The Universal Call To Holiness

            Msgr. Luigi Giussani states a quote by T. S. Eliot saying, "Has the Church failed mankind, or has mankind failed the Church?" . . . Both, both, because first and foremost it is mankind who failed the Church, because if I need something, I chase after it if it goes away. No one chased after it . . . The Church began to fail mankind, as I see it . . . because she forgot who Christ was, she did not rely on..., she was ashamed of Christ, of saying who Christ is." The phrase "if I need something, I chase after it if it goes away" is essential to Msgr. Luigi Giussani's message about Holiness. Holiness is the fundamental vocation for all Christians throughout the world. The Church is seen as the holy people of God because we are His children and it is the essential matter of faith. This quote is essentially saying that mankind has failed the Church and in result, the Church began to fail mankind. If there is something so important that we need, we will chase after it so that it doesn't get away. Mankind failed to chase after the Church and support it, therefore the Church gave up on mankind. Holiness is an important element in the Church and provides the way that people are expected to act within the Church. For Catholics, this quote is even more important to abide by. Catholics are expected to live out their lives in holiness as best they can.

            At the end of this quote it states, "The Church began to fail mankind, as I see it...because she forgot who Christ was, she did not rely on...she was ashamed of Christ, of saying who Christ is." This quote means that since the Church started to fail mankind, it became difficult to know Christ and decide His role in a person's life. Holiness ties in here as well and is important in order to be familiar with Christ and trust in Him. Since the Church failed mankind, it became difficult to trust in Him and rely on Him for the things we needed Him most in in life. Holiness is used in this aspect to help reconnect with God and maintain that trust and faith in Him. Without this reconnection, it ultimately made it difficult to accept and embrace Him, which is why it was said "she was ashamed of Christ" and that it was hard by "saying who Christ is."

            Msgr. Luigi Giussani's goal was to use this quote and connect it to the message of the Universal Call to Holiness. The Universal Call to Holiness is the way people in the world must act in order to come closer to God. We are expected to become pure and flawless, just as our Father is. Often times we become afraid and become discouraged by thinking that this perfection of our Father is impossible to imitate. In order to reach this perfection we must try to use our strengths and talents as a gift from Christ and use those gifts to fulfill our duties in the spirit of faith, working through love. We must also receive all things with faith from our Heavenly Father. Since the Church is holy, all of its members are seen to be holy as well and manifest their holiness in their every day lives. The Universal Call to Holiness gives us clarity on how to be pure and how we should follow Christ our Father.

"She Went By Gently"

1.    “A gift of Baptism is the ability to love others as God loves us.” The woman shows this gift of Baptism through her treatment of the girl. The woman makes sure she comforts the girl while she is in this scary situation. She cares for her through this time and makes sure the girl has all of the necessary equipment to deliver her baby. The woman also shows her love by comforting her by telling her to be strong like her mother. She travels four miles in the darkness just to be by the girl’s side. The woman also believes in the young girl even when she knows that she is referred to a “slut” and has a sinful past. This care that the woman provides for the young girl is a symbol of the gift of Baptism.

2.    At the end of the story, the woman says in regards to the infant, “I saved him.” What she means by this statement is that by baptizing the baby before it died, she saved him from sin. When the woman said, “I baptize you, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,” she is ultimately saving they baby by bringing him into God’s grace and protection.

3.    The author describes the woman’s journey back to her home very vividly. The purpose of this section of the story is to illustrate the birth of the baby and his baptism. She maintained her faith in God even though she witnessed original sin. The author was trying to convey the meaning behind the woman’s choice to baptize the baby and create a moment of rebirth of the baby and its baptism. 

The Gifts of The Holy Spirit

I’ve come to realize how much the Gifts of the Holy Spirit have affected my life over the past seventeen years. These gifts that God has instilled in the Holy Spirit have allowed me to not only find grace within others, but also true grace within myself. I’ve used these gifts of the Holy Spirit almost every day of my life, whether it’s to maintain patience to wait for something or someone or to keep my hope alive during the toughest of times. These gifts have helped me grow stronger as a person and grow closer to God through instilling faith, hope, charity, or even patience. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit also helped me with becoming wiser in situations, understanding people as well as my surroundings, knowledge, piety, and fortitude. Through these gifts, I’ve learned to never give up, even when I’m faced with the hardest situations and I think I can’t get through it. I know that God will always get me through everything he decides to put me through. These gifts have truly helped me through family matters, friendships, relationships, and internal conflicts. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are constant reminders of why I am here on earth and what I have to do in order to succeed in this world.

