This page will focus on the my thoughts and reflections on what I found compelling about God the Father and Jesus Christ. This page will also be a "blog-style" page where I just write about how I felt when learning about Catholicism.
From Catholicism~
There are so many aspects of the Catholic religion that I found and still find compelling. Catholicism is such a broad and vast religion with so much history that it is hard just to pick out a few things to write about that are compelling.
The Holy Trinity. When I first learned what the Holy Trinity was about 10 years ago I did not understand it and I could not wrap my head around what it was. I still feel the same sometimes today. When someone hears that there are three "beings" in one person, one might think that Catholicism is a polytheistic religion. When we learned about the Holy Trinity in class I started to wonder the same thing. I was contemplating this idea when I took a look at my Wolfpack baseball team. People root for one team like people worship the Trinity. People also root for different members of the team like people worship different parts of the Trinity. The Trinity is a "team", per se, and the Father, the Son, and the Son are its players. I think that the Holy Spirit is the single most complex and compelling thing in the Catholic religion. The Trinity is truly an amazing thing that makes Catholicism one of the most unique religions. The Trinity is the basis of the Catholic religion and it really what the religion is about. Everyday, we pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This means that we are praying in the name of the Holy Spirit every time we pray.
God the Father is what everything revolves around. God created everyone and everything. To anyone, this is compelling. How could one man create the entire universe as we know it? Well the truth is that we do not know. This is why I find God so compelling. He is so compelling because he is just one ginat mystery. Nobody knows anything about him and no one will ever know anything about him. He is the single greatest creature that there ever was. He is the reason why I am alive. He is the reason why everyone is alive. God created us in his image and likeness. Therefore, God wants us to he like him. God sent his son, Jesus to the Earth so that we could be like him. He sent Jesus to the Earth so that he could be a role model for us. This beings me to my next point - the incarnation.
The incarnation is such a fascinating and compelling topic. The incarnation was when Jesus took on human flesh and came into the world to be a role model for us. This is so amazing that God took on human fllesh and came down to the Earth. There are many speculations about this though. Someone from Hinduism might say that this is impossible because they would believe that God coming to the Earth would mean that he was not God anymore. However, this is not true. God came to the Earth and was still able to be God. He preformed miracles that proved he was was God. He was crucified, he died, he was burried, and he was resurrected. How else would he not be God? I find this topic very compeling because of all of the questions that it raises. The questions make me really think and reflect about who God really is. The topic of the incarnation really challenges me to think about how my life would be if God had not taken on human flesh and came to Earth. If he did not take human flesh and come to Earth, I would not be writing this right now.
From Other Covered Religions~
I found things compelling and very interesting in some of the other religions that we covered this year, other than Catholicism. In Hinduism, I found the belief in 330 million gods so fascinating. I don't know anyone who would not think that this is interesting and compelling. This is so interesting to me because of my monotheistic beliefs. I was raised Catholic so I found it very out of the norm when I hear a religion that has a few gods, but 330 million Gods just blew me away! After learning about this for a while I began to realize that all of the god's essences are essentially one. This got me thinking about the Holy Trinity. The 330 million gods and the Holy Trinity share a lot in common. There are different part of it, but it is essentially one, just like my baseball team that I mentioned before.
In Buddhism, I found that Vajrayana Buddhism was the coolest division of Buddhism. Vajrayana Buddhism is practiced throughout the world, but it is mainly practiced in Tibet because of its secluded location, a must for someone who is wanting to practice Vajrayana Buddhism. Vajrayana Buddhists believe that the physical has an effect on the spiritual, and that, in turn, the spiritual has an effect on the physical. This means that what you do on the outside will have an effect on what happens to on the inside and vice versa. I think that this is so compelling because of what is needed to be a part of the religion. I, personally, think that being away from everyone and everything is very interesting. I think that by getting away from everything, one can focus on prayer, meditation, and they really get an understanding of who they really are.
In Judaism, I found the observance of Shabbat to be the most interesting thing that we covered. Until I took this course, I did not know that on Shabbat, no one is allowed to do any kind of work, open up the refrigerator, or even turn on (or off) the TV! This last part was the part that really struck me. I think that most of people's lives today revolve around the TV. The TV is where we get our news, our gossip, and even where we go to enjoy ourselves. Jews cannot turn on their TVs on the Sabbath because it is seen as an act of work. Likewise, if their TV is on, they cannot turn it off or change the channel, which is also an act of work. This shows that to be a Jew is no joke. They take their religion very seriously and do not question why they have to do the things that they have to do.
Finally, in Islam, I found the holiday of Ramadan very fascinating. During the holiday of Ramadan, Muslims are to fast from sun up to sun down. That is, not eating all day or doing anything of pleasure. As a Catholic, I am familiar with fasting, but have never really done it before. I know a few Muslims who are younger than me who fast all day during Ramadan and I think to myself that this religion is very serious about what they believe in. As like Judaism, they take their religion very seriously and do not question why they have to do something.
Overall, I think that this was a very successful year and I learned a lot from it. I now go in to more things with an open mind because I know the background of it. I think that if I hadn't learned what I learned this year, I would still be in a shell from the outside world. All religions have different components that make them unique, yet similar to each other. I hope you enjoyed this website and I will finish with the same quote that I started with. "The essence of all religions is one, only their approaches are different." -Mahatma Ghandi.
