The End!

What stands out to me the most is that other girls, who go to the same school, are raised in the same way about Catholicism as i am (due to mount) can have such different opinions. They can be on opposite sides of the spectrum, but that doesn't mean that i have a right to criticize them. It made me realize that no matter what other people's opinions are, i should not judge them, for it is not in my place. I should love them and be respectful of the, because in the end the ultimate judge is God.

Some things that i have learned about myself, even though they may not seem good, is that i don't necessarily agree with everything that the Catholic Church preaches. It has kind of helped me realize that i want to almost build my own path and believe what i think is right, not to just believe everything the church says because i'm "supposed to." What i can take forward with me as i go on from this class is that i don't always have to agree with people because i am supposed to. I have taken from this class that it doesn't matter if i don't believe what other people believe, but that God will always love me for me as long as i love others like he (she?) does.

I can expand my space of waiting to make more room for Jesus by taking time out of my day to think about the little things that i can do to make him happy, to make God happy, and to make others happy. I can slow down and take time out of my day and reflect upon what i've done, and what i have failed to do as well.

I can take time to soak in this "waiting" by really realizing what i have, and not taking it for granted. I can take this time to pray and work on my weakness instead of just ignoring them and moving on to the next thing.

Religious Freedom

I think that theology attempts to intersect with politics because they are trying to voice their own opinion as well. Especially in the HHS mandate, they are saying that it is a violation of civil rights and their right to practice what they want. Although i do think that some of their ideas or thoughts about birth control and other thinks can be at times very extreme, i think that they are doing the right thing by arguing back with this new mandate because they do not agree with it. I personally haven't learned anything really outside of this class besides a little bit about the HHS mandate at church and because i have asked my parents about it. My reaction is that i think they are doing the right thing by saying that they should not be forced to basically provide birth control or abortions to people. Like i said earlier, although i do think that their ideas are at times radical, they are still given the right, just like every other human being, to practice what they want. I do not think that they should be forced to provide birth control due to this new HHS mandate since it is not what the Catholic Church believes. If someone wants birth control, i am sure that they can easily acquire it from another health insurance or from somewhere else.

Love Being Loving

When i read this article i actually found it really interesting; the concept of not necessarily being here to fall in love or to learning to love, but to loving being loving. I never really thought of it that way, that we shouldn't really be looking to fall in love as much as we do, because we are here to love people the way that God loves us, without any rewards or anything back. We should love people regardless of what is given to us in return, or what isn't given to us in return as well. I also thought it was interesting that they say that love has no beginning, object or end, rather, it was always with us and no matter what we know that God will always love us regardless of our mistakes.

The Domestic Church

Ever since i was little, my family and i always went to church together, every sunday. We were raised that we can give God 1 hour of our time once a week in order to reflect and talk to God, but like the council says, i believe that the parents are to be the first preachers of faith. They are the ones that teach their kids right and wrong, love and respect; something my parents have always taught me. I personally believe that it is important to have a solid family foundation of love and trust more than actually going to church. I believe that kids and people learn by example, not necessarily by going to church every Sunday. Sone of the cons of the changing structure of marriage and family is that now, people find it more acceptable to move in with their partner before their married, and that it is okay to have a child before you are married. Not that it is necessarily wrong, but by getting married you join a commitment greater than yourself, and you show your children that you and your spouse are part of a team and will always be there for each other, no matter what. Some of the pros of marriage and family now are that the spouses more respect each other. I believe that woman are more respected now and i also believe that families are joining together more. Instead of making the kids do certain chores, in modern times, parents will do more things with their kids to spend more time with them. People that are more likely to get married because they have a college degree means to me that by having a college degree, i am ready for more challenges and will not give up when faced with difficulty. To me, it means that i will be more prepared and responsible to have a husband and kids. And yes, i feel compelled to one day establish the "domestic church" in my home.

Dating and Marriage

My intentions in a relationship are to find someone that i can be myself with. My intentions are to find someone that truly care for me and loves me and for me to care for them and love them back as well. I want to find someone that i would do anything for and they would do the same in return. I look for someone who is caring, trusting, loyal, and honest and i hope that this person would unconditionally love me no matter what struggles would come up. .I personally do not think that those bad intentions in a relationship reflect Christian values. As a Christian, we were raised to love our enemies, not get praised for everything that we do. If those are the intentions of some Christians, then they probably shouldn't be getting married none the less be Christian. I do think that these intentions are found in modern society, but not always. The only people that have theses intentions in a relationship are the self centered ones that don't know the meaning of true love. Although, we do see it in the media and on the News all the time of how people marry other rich people just for their money or other materialistic items. Overall, i don't see this happen in relationships unless the person is a bad and non caring person.