One of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit that I find I need most in my life today would be my faith in God and others. In my eyes, faith is the key to closure and certainty. It is my faith that keeps me going and persevering. As long as I keep my faith in God and in others, I feel as though I have enough closure to move on and hope for the best. In any given situation, whether it’s bad or good, I pray and make sure I keep close to God through this time. I feel safer and more certain of a positive outcome in a situation when I maintain my faith in God because I know he only wants the best for me and will do whatever it takes to make me a stronger person. My faith in others is also essential. I put my faith and trust in a lot of people, such as my family and friends. I rely and depend on them when I am at my most vulnerable moments. Keeping my faith in them helps give me closure and gratification so that I can keep going and move forward in my life. Without faith in God and others, I would not be the strong young woman I am today and it would be extremely difficult to find any sense of happiness or certainty in my life. 

Distance Learning #3: "Are Sacraments Narrow?"

Are Sacraments Narrow? by Mark Shea

1. What is Ludwig's problem? Ludwig does not understand how grace is imparted through the sacraments. He was taught a different meaning of what grace was and believed that God's love was universal.

2. Explain what the Church is not thinking about when it comes to "sacramentality": The Church does not propose sacraments to deny God's universal love and will to save. It does not say that unbaptized people of good will are denied salvation because they were not baptized in the Church.

3. Explain what the Church is thinking about when it comes to "sacramentality": They condemn any doctrine that limits the scope of God's redemption to anything less than every last soul God has created. The Church points out that salvation is a relationship that requires at least two people.

4. "How does God reveal and give to each individual human being his universally offered grace?" The Church refers us us to the primal Sacrament of Sacraments, The Incarnate Son of God. The sacraments of the Church are extensions of his power work in the world.

5. Which Christian doctrine is the foundation for the Sacraments? The Christian doctrine that is the foundation for the Sacraments is the doctrine of the Trinity.

6. Explain what the gobs of modern "spirituality" tells us: It tells us to be more or less disembodied, to dwell in the realm of intuitions and concepts and secret mental "revelations" unknown to those less Highly Evolved.

7. Explain the Christian repudiation of "such spiritual snobbery": God likes matter, so much that he continued to manifest himself through it right up until He took upon himself a real physical body of matter that united himself to the totality of our beings through becoming a real live man in Jesus Christ. 

             

8. "But that was so that he could put his gross body of flesh to death on the Cross and revert back to pure spirituality, wasn't it" Answer & explain: This means Christ was not put to death to return us back to spirituality, it is that we will not only live again but will live as human beings.

9. Explain "That is why the sacramental worldview sees more than just a symbol in a sacrament."God reveals himself through physical acts and causes creation by his grace to show his work of redemption.

10. Explain what G.K. Chesterton said: GK Chesterton said the difference between the sacramental Real Presence in the Eucharist and the universal grace of God. Sacramentality derives from the odd nature of Christianity itself. He describes the grace of God and how it is shown through his divine acts.

11. What does grace do? Grace presents to us God sharing the divine life and God coming to us through physical and divine acts. Grace enables us to experience divine life and see and understand God's love for us.

Distance Learning #2: The Sacraments

            In the Introduction handout, Fulton Sheen describes what is called the Divine Sense of Humor. He explains how in order to understand the sacraments; we must all develop a divine sense of humor. He gives examples to illustrate this divine sense of humor, such as the horse and the human. If someone tells a joke to a horse and a human, the human and the horse would both understand the words and the joke being presented, but the human would be the one to laugh. The horse would get only the material side of the sacrament. Sheen also describes how there are physical sacraments, such as a handshake or a kiss. In order to understand the sacraments, you must find a deeper meaning behind a symbol. He also says that two reasons why we fail to understand the sacraments are because we cut off God from the natural world and we fail to confound substantiality with Him.

            In the handout, “The Bible is a Sacrament”, Sheen discuses the Bibles meaning and symbolism. The Bible is a symbol of the trust and belief in God. He also explains the origin of the word “sacrament.” The word in Greek translates at “mystery,” which is why the Bible and God are seen as the unknown. God Himself takes upon a human nature to unite human nature and divine nature in one person. The humanity of Christ was the cause of our justification and sanctification. God is what separates the divine world from the human and natural world.

