Are Sacraments Narrow Answers

1.      Ludwig’s problem is that he doesn’t understand the meaning of grace , impaired through the sacraments.

2.      The church is not thinking about grace when it comes to sacramentality when they don’t propose sacraments to deny God’s universal love to save us and the church doesn’t hold that un baptized people of good will denied salvation because they haven’t been baptized.

3.      The church is thinking about grace when it comes to sacramentality when they are against Christian sects who assert the damnation of people, the church is with force to sternly condemn any doctrine that limits the scope of God’s redemption to anything less than every soul created by God and they are careful to point out the salvation is essentially a relationship.

4.      God reveals and give to each individual human being his universally offered grace by the Incarnate Son of God; the church sacraments are an extension of his power and work in the world.

5.      The Christian doctrine that is the foundation for the sacraments is God’s omnipotent as well as his creation and communication, will, towards each human soul.

6.      The gobs of modern spirituality tell us that it often speaks as though God is sort of extended and will discredit himself the crudeness of matter. It also tells that to be spiritual is to be more or less ghostly and to dwell in the realm of institutions and concepts and secret mental revelations that are unknown to those who are less highly evolved.

7.      The Christian repudiation of such spiritual snobbery was declared good in the beginning of creation, but God has continued to manifest himself though it until God came into physical form of Jesus Christ, spirit, body and soul.

8.      No, in fact it was so that Jesus could rise from the dead and be resurrected so that there would be a renewal and redemption not just for our disembodied spirits. With Christ dying we are free from the bondage of decay and our soul will be able to go into heaven.

9.      Sacramental worldviews sees more than just a symbol in a sacrament because of God’s gracious power where he reveals himself through grace as the hands, breath, body, blood, spirit, soul and divinity of Christ. Also through artistic ways of poetry and paintings as well as lover imparts love through a physical kiss.

10.  What G.K. Chesterton means by what he said was the understanding between the sacramental real presence in the Eucharist and the universal grace of God through sacramentality, omnipotent, and the savior Christ who, because of him, saved us through his sacrifice and has open up heaven. Through Chesterton’s words he is reiterating everything said in this essay to emphasize the importance of God, grace and how He affects us.

11.  What grace does is allow people to see God through his symbols, know compassion, survival and access to God, and protection of a remainder to be saved, a chance in the holy place, new life, light to our eyes.

Religion Articles

"Sacraments: Introduction - Fulton Sheen"

         In this article it talked about a divine sense of humor that consisted of sacraments that are considered to be seen, tasted or touched and others which are unseen to the eyes of the flesh. What this means is that there is a relation between the two that have the physical word of God and then the spiritual implied meaning. An example is that a handshake is like a sacrament because there is something to be seen, felt, and namely, but there is something that is also mysterious and unseen the communication of friendship. The book of sacraments is written because man lives in a world that is too serious. Without faith in the spiritual, structural design can’t have symbolism. When man loses belief of the immortal soul the respect for humans decline. The two errors that mar our understanding of the natural world are to cut off entirely from Almighty God and to confound it substantially with Him. We have to look at the world more than what we can see, feel and touch, we have to see and understand the unseen and spiritual part.

 "Sacraments - Bible is Sacramental-Fulton Sheen"

            In this article it talked about how the bible is a sacrament in the way that it has a foreground and a background. The foreground are the people, cults, temples, wars, sufferings, and glories of man while the background was all pervading the presence of God as the Master, who subjects nation to judgment according to the obedience and misbehavior to moral law as well as the use of incidents for types of symbols that will reflect something that happened. The article also talks about how the word sacrament is translated in Greek means mystery and how the sacraments were also to become the effective sign of Jesus’ death. Lastly man is compared to a cow if we were only a biological organism, but we are different because we also have souls and a spiritual destiny that makes us unique.

 

 "Sacraments - What the Sacraments Bring to Man - Fulton Sheen"

            In this article it talks about how sacraments bring divine life or grace. This higher life which is divine is called grace because it is the free gift of God. The article goes on to mention that man lives at three different levels, the sensate, the intellectual, and the divine. The sensate represents those who deny any other reality except the pleasures that come from flesh. The intellectual level of existence is from a historian, scientist, humanist, journalist and a man who has brought to peak all of the powers of the human reason and will. Lastly the third level is grace, in which the human heart is expressed through truths that have unknown reasons.  The article also says there were two kinds of contacts, a visible contact with humanity in which Jesus’ power is communicated and an invisible contact where Jesus’ power works in miracles at a distance. The second contact is anticipation where Christ extends and communicates His power through the sacrament.

