Blog Post #12: Church in the Present

Blog Post #12: Church in the Present

A Written Response By Lily Jeffs

1. What were some of the main points in Thomas Groome’s book, “What Makes Us Catholic?” Do you agree/disagree and why?

Some of the main points found in Thomas Groome's book, "What Makes Us Catholic," relate to who God is as a spiritual figure as well as how Catholics should faithfully live life. The book specifically states that spirituality is when one's faith is the anchor of life, and there is a palpable sense of God's presence in the everyday life ("What Makes Us Catholic."). The book also states that spirituality is always from God's spirit who prompts our own connections to God himself ("What Makes Us Catholic."). By including this information within the book, the author connects this to how God should be accepting of everyone. He also discusses how God encourages self - love, and that when we love ourselves, we can later transfer this love towards others ("What Makes Us Catholic."). Investing time into spirituality and acceptance of one another can therefore improve physical health ("What Makes Us Catholic."). Catholics and the church as a whole need to ultimately be more confident and committed to having faith for everyone. To illustrate these main points found within "What Makes Us Catholic," an image of God is shown below that expresses the immense spirituality he has for himself and all of his followers. 

                                                                ("God the Father 21")

2. What were some new things that you learned about Pope Francis’ life from the video clips?

I learned many different things about Pope Francis' life from the video clips we watched in class. Specifically, I learned that Pope Francis' real name is Jorge Bergoglio and is from Buenos Aires in Argentina. When he was younger, Pope Francis lived through extreme poverty, and was born to working Italian - immigrant parents. Pope Francis is a Jesuit and started his journey to becoming the Pope when he was 17. He continued on this journey when he was ordained a priest in 1969 and taught theology. Eventually, Pope Francis was elected pope on the 13th of March, 2013. Pope Francis was the first pope that wasn't from Europe to be chosen. Pope Francis' main aspiration is for those who are youth to be supported by those who love them, and for them to be courageous. To illustrate the life of Pope Francis, an image of him blessing a crowd is shown below, that shows the immense passion he has for God and the Catholic community as a whole.

                                      ("Pope Francis Makes Waves in the Catholic Church")

3. What are different changes that Pope Francis is making to the way popes usually do things?

Pope Francis is making many different changes compared to how popes usually control the church. Compared to before he became pope when those who were a part of the LGBTQ community were not accepted by the church, Pope Francis has instead embraced these people and recognized them for staying true to themselves. Pope Francis has also worked to help those who were previously sexually assaulted by priests compared to those in the church who ignored these incidents. While previous popes were against women having abortions, Pope Francis has started to support this because he believes that no matter what they do in life, God will always support them. Pope Francis also believes that even if people divorce, they aren't committing adultery, and are still able to receive communion. Lastly, Pope Francis is against the more traditional and formal way of power within the church known as Clericalism. Pope Francis has ultimately made many different changes within the church that has benefitted a large amount of the Catholic community. To illustrate the changes he has made, an image is shown below of Pope Francis speaking with members of Catholic community who he is greatly helping during his time of being pope.

                                                        ("Pope Francis Meeting Youth")

4. What hopes do you have for the present day Catholic Church?

I have many hopes for the present day Catholic Church. I wish that the Catholic Church was more accepting towards all ethnicities, races, and genders. I also wish that the Catholic Church was more welcoming to those who have an interest in becoming a follower of this religion. Within the church, I hope that Pope Francis continues to help stop global warming and climate change. I also hope that he continues to give consent towards those who contradict other previous popes of the Catholic Church. One major hope that I have for the Catholic Church, is for it to begin working with organizations such as UNICEF to help end world poverty and world hunger. By meeting this expectations, the Catholic Church will be able to deeply help everyone, both spiritually and socially. To illustrate the hopes I have, an image of a cross is shown below that displays the immense unity that the Catholic Church has for its followers and how it can work to bring even more people into this community. 

                                        ("Image: Black and White Sunrise Cross | Image")

Works Cited

"Image: Black and White Sunrise Cross | Image." ChristArt, 
            
                www.christart.com/clipart/image/sunrise-cross-black-and-white.

"Pope Francis Makes Waves in the Catholic Church." The Hill News, 17 Nov. 2014, 

                thehillnews.org/news/emilymulvihill/pope-francis-makes-waves-in-the-catholic-church. 


                Yardley, Scott. 

"Pope Francis Meeting Youth". Louisianaweekly.com, www.louisianaweekly.com/blacks-embrace-    

                pope-francis-address-to-u-s-congress/.

"What Makes Us Catholic." Groome, Thomas H. What Makes Us Catholic: Eight Gifts for Life. 

                HarperCollins World, 2003.

Word, Waiting For The. "God the Father 21." Flickr, Yahoo!, 21 Mar. 2011, 

                www.flickr.com/photos/waitingfortheword/5546445871.