             The handout “What the Sacraments Bring to Man” discusses the differences between human nature and divine life. Those who live the natural life fail to see the higher life of grace. There are three levels: the sensate, the intellectual, and the divine. The first level denies the reality except those that come from the flesh or the known. The second level is the peak of all powers of human reason and human will. The third level is a fulfilled heart that seeks truth for unknown reasons. When every person was created, we were made as one with God. He communicates through signs and symbols to speak so that human nature can meet and understand divine life. God also made contact with humanity in two ways. The first being invisible contact, where Jesus performed miracles and the second being Jesus extending his power through the sacraments.

            The Seven Conditions of Life helps us understand the physical and natural life. The first five of these conditions refer the person as an individual and the remaining two as a member of society. These conditions of life consists of: birth, those who do not eat shall not live, maturity and responsibility as an adult, healed wounds, and driving out disease. There are also conditions that lead to a Christ life. These conditions are: the Sacrament of Baptism, the Eucharist, Confirmation, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. The visible signs of the sacraments are the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ.

            Life is blood, which is also a sin. In a way, life symbolizes the emptying and cleansing of sin. Since life is blood, blood is also therefore the symbol of sacrifice. When man gives up his blood, what he is really doing is giving up his own life. The blood of Christ is ultimately of infinite valued because he is a divine person. His blood is more valuable than that of a lamb and man.

            Sacraments do not confer grace as magical signs, but instead they communicate it only because they are in contact with the Risen Christ. The blood of Christ is applied at different moments in life that results in a different kind of power. Chris-life affects us in different ways when we are born and when we are about to die. We enter a stage in responsibility and marriage and grow from there. To receive the Blood of Christ, we must be willing to cleanse our sins and receive him as the Sacrament of Baptism and the Sacrament of Penance.

             

Distance Learning

I. JUSTIFICATION

1987 Harry is cleansed from his sins when he goes to the river for healing. “We’re going to a river to a healing.”

1988 The little boy’s death at the end of the story represents how Harry took part in Christ’s Passion because he died to sin by drowning in the river. His Resurrection was entering The Kingdom of Heaven as being born to a new life.

1989 Conversion was seen through the prayer of Harry’s mother. The prayer for her to get better was turning her away from sin and towards God for healing.

1990 The first moment Harry is detached from sin is when he encountered the truth behind Jesus Christ. He said he never knew who Jesus was and learned that day that Jesus was the one who created him and

1991 The acceptance of God’s righteousness was seen when Harry asked Mrs. Connin if Bebel Summers could really heal him.

1992 This form of justification was seen when Bevel Summers was preaching and said, “There ain’t but one river and that’s the River of Life, made out of Jesus’ Blood. That’s the river you have to lay your pain in, in the River of Faith, in the River of Life, in the River of Love, in the rich red river of Jesus’ Blood, you people!”

1993 The cooperation between God’s grace and man’s freedom was illustrated through Harry’s baptism.

1994 Harry’s parents are also seen as sinners. They failed to teach Harry the Catholic teachings and did not make known the work of God’s love. The will receive a greater mercy.

1995 The sanctification and birth of the “inner man” was shown when Harry was baptized in the river. Bevel says, “You count. You didn’t count before.”

II. GRACE

1996 The grace of God is seen through “the healing” the preacher promises. Bevel says, “I read in Mark about an unclean man, I read in Luke about a blind man, I read in John about a dead man! Oh you people hear! The same blood that makes this River red, made that leper clean, made that blind man stare, made that dead man leap!”

1997 The participation in the Life of God was also demonstrated through the baptism. He was adopted as the Lord’s son and washed away his sins.

1998 The vocation of eternal life was represented in Harry’s death. He enters the Kingdom of Christ and begins a new, eternal life in Heaven.

1999 The sanctifying or deifying grace received in Baptism was “The count” Harry received after he was baptized. It led him in search to find the Kingdom of Christ.

2000 Harry perfects his soul through his baptism. He is encountering the permanent disposition to live and act in keeping with God’s call. After his baptism, “the count” is seen as Harry’s calling and acceptance of grace.

2001 The preparation of man for the reception of grace was seen through the picture of Jesus above Mrs. Connin’s bed. This image brought justification through faith and charity.

2002 Harry chose to search for the Kingdom of Christ. He knew that God promised “eternal life” if he longed for the truth and wanted to satisfy this desire.

