S2 Blog Response 13

Pope Francis

While watching the video, I was shocked by Pope Francis' humbleness. As a Pope, who is a symbol of the holy and spiritual leader of numerous followers, he could easily bend down, wash and kiss a man's feet. Impact by the history of middle age, Pope in my mind is a person who holds the great power and has an inviolable position in no matter the church community or the real society. However, in order to follow and imitate Jesus' teach, Pope Francis could bring down his position, even lower than a plain adherent, which really impressed and surprised me. 

Pope Francis is really a person who cares about people, in "The Joy of the Gospel", He wrote that "We(the Church) need to engage the world, not separate from it. As we take our message forth, we need to simplify it and use less churchy language. " Pope Francis express that not only himself but also the entire church needs to bend down and cares about every ordinary individual.

Pope Francis is different. After he became the pope, he still adheres to pick up the phone by himself and take public transportation. As a pope, rather than pedestaling himself so high up that individual connect with him, he comes down to people and communicates with them even face to face. I cannot forget the scene in the documentary that shows the surprising of a couple called Pope Francis and got the response of pope Francis himself asking the phone. Picking up the phone by himself would definitely expand the workload, however, pope Francis did that, not only because he wants to eliminate the estrangement between the clergy and normal follower, but also because he cares about people. He wants to know what does people think about the church, about the society and about him.

I hope that nowadays, Catholic Church can show more inclusive attitude toward the minority, especially LGBT groups. Because lots of people, especially Christian, oppose the homosexual relationship because based on the bible, it is immoral to love a person who has the same sex. However, It also said in the bible that God create the world; animals were born in the way they look like right now. Nevertheless, based on modern science, we all know the existence of the earth is because of the big bang, and all animals went through the evolution to get the way they look like today. Bible is not right all the time, it also shouldn't be the credo of someone's life. If pope Francis could show his attitude toward the minority, I will definitely appreciate. 

Citation:
https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2016/12/20/looking-back-2016-year-surprises-pope-francis/
https://www.treehugger.com/slideshows/public-transportation/jorge-mario-bergoglio-aka-pope-francis-1st-subway/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_flag_(LGBT_movement)

S2 Blog Response 12

The thing that I interested the most about the history of Notre Dame is that we used to be a boarding school. Although I knew that fact at my first day of my freshmen year in Notre Dame, it still hard to image the life of living on the Notre Dame campus. Especially when we mentioned that our classroom used to be a dorm, I felt really surprised. I am pretty sure that it definitely was a totally different layout but still, it is really impressive. 

 The thing that impressed me most is the feeling of being welcomed. When they told us why they chose NDB, they all mentioned the feeling of being welcomed. I cannot appreciate more. On my first day in NDB, I was totally messed up. My English was so terrible that I cannot understand the lecture; My uniform was not shipped yet, I wore my casual clothes to school, which made my looks so weird; Also, I had no friends here, which means I had to have lunch by myself. However, when I hesitated about where should I sit, a bunch of international students invited me to sit with them and have lunch with them. I was so surprised because we never met before. I knew how hard to talk to a person that I never met before, but she did it so normally like she was talking to her friends. Since that time, I started to like this school. When Mrs. Wallace mentioned her experience in NDB, it immediately arousal my memory of my first day. 

 Learned from the first day in NDB, I started to be welcome to everyone, no matter who they are. Yesterday, I heard from Raena that we are going to have 8 new coming international students, and immediately I asked her if I can get their number or any social media. Because I knew the feeling of being welcomed, I want them to feel the exactly what I felt, which is also a culture of NDB, being welcome to everyone. 

 The girl I mentioned on the second paragraph names Jacy Sun, after that talk, we got closer and closer and now she is my best friend ever. On her last year, which is my freshmen year, she shadowed lots of freshmen international students and acted as a perfect model of NDB student. On her graduation party, I cried so badly not only because my best friend was gone for college in New York, but also because I lost my best sister. Yes, sisterhood is the central value of being an NDB student. no matter where I am, no matter how old I am, I will never forget the time of aquacade, not only when we compete with each other, but also led by the junior, we beat the sophomore when we were freshmen. I remember that I heard an NDB girl got a free coffee because she wore NDB uniform and the lady next to her is an alumna. 

Citation:

https://www.askideas.com/25-best-welcome-pictures-and-photos/

http://upliftconnect.com/reviving-ancient-sisterhood/

https://ndhsb.schooladminonline.com/users/sign_in

S2 Blog Response 11

Church History 

Roman Persecution is the event that I most interested in. Jews were merciless toward the Christians only because they worshiped different Gods. Christians need to hide their faith in order to survive and fit into the majority. Sounds pretty familiar, right? When Mia mentioned the situation of Christians at that time, immediately I related that with the life of minorities, being more specific, homosexuality. They cannot come out because of other's disdainful stares. Although we call for equality all the time, but there is not a place that everyone is equal. Rather ironically, the group that was despised during the 3rd century became the group that despises other in the 21 century. Unfortunately, in the 3rd century, Christians still have someone who saved them, letting them able to show their cross under the sunshine, but nowadays, it seems to be impossible for every homosexual couples to hold each other's hand under the sunshine, in front of the public. 