 

 "Sacraments-Seven Conditions of Life and Efficacy of the Sacraments-Fulton Sheen"

            In this article it talks about how in the physical or natural life requires seven conditions, but five of them refer to the person as an individual and that the other two as a member of society. The five conditions are one must be born in order to live, he must nourish himself, grow to maturity, he must have his wounds bound and healed, and if he has diseases traces of it must be driven out. The last two are he must live under government and justice in human relationship and he is called to propagate the human species. The article then talks about more conditions towards being a spiritual person and then conditions concerning visible signs and spiritual significance.

            The power and efficacy of the sacraments means that the sacraments deserve their power and efficacy from the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord. Blood is required to bring us the seven sanctification because life our blood as well as sin. Blood is considered to be the greatest symbol of sacrifice because blood is the life of man. Christ blood had an infinite value because He is a divine person.

            The article also talks about the application to the sacraments. It mentions that each of the seven channels of the sanctification of man. And how it is a sacrament by which the power of the Risen Christ is bestowed on souls by a spiritual and effective contact. The article also says that the blood of Christ applied at different moments of life can result in a different kind of power. Lastly the blood of Christ and its merits flood in upon the soul and depends on the one who is receiving it.

What is a Divine Sense of Humor?

What is a Divine Sense of Humor?

             The divine sense of humor is the ability to see through something. To be able to see more meaning in something that is said or even touched. A handshake or a kiss is considered something with meaning because a kiss is a symbol of love and faithfulness. While handshakes are considered a symbol of help or friendship. When the Archbishop is talking people are laughing because his words are intended more than just a material use of them, but as something more meaningful and that people can laugh to. The divine sense of humor is something that includes a physical or material use of words and objects as well as an invisible meaning that only a person with a divine sense of humor can see and understand. The invisible meaning is what makes our divine sense of humor possible because with it we have a deeper understanding of something said or about an object. An example is the word school, when someone hears this word they think of learning, test, teachers and clubs. The word school implies more than just the word, its meaning leads to several things that are all considered when you hear school. Another example is a comedian, they talk about situations in their life or in general, but the situation are suppose to be funny because what the comedian is saying has an invisible meaning intended for people to laugh. In the end, our divine sense of humor is intended for us to understand the physical and invisible meaning of life, objects, or even words.

Justification and Grace examples from The River

Justification

An example for 1987:

Mrs. Connin is going to take Harry toa a religious healing at the river with a preacher named Bevil.

An example for 1988:

Harry reflects on how he is glad that he has been able to leave his own home with this babysitter and has discovered that "he had been made by a carpenter named Jesus Christ," a name he thought was a curse because of the way it was used in his household. Mrs. Connin gave him a children's book about Jesus’ life to look at and to be able to understand.

An example for 1989:

They arrive at the river, where Bevil the preacher begins to speak. He tells the people that if they have come just to be healed and to "leave your pain in the river," then they have come for the wrong reasons and not for Jesus.

An example for 1990:

Mrs. Connin tells the preacher, Bevil, that she has brought a boy from town who has not been baptized. He dunks Harry in the water, baptizing him.

An example for1991:

Mrs. Connin calls out to the preacher saying that they need to pray for the boy's mother, who is sick. But, when Bevel asks Harry what his mother suffers from, he answers, "She has a hangover."

An example for 1992:

Then the preacher shouted, ''Listen to what I got to say, you people! 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!''

An example 1993:

The preacher tells Harry before baptism ''You won't be the same again,'' the preacher said. “You'll count.”  Meaning he will be a part of the faith and be able to be invited and go to the Kingdom of God.

 

An example for 1994:

When Mrs. Connin returns to the house to drop off Harry she gets in an arugument with the boy’s mother saying “he Baptized this child this morning!''His mother sat straight up. “Well the nerve!'' she muttered.“Furthermore,'' Mrs. Connin said, ''he’s a healer and he prayed for you to be healed.'' ''Healed!'' she almost shouted.  “Healed of what for Christ's sake?'' “Of your affliction,'' Mrs. Connin said angrily. This shows justification of sinner and wicked.