Dating: There's a Point!

I think the claim that dating is a "practice for divorce" is completely absurd. I have never met anyone that has not dated and gotten married or engaged. In order to marry someone, don't you normally need to date them and know who they are? Dating is a way to help you find yourself and find who suits you best. Sometimes people date up to ten people before they find their true love and the one that they want to spend the rest of their life with. Also, i agree with Donna Freitas and Jason King’s view of dating. I agree that through dating, we learn a lot about ourselves and about who we see ourselves with., even if there is a lot of heart breaks along the way. On the contrary, i think that this "hook up culture" in colleges is leading to an extremely negative result. It isn't letting the person get to actually know the other person and it does not let them be intimate with the one they love, more over just fulfill their sexual pleasures. Now a days, hooking up in college is leading to more people getting hurt and feeling used and abused then actually feeling loved and happy. Dating is an essential part of life that one needs to undergo if they are searching for "the one" in their lives.

My Season of Lent

To me, ever since i was young i would always give up some materialistic item, like chocolate, soda (for the past 3 years), facebook, or things of those sorts. A couple of days ago i was reading an article about how a man was giving up smoking for the 40 days. He said in his article that he was not doing it for his health, or for himself, but for God. It opened my eyes and made me realize that we're not just "giving something up" but rather, we're doing it for God. To me, Lent means giving up something, or doing something, for God, not for yourself and others and myself have often done by mistake. This Lenten season, i am trying to argue less with my sister, and do one small thing every day to help someone else, whether it's holding a door or helping someone clean up a spilled drink. I realized that when someone does that one kind thing to me in can honestly make my day so i would like to return the favor to others. I want to argue less with my sistre because it makes my parents (as well as myself and God im assuming) happy and less relaxed. This Lenten season, i am trying to do little things to help others out, not just myself.

Love Written Through Music

In today’s music industry, there are hundreds of millions of songs devoted to love, and to finding one’s “true love.” Everyone has their own interpretations of what love is and how to find love in the music that they write, and these are my examples of what true love really is.

“For you I’d be running a thousand miles just to get to where you are, step to the beat of my heart, I don’t need a whole lot but for you I need, I’d rather give you the world or we can share mine.”

-These are lyrics from a song called “I need somebody to love” by Justin Beiber. As he says in the lyrics, he would do anything just to see the girl, and he would give her anything that she wanted. Something that is really important is someone that is willing to sacrifice everything that they have just for that one person. I want someone that is willing to give up everything just to be with them.

“I drank too much last night, got bills to pay, my head just feels in pain, I missed the bus and there'll be hell today, I'm late for work again, And even if I'm there, they'll all imply, that I might not last the day, And then you call me and it's not so bad, it's not so bad”

--This song is a song “Thank You” by Dido. The song is about how even though people go through a lot of difficult times, just seeing that one person that they love can change their whole perspective. I would really like this in a relationship because I would want someone that I could come home to everyday and have a weight just lifted off my shoulders just by the sound of their voice or their picture on the wall. I think it’s really important in a relationship to be able to have someone that makes you happy, that makes you more than just “content.”

“Right now, he's probably up behind her with a pool stick showing her how to shoot a combo and he don't know, I dug my key into the side of his pretty little cooped-up 4 wheel drive, carved my name into his leather seat, I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights, slashed a hole in all 4 tires, and maybe next time he'll think before he cheats”

--I think this song “Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood is an excellent example of what i DON’T want in a relationship. Just as the song says, maybe next time he’ll think before he cheats. What I want in my relationship is to have someone that is faithful and loyal to me. I want to be in a committed relationship where I never have to worry if my boyfriend would cheat on me.

“You say you gotta go and find yourself, you say that you're becoming someone else, don't recognize the face in the mirror looking back at you, you say you're leaving as you look away, I know there's really nothing left to say, just know I'm here whenever you need me I'll wait for you”

--These lyrics are by a song called “Come Back to Me” by David Cook. In this song he talks about how he will always wait for his love to come back to him, even after she has originally left to go and “find herself.” I really want this quality of always being there for one and other in a relationship. I think it’s always important to be able to forgive people for their mistakes, and to be able to wait for the other person, no matter how long they are gone for. I want someone who is willing to stand by me through thick and thin.

“You're beautiful. You're beautiful. You're beautiful, it's true. I saw your face in a crowded place, and I don't know what to do, cause I'll never be with you.”

--This song is by James Blunt, and it’s called “You’re Beautiful.” I love these lyrics because he thinks that this girl is beautiful. (He mainly say that because he’s seen her physically but I like to think it’s because he can just tell that he’s an amazing person.) What I seek for most in a relationship is for someone that thinks that I’m beautiful, and not just because of my looks. I want someone who will love me for me, and will continue loving me no matter what I may look like physically.