The Holy Trinity. When I first learned what the Holy Trinity was about 10 years ago I did not understand it and I could not wrap my head around what it was. I still feel the same sometimes today. When someone hears that there are three "beings" in one person, one might think that Catholicism is a polytheistic religion. When we learned about the Holy Trinity in class I started to wonder the same thing. I was contemplating this idea when I took a look at my Wolfpack baseball team. People root for one team like people worship the Trinity. People also root for different members of the team like people worship different parts of the Trinity. The Trinity is a "team", per se, and the Father, the Son, and the Son are its players. I think that the Holy Spirit is the single most complex and compelling thing in the Catholic religion. The Trinity is truly an amazing thing that makes Catholicism one of the most unique religions. The Trinity is the basis of the Catholic religion and it really what the religion is about. Everyday, we pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This means that we are praying in the name of the Holy Spirit every time we pray.
God the Father is what everything revolves around. God created everyone and everything. To anyone, this is compelling. How could one man create the entire universe as we know it? Well the truth is that we do not know. This is why I find God so compelling. He is so compelling because he is just one ginat mystery. Nobody knows anything about him and no one will ever know anything about him. He is the single greatest creature that there ever was. He is the reason why I am alive. He is the reason why everyone is alive. God created us in his image and likeness. Therefore, God wants us to he like him. God sent his son, Jesus to the Earth so that we could be like him. He sent Jesus to the Earth so that he could be a role model for us. This beings me to my next point - the incarnation.
The incarnation is such a fascinating and compelling topic. The incarnation was when Jesus took on human flesh and came into the world to be a role model for us. This is so amazing that God took on human fllesh and came down to the Earth. There are many speculations about this though. Someone from Hinduism might say that this is impossible because they would believe that God coming to the Earth would mean that he was not God anymore. However, this is not true. God came to the Earth and was still able to be God. He preformed miracles that proved he was was God. He was crucified, he died, he was burried, and he was resurrected. How else would he not be God? I find this topic very compeling because of all of the questions that it raises. The questions make me really think and reflect about who God really is. The topic of the incarnation really challenges me to think about how my life would be if God had not taken on human flesh and came to Earth. If he did not take human flesh and come to Earth, I would not be writing this right now.
From Other Covered Religions~
I found things compelling and very interesting in some of the other religions that we covered this year, other than Catholicism. In Hinduism, I found the belief in 330 million gods so fascinating. I don't know anyone who would not think that this is interesting and compelling. This is so interesting to me because of my monotheistic beliefs. I was raised Catholic so I found it very out of the norm when I hear a religion that has a few gods, but 330 million Gods just blew me away! After learning about this for a while I began to realize that all of the god's essences are essentially one. This got me thinking about the Holy Trinity. The 330 million gods and the Holy Trinity share a lot in common. There are different part of it, but it is essentially one, just like my baseball team that I mentioned before.
In Buddhism, I found that Vajrayana Buddhism was the coolest division of Buddhism. Vajrayana Buddhism is practiced throughout the world, but it is mainly practiced in Tibet because of its secluded location, a must for someone who is wanting to practice Vajrayana Buddhism. Vajrayana Buddhists believe that the physical has an effect on the spiritual, and that, in turn, the spiritual has an effect on the physical. This means that what you do on the outside will have an effect on what happens to on the inside and vice versa. I think that this is so compelling because of what is needed to be a part of the religion. I, personally, think that being away from everyone and everything is very interesting. I think that by getting away from everything, one can focus on prayer, meditation, and they really get an understanding of who they really are.
In Judaism, I found the observance of Shabbat to be the most interesting thing that we covered. Until I took this course, I did not know that on Shabbat, no one is allowed to do any kind of work, open up the refrigerator, or even turn on (or off) the TV! This last part was the part that really struck me. I think that most of people's lives today revolve around the TV. The TV is where we get our news, our gossip, and even where we go to enjoy ourselves. Jews cannot turn on their TVs on the Sabbath because it is seen as an act of work. Likewise, if their TV is on, they cannot turn it off or change the channel, which is also an act of work. This shows that to be a Jew is no joke. They take their religion very seriously and do not question why they have to do the things that they have to do.
Finally, in Islam, I found the holiday of Ramadan very fascinating. During the holiday of Ramadan, Muslims are to fast from sun up to sun down. That is, not eating all day or doing anything of pleasure. As a Catholic, I am familiar with fasting, but have never really done it before. I know a few Muslims who are younger than me who fast all day during Ramadan and I think to myself that this religion is very serious about what they believe in. As like Judaism, they take their religion very seriously and do not question why they have to do something.
Overall, I think that this was a very successful year and I learned a lot from it. I now go in to more things with an open mind because I know the background of it. I think that if I hadn't learned what I learned this year, I would still be in a shell from the outside world. All religions have different components that make them unique, yet similar to each other. I hope you enjoyed this website and I will finish with the same quote that I started with. "The essence of all religions is one, only their approaches are different." -Mahatma Ghandi.