 

An example for 1995:

            Harry leaves the house to returns to the spot where he had been baptized the day before, and goes into the river, aiming to find the Kingdom of Christ and drowns. Harry saw the tastelessness and dissatisfaction of life in the physical world compared to life with Christ and with the ignorance of a child; he left his parents to join the Father who welcomed him with open arms.

Grace

An example for 1996:

            The people come to the river for a favor to be healed of their problems and sickness like cancer or a disorder that makes an old women’s arms flap and her head wobble for thirteen years. The preacher talks about “Listen,'' he sang, “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! All these things he talks about are favors.

An example for 1997:

            The preacher, Bevil, doing the baptizing is participating in the life of God by curing the sick and cleansing the sinners as well as preaching the word of God as well as the Kingdom of Heaven.

An example for 1998:

When the preacher is talking to the people he tells them about these stories that the same blood that makes this River red, made that leper clean, made that blind man stares, made that dead man leap!  The people with trouble, “lay it in that River of Blood, lay it in that River of Pain, and watch it move away toward the Kingdom of Christ.''

 

 

An example for 1999:

When the preacher baptizes the boy he says “If I baptize you, you'll be able to go to the Kingdom of Christ.  You'll be washed in the river of suffering, son, and you'll go by the deep river of life.  Do you want that?'' This will heal the boy of sin and he agrees to be baptized.

An example for 2000:

            Harry gets the gift of being knowledge about Jesus and religion as well as be counted, meaning that he will be able to enter the Kingdom of God. He is also accepted into the religion once he is baptized.

An example for 2001:

             In preparation for Harry to be a part of the religion he learns about Jesus through a children’s book that Mrs. Connin gives him to look at and she takes him to the river of healing where they meet the preacher and listen to him talk before Harry agrees to be baptized.

An example for 2002:

            Throughout the story each character has the freedom of choice such as Harry lying about his name, Mr. Paradise being skeptical about the preachers miracles as well as Mrs. Connin to get Harry more involved with religion through baptism. One other example is the preacher telling people off on why they really come to the river instead of Jesus.

An example for 2003:

            Harry achieves Grace in death, since he chooses to strive for salvation rather than live in the unreligious household with his parents who are considered sinners of the story as well as people of no faith.

An example for 2004:

            When Harry goes to Mrs.Connin’s house this is where he learns religion and is informed from what he has been deprived of. The family that he sees is very religious and has good faith in Jesus as well as being a model of the Christian life and teachings. Through being baptized, having books that mention the learning and understanding Christ as well as visiting the preacher.

An example for 2005:

            When Harry is being babysat by Mrs.Connin he escapes his experience of  life and what he know to someone who is educated in the religion as well as understanding grace through faith. Harry and his family know nothing of faith and close to the end when Mrs. Connin drops Harry off she realizes this and what this boy has been robbed of. It is one of the main reasons Harry fails to understand Bevil's preaching’s and drowns himself in the River.

 

                                           

 

 

The Man Without a Face Movie

"The Man Without a Face" was a very good movie that showed an unexpected friendship and bond between two different people, a boy and a man.  The movie showed how a man who excommunicates himself from his town because of his looks and be alone can have so many made up stories and false rumors portraying him in a bad and scary way. While at the same time a young boy named Chuck is dealing with the problem of not getting into the boarding academy as well as the mystery of what happened to his father. They both stumble across each other when chuck accidentally leaves his books on McLeod’s property and learns he is an ex teacher. At first chuck seems to be scared and interested in the man and thought of him as repulsive and mean as well as his teaching abilities pointless, but through time they develop a friendship where the fear and disgust is gone. They develop their relationship with each other through learning and getting to know each other.

Chuck has gone through life as being considered the family “retard” where learning has become an issue especially when reminded by his older half sister. Chuck is perceived as misunderstood and dump because of the dull look on his face when he spaces out. Life hasn’t been the best for him especially because of his older half sister who shows great hatred towards him and his unknown father, that later you figure out he was addicted to alcohol and died in a mental institution. Chuck wants to go to a boarding academy to escape from his family and life with his mother and two half sisters, but his grades don’t meet the requirements for getting in.