 According to the previous paragraph, the person who I adore most is Constantine. Not because his excellent caliber of ruling the country, but his firm of making Christianity legitimate. Although he was the Emperor of the Rome, which means is the most powerful man, certainly, he still needed to face the challenge of going against the majority. I don't how much pressure he withstood, but he did it. He successfully makes the Christianity a legal religion of Rome, which is the foundation of all the subsequent booming. 

 Because homosexual marriage is still illegal in China, I want to be the person just like Constantine, who changed the life of some people. I have some friends in China who is homosexual. Although in China, homosexuality is acceptable, they still want to stay in the closet. That is the way they chose to live, I have no right to judge, but I do think if homosexual marriage is legal, their ways to live will be change. 

Approximately 3 years ago, I didn't get the feeling of being different and did some terrible things toward my friend. I knew that he was angry maybe also disappointed, but instead of being furious, he told me to do an experience with him. Say that you have a really embarrassed illness, for example, dermatophytosis. Every time when people talks about something related to feet, even something not quite unrelated, like pedicure or massage, you will think that people may know that you have that illness and trying to humiliate you. That is how homosexual people's feel. They worried about people discovered their sexual orientation and the aftermath. After that, every time when I get a sense of someone's sexual orientation, instead of being insolent, I chose to send them my blessing. 

citation:
Sanidopoulos, John. "MYSTAGOGY RESOURCE CENTER." Saint Constantine the Great Resource Page. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.
Posted by Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, Department of Architecture and Design Michelle Millar Fisher, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture and Design. "MoMA | MoMA Acquires the Rainbow Flag." InsideOut. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

S2 Blog Response 10

Marian Apparitions and Resilience

I learned a lot from this chapter. I always think that religion only focus on God or Jesus or other devine males, but after studying this unit, I knew that people also worship Virgin Mary because she is the mother of Jesus and she can bring people's petition to Jesus. Every time, her apparition is not for personal benefits, but for human's general good. For example, in Our Lady of Guadalupe, she appeared and claimed that "And it is my wish that here, there be raised to me a temple in which, as a loving mother to thee and those like thee, I shall show my tender clemency and the compassion I feel for the natives and for those who love and seek me, for all who implore my protection, who call on me in their labors and afflictions: and in which I shall hear their weeping and their supplications that I may give them consolation and relief." She wants a temple not because she wants human's worship, but to provide a place to hear human's supplication.

In Our Lady of Guadalupe, when Juan Diego want asking the Catholic Church to build a temple for Virgin Mary because she asked to do so, the Catholic Church didn't believe his saying. Then when Juan Diego came back to the mountain of Tepeyac, Virgin Mary was there again. She told Juan Diego don't gove up and try asking again. I think that related to resilience because when we are in our down position, what we always do is to give up. However, if we want to back to the top, instead of giving up, we should give another try.

Just like the example I used above, I consider myself as being resilient because when I was down, I didn't give up. As a foreigner, the professional vocabulary on Biology and the tedious lab report for chemistry are my most challengeable assignment. I need to pay more effort than others to learn how to deal with it. I remember it so clearly, once I wrote a 7 pages lab report, and got an C- on my PowerSchool and cried for almost an hour. I almost dropped that class, but I remember how hard I tried to get double science. And therefore, I kept trying hard in that class, my effort sustains my through my first semester and had an A on my transcript.

Citation:
Joline Strömberg. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.
Battad, Do. "Our Lady of Guadalupe - Message of Trust and Hope." Our Lady of Guadalupe - Message of Trust and Hope. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