2003 Harry shows his ignorance by not knowing who Jesus Christ is. Harry thought that Jesus Christ was a word like “oh” or a person who may have cheated someone out of something. His ignorance failed to illustrate grace.

2004 Reverend Bevel Summers exercised the responsibilities of the Christian life and ministries within the Church through his healing and his preaching’s of the Kingdom of Christ and the Blood of the River. 

2005 Harry escapes his experience by trusting in his faith of the Kingdom of Christ. He dies a good end and encounters his Maker through his search for the Kingdom of Christ. He is justified and saved through his death.

The Man Without A Face

            In the movie, A Man Without A Face, a young boy named Chuck Nordstadt befriends a disfigured man whom the people of the town are not fond of. Rumors spread all over town about Mr. McLeod. People who had never even met the man seemed to have their minds made up about him and who he was as a person. Chuck sees McLeod one day on a ferry and was frightened, but also intrigued by him. One day, Chuck decided to walk to the library to study for his exam to get into boarding school. As he was walking, he decided to go off with some of his friends on a boat and ended up outside of Mr. McLeod’s house. After being scared off by McLeod’s dog, Chuck realizes he had left his books on the rocks outside of the McLeod’s house. Upon his return to McLeod’s house, Chuck encounters the “disfigured man” for the first time. Chuck then discovers that McLeod was a former teacher and seeks for his help to prepare him for his upcoming exam.

            At first, Chuck failed to see past McLeod’s deformed face. During the time McLeod was tutoring him, Chuck could only focus on the missing side of his face. It was obvious that Chuck was frightened by the man’s appearance and had reasonable doubt as to how capable McLeod was at helping him. At times, Chuck would refuse to listen to or obey McLeod’s orders, such as writing an essay or doing homework. By Chuck’s actions, it showed that he was not certain he could trust or even depend on McLeod for help. Chuck also thought that what McLeod was teaching was irrelevant and had nothing to do with the material on his exam. For example, when McLeod would ask Chuck to dig a hole, Chuck thought that it was a waste of time and did not understand the significance of it. Although Chuck didn’t understand why he was digging them, McLeod was actually teaching him geometry through a way other than sitting down and practicing problems for hours. Whenever Chuck refused to do what McLeod asked of him, McLeod would say, “Disca et Disceda,” which meant “learn or leave.” McLeod had seemed to be teaching the boy manners and how to build character in a way to prepare him for his exam. As the movie continues, we see a growth in Chuck and Mr. McLeod’s relationship. Chuck arrives at the moral certainty that he can trust McLeod despite the fear and doubt that were brought about by the rumors. He does this by seeing McLeod as a friend instead of only a teacher. McLeod teaches him about poetry and acts out plays to help Chuck better understand Shakespeare. The material McLeod teaches him intrigues Chuck, which makes him want to keep coming back to learn more. The more the boy meets with McLeod, the closer they become. Chuck also begins to see McLeod not only as a teacher, but also as a friend and father figure. He develops a sense of trust with McLeod after he is told about the car accident that left half of McLeod’s face and body distorted. Even after McLeod explained how he became the way he is, Chuck doesn’t think of him any differently.

            One of the several things McLeod taught Nordstadt was not to “cheat” on the problem of using his freedom to decide whether or not the rumors that were spread were true. Towards the middle of the movie, McLeod tells Chuck, “Start taking responsibility for what you want.” McLeod was trying to teach the boy to voice his own opinion and stick up for what he wants and believes. It was important to McLeod that he did this because this was another lesson he was trying to teach Nordstadt about life. Only Chuck could decide what to believe about McLeod based on what he knew about him. McLeod did not want Chuck to base his beliefs off of what other people thought, but instead on his own beliefs of what he knew to be true.

            Something in particular that I liked about this movie was how it foreshadowed in the beginning what would happen in the end. The movie started with a dream that Chuck had of graduating from boarding school. He was lifted in the air being carried on the shoulders of his fellow classmates and looked into the crowd as if something were missing. He says, “Whatever the dream, there’s always a face that I cannot see, that I keep missing, out there beyond the edge of the crowd.” This dream in the beginning of the movie foreshadows the friendship he makes with McLeod. At the end of the movie, it shows Chuck four years later actually graduating like he dreamed of. He looked out into the crowd with a smile and realized something or someone was missing. As he looked into the distance, Chuck saw McLeod walking off into the distance. To me, this was one of the best parts of the movie and showed how connected they remained to each other after everything that had happened between them.