McLeod is a guy that is a loner in the town and is also misunderstood because of his appearance and lack of communication. He is an ex-teacher who taught at an academy and has a disfigured face from a burn that was a result from a car crash. Everyone is frightened and curious about who he really is and what he does. The adults think he is a murder or has been active in crimes and the children call him hamburger face and make up scary stories about him. McLeod is scary towards children from his appearance and makes it hard to find trust in him. He is also hard to communicate with because he tends to be alone and has no one to talk to.

By fait these two crossed paths and Chuck learned to overcome his fears of McLeod appearance and be able to see the good within as well as the knowledge and kindness he has to offer. Not only does chuck overcome his fear and learn to trust McLeod, McLeod learns to trust others and to become more active again with other instead of subjecting himself toward people. Throughout this movie the two form their friendship through learning and getting to know each other and challenges of their past. McLeod can be seen as a father figure in Chuck’s life, that he is deprived of, that he needed. Also Chuck learns to see a person more than their appearance because he even says that he’s gotten to know McLeod and spend time with him that he doesn’t even see the scares on his face. Through their time spent with each other and the information taught to Chuck you see that he can trust McLeod because they have become so close in their friendship and understand each other and their problems from the outside world.

Chuck surpasses his fear and doubt that was raised by the rumors by getting to know McLeod and to bond with him through learning. Chuck saw that he was a teacher and was able to really get over his fear by having McLeod tutor him. Through their learning experience the two get to know each other and connect. When the movie starts to come to the end people start to perceive their relationship as odd and make accusations like McLeod is molesting Chuck or trying to compare McLeod’s previous pupil, who died in the car crash that he was in. it so important for McLeod that Chuck not "cheat" on the problem of using his freedom to decide on his own whether the rumors are true because Chuck should know that through their time together that no rumor that was ever said was true because they both knew the truth about each other. In the end the movie was very good and was really interesting between the boy and the man as well as their connection to each other.

What does it mean to know something?

        Knowledge is information on something particular that is either obtained by our minds or misunderstood. It is the idea that helps us understand what things are and their meaning. To know something is to be aware of and develop the idea of what it is through information or sources pertaining to a plans, proposals, or thoughts. When you know something it means you recognize what something is and the idea that portrays. A good example is the Nike logo because when you see it you know, understand, what it is as well as get the idea that it’s a company that makes shoes and athletic wear/ equipment. Just by a check mark you know that its Nikes because the industry portrays itself to the public in a way where  it markets  athletic wear/ equipment and shoes so that next time you see the symbol you recognize it because it creates in our minds an association of what the symbol means, Nike.  Also when you know something you can easily relate to it. This can mean when you go out to a party without your parent’s consent and you get caught, you get in a lot of trouble and you go through different emotions and regrets. While a week later your friend gets busted for the same thing, at that moment you can relate to how he must feel and understand the regrets and emotions he’s going through. Knowing something is the feeling of I recognize, understand what’s that symbol means or I am aware of the situation you’re in because I can relate to a similar one. To know is to experience what you have learned through life and the understanding of what you have yet to learn or be familiar with.

"Cathedral" by Raymond Carver

     In the story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, the narrator says that his wife’s blind friend is going to spend the night at their house. He isn’t happy about man and his blindness unsettles him. The wife met the blind man ten years ago when she was working for him as a reader to the blind in Seattle. The narrator describes his wife’s past, saying that she married her childhood sweetheart and became an officer’s wife. She became unhappy with her life, she tried to commit suicide one night by swallowing pills, but she survived. She and the blind man kept in touch by sending audiotapes back and forth to each other throughout her marriage, and she told everything to the blind man on tapes.


      Before they meet the friend the wife reminds him that the blind man’s wife, Beulah, just died and says to welcome the blind man into their home. The narrator inappropriately asks if Beulah was “Negro,”and her response was asking if the narrator was drunk. She then tells him more about Beulah. Beulah became the blind man’s reader after the narrator’s wife stopped working for him, and they eventually got married and unfortunately after eight years she died from cancer. The narrator thinks how awful it must have been for Beulah to know that her husband could never look at her.