I do believe in finding ones soul mate as the article describes, but I’m not necessarily sure that I believe in the idea that there is only one “soul mate” for you out there. I can not necessarily vie for this though because I have never had this experience of being completely in love with someone two times. I believe that this idea about having more then one soul mate to be true because often times when someone’s spouses die they marry someone else. As I said in class, I think it is underestimated how easy it is to fall in love. For some people, like Mrs. DeStefano, it took her only a few short weeks. Along with these ideas, some people never find that one person that they truly love because they choose not to, or they take vows of chastity like many nuns and priests. As for now, the only true and complete soul mate that one can always count on, no matter what, is God. So as I said previously, I think that everyone does have a soul mate, but I’m not necessarily sure that only one person on this earth is meant for someone else.

Sexuality in the Media part 2

The product that i think is being featured is a shower gel for men, and the connection between the product and the advertisement that they are trying to get across is that by using this product you will get girls to like you, or at least want to have sex with you because you smell good. I think this advertisement is extremly innapropriate for people to see, especially young teenage boys. I think that this is innapropriate because they will get the idea in their head that by buying this product women and girls will automatically want to have sex with them or do things for them. The advertisement is very unnecessary as you dont need to prove to boys that buy buying a product you will get women. I think that there are other ways to portray this product without losing its selling appeal but im not honestly sure how they would accomplish this. I think that Axe advertisements have a very negative impact on the consumer. I see different ads for this product all the time, and i think that it will start to give boys the wrong idea about women, that they will start to think that we will do things (sexually) for them if they buy this fragrance, and i think that they will also start to degrade us and look at us as just sexual objects as opposed to human beings.

Sexuality in the Media part 1

The ad that i had looked at was an ad for the car company BMW. The connection between the product and the image is that the BMW car is a man's desire or greatest attraction. I do not think this advertisement is appropriate because i don't really think that it relates at all. They could have done a million other things for car advertising but instead they chose to incorporate sex into it. I don't really think that it relates well enough to the product. Yes it is very eye catching and it makes sense but its too innapropriate. There is a little bit of stereo typing by saying that its a "man's" desire when in fact it might be a woman's as well, and there are probably plenty of other ways to portray the product, like by using some of the cool features such as voice technology to make an eye catching advertisement. I think that this advertisement just has the impact on the consumer that its what a man wants, a BMW, just as much as he wants sex. It makes men look like they are out to wanting sex when in fact that is probably not the case at all.

Learning About Me

Sports have always been a big part of my life, i've played just about every sport you could possibly think of. My parents always surrounded me and my siblings with athletics, and we have learned many valuable lessons along the way. I've been participating in different sports since i was 8, and am still doing them today. I first started playing field hockey in 5th grade and it has taught me many different things about life. I've learned from my parents that by playing sports, you make a commitment to something bigger then yourself, you make a commitment to your parents, your coaches, and most importantly, your team or sport. From playing field hockey for so many years, i have learned to finish things that i have started and to not give up until the task is complete. I have learned to win modestly, and lose gracefully. Through field hockey and sports, i have learned that you must never give up in anything that you do and that you must make scarifies for your teammates, your coaches, and the ones you love most.

In December of 2011, i as well as 40 of my classmates went on our Unitas Retreat. It was a three day experience that changed my outlook on life. I listened to many of my friends talk about hardships and things that they have encountered in their life that i couldn't even imagine. From retreat, i have realized that everyone has a story, that there's more that meets the eye. I learned to not judge people by their looks or by what i think they will be like, but to have a clean slate for everyone, because you never know how much that have endured in their life. My friends and mentors taught me that you don't necessarily have to go to church to find God, but that you find God in your friends and through the people you love.

When i was in 5th grade, at 10 years old, my oldest brother JJ was going to Iraq to serve with the Army. Having your big brother go away and not knowing when he will be back is an extremely scary thought, one that no one wants to feel. Throughout the years i've learned a lot of things from my brother JJ. Because of what he has taught me, and through what i've learned about myself when he went to iraq, i realized that you have to have faith. No matter how bad things can get, you must always have faith that there will be a good outcome. I have learned to have faith that no matter what happens, everything will turn out okay as long as i have God in my life. Because of those experiences, i have also learned to be outgoing. You never know how long you or someone else has to live, so you should live every moment to the fullest. I try to be approachable and welcoming to others because just as my brother impacted my life, you never know who could have an immense impact on yours. Along with having faith and being outgoing, i have also learned to help others in need, to sacrifice things in order to help those people that need it most.