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/>.

S1 Blog Response 6

My name is Jesus, When I was fifteen years old, I had lots of things I don't know, as innocent as other teenagers. Firstly, I don't know why I don't look like my father. My mother told me that she and my father had lived in the kingdom of Herod, but one day they decided to leave. King Herod is not a good king, he killed all the children who had threatened him to the throne, including his own son. That happened when I was born, maybe that's why they escaped,or maybe they left before that massacre. I really don't know.

Now we live in Egypt. Although we are newcomers, everyone in this town treats us nicely, because of my father, My father is a carpenter, everyone asks him for some small favors—making a new desk or repairing a broken chair. However, I have heard some gossip in his back that I am not his real son, we don't have any kinship at all. what a joke! If I am not his own son, why he be so nice to me? If I am not his own son, why he teaches me all his skills about being a carpenter? If I am not his son, why he never told me that? I guess gossip is human's instinct, same as jealous. That must be the reason they gossip. They envy me because I have a happy family and a happy life. But if people envy others, why don't they just say it directly in stead of being nice and gossip on one's back? I really don't know. 


I do have some friends, they’re all boys who have the same age with me. We hang out together and study in the same school. Sometimes when we joke around, they call me "boy born with star", I always pretend bing angry, and finally we all laughed. I don't know why they call me that way, I really don't know. 

On that time, I have some great friends, a happy family, and a peaceful life. I never thought that everything will be changed: my friends will go against me; my follower will betray me, and my real father will go talk to me. That's my happiest time in my life ever. 


citation:
Star. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zlVERffp5c8/maxresdefault.jpg>.

S1 Blog Response 4

• From my perspective, this parable project is really interesting and attractive, which also helps me learned lots of things. Our parable is The rich man and Lazarus, who is a poor guy. The Rich man and poor man are neighbors, during their lifetime, rich man treats poor man badly. After they died, rich man goes to the hell and poor man goes to the heaven, who can go serve Abraham. The rich man feels unfair about Abraham's decision, and Abraham told him that because poor man has not had the easy life during his lifetime. However, the rich man has had the easy and luxurious lifestyle and need to learn how to be kind to those below him. Then rich man asks Abraham to warn his brothers, so they don’t make the same mistakes he did when he didn’t treat Lazarus in the nicest way possible. Abraham says they can learn from your mistakes from Moses and the Prophets. The rich man believes this won’t work because they will repent these people in heaven. At the end, Abraham says if they won’t believe Moses, they will never learn how to be kind.
  
  
  

  From this parable, I learned being rich doesn't automatically means we can get into heaven. However, being kind does. Also, It is okay to be poor, as long as we are doing whatever we should be doing and be a good person. We always complain about our extraction, which may not give us enough money to buy whatever we want. However, we should focus more only our morality. Being a good person and treating other people the way we want to be treated is much more important than the materialism. 

  
  

  For me, the most impressive parable presentation is The Laborers in the Vineyard. Their skit is pretty related to our life and told us what exactly the parable wants to tell us. In another word, their scenario is a perfect example of the parable. I learned from their scenario that No matter the sequence we following God, God loves us equally. 

  
  

  The lesson which impacts me most is The Prodigal Son. It tells me that no matter how much people hurt us, we should forgive them at least for once. That lesson pretty related to my life. For example, In the past, When someone betrayed me or hurt me, I would not be her friend anymore. However, I think after learning this lesson, I will try to forgive them in the future. 
  
  If Jesus lives in nowadays, he probably is a moral leader, maybe the pope in the church, or the teacher in the school. He may not be that rich, but he will be happy every day because he is doing his favorite thing, teaching. He will have abundant followers, both in reality and the internet. He will also have his official facebook and Instagram account in order to teach us. 
  
  Citation:
  Pictures of Money. Digital image. N.p., 2 Aug. 2014. Web. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictures-of-money/17123251389>.
  
  Teaching and Learning Key Terms. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.ourlanguage.org/content-collection-teaching-and-learning>.

S1 Blog Response 5

A.C.T.S Prayer

Dear Lord, you are the person who saves the world, you are the person who guides my life. When I need your help, you always be with me. Please forgive me when I treat my friends badly and please forgive me when I give too many pressure to other people. Please also forgive me when I lie to someone, even it is for protecting her feeling. Thanks for your generousness of forgiving, and thanks for your generousness for everything. Thanks for the opportunity for good education, and thanks for the love comes from my family and friends. Dear God, please give me instruction while I am lost in life, and please give the blessing to my family and friends. Please bless me for getting into my dream college, and please bless me survive from my first sophomore final.

