The Glory of God is Man Fully Alive

     Man Fully Alive is someone who gives his best in anything - sports, school, work. Man Fully Alive is that very man striving to achieve the glory of heaven. He is fully alive knowing he is trying to reach his ultimate goal of heaven. We all strive to achieve what we deem possible, but Man Fully Alive calls us to greater goals. It calls us to holiness; it calls us towards God. Man Fully Alive is a vocation, a vocation which calls us to greatness. Man Fully Alive is a natural vocation. We can all reason towards this vocation. God created us with reason and free will. What better way to use our free will than to worship God (Our Creator). We give glory to God when we live fully alive. The Glory of God is life which we should respect. God intended for men to live in harmony with Him, creation, man himself, and woman. Man Fully Alive allows us to try and gain that lost harmony by "repairing" our relationship with the Creator. "The Glory of God is man fully Alive, But man fully alive is to behold God", reasoning towards God and sharing in Him through the Eucharist is to be Alive. God is true life, so we strive to be with Him in Heaven. Our journey in life is to be Men Fully Alive in the Glory of God.

The Sacrament of Matrimony

     Reflection Post - Matrimony is a vocation between the spouses. Marriage was always in God's plans from the beginning of time. Marriage is between God and the spouses. The spouses are the ministers of the Sacrament. Through the Sacrament of Matrimony, the spouses become one, united forever. Matrimony restores the harmony lost between man and woman due to sin. "The mutual sacrifice and devotion of husband and wife is a true picture of Christ's sanctifying sacrifice and devotion to His Church. 'Matrimony has its significance in the first place from Christ who took the Church as his bride at the price of his own blood. And also because when he offered his life as the price of her ransom, he stretched our his arms in an embrace of supreme love. And thirdly: as Eve was formed from the side of Adam while he slept, so the Church was formed from the side of the dying and dead Christ, as the two chief sacraments poured from his side - the blood of redemption and the water of absolution' (Albertus Magnus)." http://www.catholic.org/prayers/sacrament.php?id=7

Confessing Sins to a Priest

     Reflection Post -Many people believe that confessing your sins to a man is not valid forgiveness. But this is not true. God is the being who forgives our sins. The priest is a mediator between you and God. Confessing is a "conversation" between the confessor and God. The person who seeks true forgiveness receives forgiveness from God. The priest who some consider unholy is only again a mediator. God is who truly forgives sins. God through the priest gives us advice on how to live better catholic lives. 

 

Pentecost

     Pentecost is the day the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles, fifty days after the Resurrection. The Holy Spirit filled the Apostles with courage. The courage necessary to begin their Commission. On Pentecost, the Apostles went from scared men to brave knights of the Church. Pentecost is a day, we as Catholics, remember that God is all the courage we need. Through God, anything is possible even the impossible to us.

 

 

 Leviathan

     A Leviathan is a sea monster referenced in the Old Testament. "In Psalm 74 God is said to "break the heads of Leviathan in pieces" before giving his flesh to the people of the wilderness; in Psalm 104 God is praised for having made all things, including Leviathan; and in Isaiah 27:1 he is called the 'wriggling serpent' who will be killed at the end of time". The image of a Leviathan is used as an image for Satan. The Leviathan endangers both God's creatures and God's creation. St. Thomas Aquinas described the Leviathan as a demon of envy.

St. Francis of Assisi

     St. Francis of Assisi is the founder of the Franciscan Order. He was born at Assisi in Umbria. Francis heard a voice call to him  "Go, Francis, and repair my house, which as you see is falling into ruin." St. Francis believed this to be his call at the time (taking it literally). St. Francis of Assisi was a very humble man. Humility is a great virtue for any person seeking holiness.

St. Justin Martyr's Letter

     This blog does not relate to my theme, but is related to theology. The letter was written about 150 A.D.

 

 What stood out? What stood out was where he St. Justin states that the Word makes "food" into flesh and blood with a prayer of His word. Our bodies are nourished by transmutation (the flesh and blood of Jesus).

 

 Why is the date important? The date is important because it shows that the Church's understanding of the Eucharist comes from tradition in the early Church.

 

 What does it tell you? The letter tells me that bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ. It tells me that even in persecutions the People of God gathered to celebrate the Eucharist, give thanksgiving, and worship the Lord.