S2 Blog Response 9

Apostles: Suffering

1. Every story in this unit tells me that people learn their lessons during their suffering. During their suffering, some of them insist what they believed; some of them hesitate, feel ambiguous about their faith. However, when they get the message from the God, they are even more firm than before. For example, in Acts 5:12-41, When two men were put in jail, they were restless and unable to sit still. However, after Angle came and get them out, the priest tells them don't preach the God, they insist what they believe is right. 
2. All the stories are equally inspiring for me. They are all about believing, suffering, hesitating, and persisting. For example, when Paul was abused and hurt by the Jews, instead of blaming Jews or giving up his faith, after hesitating, he continues his beliefs, which inspired me, because I give things up all the time. When I meet the bottleneck or go against by other people, I start to doubt myself and finally compromise. However, learned from the bible, I should not give up just because of the judgment. I can be the person who I wanna be. 
3.  On the first month of my sophomore year, my life was totally messed up. I was taking double science and both the class is not easy. As a foreigner, the professional vocabulary on Biology and the tedious lab report for chemistry are my most challengeable assignment. I need to pay more effort than others to learn how to deal with it. I remember it so clearly, once I wrote a 7 pages lab report, and got an C- on my PowerSchool and cried for almost an hour. I almost dropped that class, but I remember how hard I tried to get double science. And therefore, I kept trying hard in that class, my effort sustains my through my first semester and had an A on my transcript.
4. When I hit the wall, I always go the find my family, as well as my friends. They always comfort me. Also, when I facing some academic problems, I would like to talk with my counselor and my teachers, they always give helpful advice. 

Citation:

Patterson, Chelsea. "Suffering: For God's Glory and Your Good." TGC - The Gospel Coalition. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2017.

"ELA HELP." Goossenclass. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2017.

S2 Blog Response 8

Disciples Project

Based on the title of this class, Church History, I think we supposed to learn some complicated information of various church, kind of like what we did in History. However, Ms. Menzel always surprise me. We learned the stories of twelve disciples. For our group, we did Judas, the betrayer of Jesus. He was one of the most famous disciples, in a bad way, notable for his betrayal. His name was always related with betrayer. just like Brutus in Julius Caesar. We learned how did he become a disciple and why Jesus chose him, which is kind of surprised. Jesus knew that Judas will betray him, he chose him in order to fulfill the scripture.

However, I was surprised by some thought upon him. Some people thinks that he is a good man because he causes the death of Jesus, which fulfill God's scripture and save the human being. Although he betrayed Jesus, but that is his fate, just like Jesus has to die due to his mission. There is no right or wrong, people just do what they supposed to do. No matter it is a virtue or vice. I think it is a really interesting point because as I know this man, everyone told me that he is bad, he is a betrayer of Jesus. Sometimes it is OK to come up with another opinion, even though it go against everyone's belief. It's just a thought, isn't it?

Most common characteristics of those disciples are their persistence. They insisted what they think is right, followed who they think is worth to follow. When Jesus was crucified, some of them died beside Jesus, or die in the same way as Jesus' died, upside down. Some of them were martyred, died because of their faith. They can die for what they believed.

At this point, I feel that I am similar but also different with those disciples. I insist what I believed, but not able to die for it. When the thing I believed challenged by the society or the majority, I might be hesitating or doubt myself.
Citation:
Uncategorized. The Last Supper. 26 Sept. 2014. Eddiecrosby, Accessed 23 Jan. 2017. 
 eddiecrosby.wordpress.com/2014/09/26/the-last-supper-ca-149294-1498/.
The Death of Judas. United State Conference of Catholic Bishops, www.usccb.org/ 
     bible/matthew/27. Accessed 23 Jan. 2017. 

S1 Blog Response 7

If we followed our beatitude, the world would be much more peaceful, For example, the sixth beatitude expresses that "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy", which means As we are merciful to other, Our father will be merciful to us. What you give people will finally come back to you. Everything is mutual and equal, just like what we say in "our father" the prayer. "forgive us trespasses, as we forgive he who trespasses against us."

In order to follow the beatitude during our lives, we need to give up lots of things. For example, our arrogance. we need to be humble and appreciate that all of the blessings come from the God. We need to be grateful all the time. Just like the first beatitude "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

However, living with beatitude doesn't mean everyone needs to live exactly based the beatitude. We can still do whatever we want, as long as it's followed the beatitude. When we achieve something, we can still be proud of ourselves, but just remember that It is a blessing that we can live in a society which allows we go to school and get the education. It is a gift from God. They do not contradict each other.

Following Beatitube is not that easy. I tried to live my life following the Beatitube  It wasn't hard, but not easy as well. When someone offensed me by purpose, I needed to forgive her and still treated her nicely. That made me kind of unhappy that time, because I cannot really forgave her and acted like nothing happened. It just like after we pinning a nail into the wall, when we remove that nail, there is still a hole on the wall. However, when I think over that day, I still feel proud of myself, because forgive is a virtue to live with. Additionally, I lived my day following Beatitube.


Citation:
Love. Digital image. Julie Lefebure. N.p., 16 Oct. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2016. <http://www.julielefebure.com/love-includes-forgiveness/>.
Grateful and Thankful Quotes. Digital image. QuotesAddicts. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2016. <http://quoteaddicts.com/i/3400300>.
Brave Strong Quotes. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2016. <https://www.pinterest.com/explore/you-are-amazing/>.