the Church. The passage has good examples from Scripture and Church fathers proving apostolic tradition which do a good job of getting its points across and teaching its readers about apostolic tradition and just how important it is for Christians. 

I had very little knowledge on apostolic tradition so, I learned a lot from the passage and it gave me the opportunity to have some kind of thought on apostolic tradition. This passage did a good job on teaching me what apostolic tradition is and gave good examples for me too reference if I had any questions on it. “From them has come down to us in writing, the sound and orthodox faith received from tradition.”(Church History 4:21). This example come to the conclusion that apostolic tradition is very important. Our mission is to act like Christ each day and apostolic tradition shows just exactly how to do it. It helps us live like God every day by acting like the apostles. We are able to learn from Scripture how important apostolic tradition and that is leads me to believe so much of it. I feel apostolic tradition is essential to Christians.

This passage taught about apostolic tradition mainly through examples. These examples did a good job of informing and explaining apostolic tradition to the reader. This passage showed me just how important apostolic tradition really is to Christians. Overall this passage was very informative and convincing, I feel like I learned a lot from it and understand apostolic tradition a lot more than I did before I read this passage.

Education

            Throughout this week I have seen a lot of videos concerning a high school student and how he stood up to his teacher. He stood up to his teacher for not teaching and just handing out worksheets. I was very impressed when I saw this video because it took courage. It showed how this young man wants to learn and wants to be productive and wants to do something with his life. I also saw interview, which said the kid dropped out of school and this shows how important school is because after a year he realized he had to come back.

            I admire this kid for he was attempting to expand his knowledge and glory and that is what we an all should doo. If we give ourselves a chance to succeed and gain glory than we with God’s help will achieve that glory. With that glory though, we are called to give it to God for he is the one who lets us have it.

Link to Video to Kid Standing Up