Citation:
How Accurate Is A Lie Detector Test. Digital image. UK Lie Detector Test. UK Lie Detector Test, 30 July 2015. Web. <https://www.ukliedetectortest.co.uk/accuracy/accurate-lie-detector-test-2/>.

S1 Blog Response 3

It is my first time to learn the four gospels, which real amazed me. Four gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They are all talking about Jesus, but in different aspects. For example, the purpose of Mark is to spread the more intimate parts of Jesus's life. And the perpose of Luke is to give a detailed narrative and account of Jesus's life and the truths about him.

Although I have never read them before, one which most resonates with me is the Luke. Not because the content, but because the relationship between the auther and Jesus. The author of gospel Luke is Luke himself. Although Luke was writing for people who was Christians, and wants to learn more about Christianity, Luke himself is not one of the apostle, he is not even a follower of Jesus. All his writing is relying on the information given to him by people who were eyewitnesses to the accounts and miracles of Jesus. 

Luke's experience told me that whatever you want to do, just do it. There is no limitation or requirement that he has to be a follower of Jesus in order to compose the gospel. Luke wrote the gospel only because he wants to do that. Lukes's experience recalled one of my personal experience. On the first day of my sophomore year, I decided to join a club. Fortunately, on the club fair, I found one of the club that I am interested in--robotic club. However, I had no experience on that field, so I was hesitate participating that club. Finally, I decided sign my name and join that club. Because there is no limitation of joining that club. Althought I knew nothing about coding or building or computer science, I can learn them by process, just like Luke listens to Juses's follower and compose the gospel Luke.

Citation:

Wilson, James. "Gospel of Luke Teaching Series." Northwest Baptist Church, 1 
     Feb. 2016, www.northwestbc.com/2016/02/01/gospel-of-luke-teaching-series/. 

"The Gospel." Crossroads Community Church, www.crossroadsframingham.com/sermons/ 
     series/gospel-for-everyone/. 

S1 Blog Response 2

From the class presentation, I figured out that my comprehension of Jesus is mostly right. Actually, most of my recognization of Jesus is same as the recognization of history. For example, the site of calvary is talk about the crucifixion of Jesus. I truly believe this story which is about Jesus is crucified because he is considered as a heretic. Because he wants to save the whole humanity from the sin, he doesn't resist and be nailed on the cross. That is what historians believe. However, the Church believe that because Jesus is the son of God, he has been told that God has a plan for him, he will be fine. Therefore, he does not revolt. There is no obvious evidence in history that can prove the existance of God, so apparently Jesus cannot be the son of God, also, he cannot be told that he will be fine because God has a plan for him. 

Also, from the group presentation, I learned that even the strongest person has the weak side. From the story" slaughter the innocent", we know that King Herod wants to kill Jesus in order to avoid the loss of his throne, However, because the angle told Juses stepfather escape to Egypt, Jesus survived. Therefore, even the savior may need the help of other's save.

This makes me remember a paradox, can God create a thing that he cannot hold. Because in our mind, God can do everything, then if he create that thing, he cannot hold it; If he cannot create that thing, he cannot do everything. No one is omnipotent, no matter how strong they are.

Image comes from:
"Seven Last Words Church of God in Christ Jesus." Clipartkid, 
     www.clipartkid.com. 

S1 Blog Response 1

From my perspective, Jesus is a phrase which both familiar and unfamilier, because I have heard thousand of times about Jesus. For example, when we express our excitement or shock, we always say, "Oh! Jesus!" However, I do not really get to know him. My family are not religious, so I never heard this word before I get into NDB. Therefore, my only comprehension is based on our religion class. From the previous class, I know that he is the the son of the God, who is chosen by his father to save the humankind. So Jesus comes down to the Earth and becomes a prophet. During his lifetime, he always teaches people how to be a better person. However, finally, he is killed by nailing on the cross on a Friday. After three days, he revive and back to the Heaven. I do believe all what we have been taught, except the part with God. Because there are no strong evidence which can prove that God really exist on the world, therefore, I don't believe that God is an actual person. So how can Jesus be the son of a person who don't exist on the world?