        The narrator’s wife goes to pick up the blind man at the train station as the narrator waits at the house. When they arrive, he watches his wife laughing and talking with the blind man as she leads him by the arm to the house and is shocked that the blind man has a full beard. They are introduced to each other and we learn that the blind man’s name is Robert. They sit down for dinner and eat, not speaking, awkwardly until they finish. After dinner, they go back to the living room to drink more scotch where the wife and Robert talk about things that have happened to them in the past ten years, while the narrator occasionally tries to join in. He learns that Robert and Beulah had run an Amway distributorship and that Robert is a ham radio operator. The wife later goes upstairs to change clothes and is gone for quite awhile. The narrator then offers Robert some pot, and they smoke a joint. The wife joins them when she comes back saying she’s going to just sit with them on the couch with her eyes closed, but instead falls asleep. At this time the narrator changes the channel and asks Robert if he wants to go to bed, but Robert decides to stay up so they can talk some more. They begin to watch a program about the Middle Ages on television. The narrator asks Robert whether he has any idea what a cathedral looks like. Robert says he doesn’t and asks the narrator to describe one. The narrator tries, but he knows he doesn’t do a very good job. Robert asks him if he’s religious, and the narrator says he doesn’t believe in anything his reason for not describing the cathedral is because cathedrals are meaningless for him.


        Robert asks the narrator to find a piece of paper and pen, he and the narrator sit around the coffee table, and Robert tells the narrator to draw a cathedral. He puts his hand over the narrator’s hand, following the movement of the pen. The narrator draws and draws, getting wrapped up in what he’s doing. His wife wakes up and asks what’s going on and Robert answers that they’re drawing a cathedral. The wife doesn’t understand and they continue to draw the cathedral with their eyes closed and he goes through an experience that he knows he is in his home, but he feels like he is nowhere. In the end he doesn’t open his eyes to the picture and keeps his eyes closed.


       The story was really interesting and enjoying to read. You learn a lesson from this story and you realize that we are lucky to have all of our senses and to be able to see the beauty of the world as well as not be grateful when there are those who can’t have the same experience. This story was touching and really went in-depth with a lot of meaning when they both drew the cathedral and you can tell there was a lot of emotions and realization of a new way of seeing things. This story was great and it had a great meaning behind it between the blind guy and the narrator.




1. The narrator was not really happy to meet the blind man because the blindness makes him uneasy and that he jealous because he knows that his wife and the blind man has a strong relationship with his wife. His feelings reveal about his character is that he is the type to get jealous over his wife and that he doesn’t like blind people.


2. Yes I do believe it is possible to read the experience the narrator’s wife had of Robert touching her face as an experience of being “seen” by him because it is not uncommon for blind people to want to touch other peoples face to see them, that’s how they can visualize what you look like to them. Writing of poetry relates her desire to be seen because she is expressing her personal thought and ideas which relates to being seen in a way through her words. Her attempted suicide also relates to her desire to be seen because she how her emotions and struggles and what kind of person she can become when unhappy with her life, she is showing the world that she has been through rough patches in her life and was able to pull through and find happiness.


3. What it means to receive another’s friend is that you’re welcoming them with your best behavior and being nice to them. You’re treating them with respect they deserve and not annoying or talk negatively towards them because there your friends or family’s friend.


4. I think that Robert “saw” Beulah because they both were very much in love and where happy with each other. What it means, more deeply, to see and be seen is that Robert not only touched her physically but was also able to see her beauty through her soul by her lovingness towards Robert as well as their happiness together. He was able to see her inner beauty as well through her commitment and love knowing that her husband wouldn’t ever be able to see her physically.


5. The characters smoke pot to relax and just chill out. There is no specific reason they smoke it except that they want to get high and this doesn’t reveal any of their desire because the narrator and Robert just start to talk and stay up watching TV. This could reveal that the desire is that The blind man wants to talk to the narrator now that they are starting to feel comfortable with each other.


6. Churches reveal many things about the culture of God because it is a setting where there are murals, stain glass, carved objects that were considered holy and to tell a story relating to how great God is and this is because churches are beautifully built to show that it’s God’s house as well as have things relating towards religion and God’s culture from the bible.


7. The narrator has a difficulty describing the cathedral because they don’t mean anything to him and because he not a religious person. At the end of the story the narrator draws the cathedral in his head and sees that, but when he keeps his eyes closed he doesn’t feel like he is in anything when he knows he is inside his house in that moment he realizes what it feels like to be blind.