assignment 3

A sacrament is a holy mystery that is a visible symbol or reminder of invisible grace. The two major ones are Baptism and the Eucharist, and the five minor ones are Confirmation, Marriage, Ordination, Reconciliation, and Unction.

Baptism connects us with Jesus. We die because He died, and we will rise because He did. We will be united with Him is heaven for we believe in Him. Anyone who dies is free from sin when they are baptist. It is the ultimate act of God forgiving us and washing away our original sin.

assignment 2

Whenever I sin I feel ashamed and disappointed in myself, whether it was a lie or something else. The conventional wisdom tells me that sinners and outcasts are to be rejected and avoided. This makes me feel alone and even more ashamed. Jesus, however, says that everyone(even sinners) are welcomed around the table and in the kingdom of God. This allows me to become clean again because God forgives everyone. Everyone sins and God knows that, but He still loves and accepts us. Whenever you feel alone, always turn to God because He will never abandon you because He loves everyone.

Jesus was a catalyst in order to change the views of the Jewish social world. His death and ressurrection still has effect today, however, not everyone believes that Jesus was the son of God. That is why we have different religions. There are still Jews waiting for the Messiah to come. We believe that Jesus was the Messiah and saved us from sin and death. People's thoughts changed towards their beliefs. They had to decide whether they believed that Jesus is Lord, or if their savior is still coming. By the actions of Jesus and His parables and aphorisms, the people began to understand the true Lord. That God was not a god of anger and hate, but of love and forgiveness. People today don't live in fear of God, but consider Him more as a best friend. The fact that Jesus ate meals with the lowest of the low, showed how much He loved them. He didn't care about their looks or anything else, He loved them for being them. Now more and more people don't take notice to people's looks, but more so to their hearts. Thanks to Jesus, we are all beginning to love each other for who we are inside.

In Mark 16: 1-8 Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Salome heard the news that Jesus had risen from the dead. They were excepting the tomb to be closed and for Jesus' body to be in it. Instead they saw that the tomb had been open and Jesus' body was not there. They saw an angel who told them that Jesus was alive. This frightened them because they knew they were in the presence of an angel of God. They desperately wanted to find Jesus and see if the angel was telling the truth. They feared people would find out and try to kill Him again. They feared no one would believe them because they could barely believe it themselves.

Mysticism is direct experience with God. Christians experience mysticism when they pray, fast and give alms. Others find mysticism through ecstatic worship and entheogens. Since we as Christians believe that God dwells in us through the Holy Spirit, we can all experience God directly.

"If you want others to be happy, practise compassion. If you want to be happy, practise compassion." Dalai Lama
I think that this quote means that campassion is the key to happiness. If you are a compassionate person, you will be happy. Others will see and feel your compassion and be happy as well. Compassion is like love, the more you give away the more you have. You can never be too compassionate, for Jesus was so compassionate He gave His life for us. People who have compassion forgive easily, therefore they have little to be unhappy about. If the whole world was compassionate, we would live in a perfect world. There would be no wars or fighting because everyone would care and understand each other. Compassion means to put everyone before youself, just like Jesus did.