THEOLOGY FINAL ESSAY

Explain what the Church is. Explain how being a practicing Catholic could foster the third and fourth levels of desire in someone and provide the third and fourth levels of happiness.

• The Church is not just Doctrines and teachings of the Catholic Faith with God, but it also includes being

• (1) God’s home — a place to get close to god.

• (2) A place where people celebrate and find faith, and

• (3) a place to find peace.

• (4) The Church is US, as in everyone who’s baptized. It is where the spirit flourishes.

• Being a practicing Catholic can foster the 3rd and 4th levels of desire in someone.

• 3rd level of desire is Empathetic desires, coming from our compassion and conscience

• This can grow in a person by engaging in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy and practicing the law of love “Love others as I have loved you," which shifts attention away from personal ego and immediate needs toward caring for others’ well-being and dignity.

• 4th level of desire is Spiritual desires, from transcendental sensibility.

• This can grow in a person by participating in the sacraments and contemplative prayer, which orient the soul toward the source of perfect Truth, Love, and Beauty found in God.

• Being a practicing Catholic can also provide the 3rd and 4th levels of happiness. The 3rd level of happiness is contributive, which shows in a person as they look beyond themselves to help others and work to make the world a better place through love and service.

• The 4th level of happiness is being with truth, beauty, and goodness. This shows in a person as they seek a deep connection with God and trust that He will satisfy their desire for perfect and eternal joy

Identify the three aspects of faith in Clavius’s journey in Risen. Describe specific scenes from the movie.

? seminar worksheet

What is the seal of Confession? How does Alfred Hitchcock use the drama of the seal of Confession to get to the heart of what it means to be a priest? Use specific scenes from the movie I Confess in your answer.

? Gemini seal of confession

How is the Church both the means and the goal of God’s plan?

• The Church is both the means and the goal of God’s plan. God’s plan, or the Divine plan is to share God’s life. We are called to become “like God.”

• The Church is the means of executing the plan through the sacraments. These sacraments make us “like God.” By eating his body, and drinking his blood, we live through the sacraments.

• The Church is the goal of the plan by having US. It is the goal of the plan by US living a sacramental life. Sacraments give us grace, and grace is God’s life. We all share God’s life through the sacraments. We all have the same life if we live a sacramental life.

Explain the Church’s unity in diversity using the analogy of Church as Body of Christ and including information about the Byzantine Ukrainian Catholic Church. Where is the diversity, and where is the unity?

• The Church is like the Body of Christ. A body has many parts with different jobs, but it is still one body. In the same way, the Church has many traditions but remains one Church. One example is the Byzantine Ukrainian Catholic Church, which follows Eastern Christian traditions with different worship, music, and art (icons) than the Roman Catholic Church. Even though it worships differently, it is still fully Catholic and part of the Body of Christ.

• The diversity of the Church is shown in its different rites, cultures, languages, and ways of worship. Some Catholics worship using the Roman rite, while others, like the Byzantine Ukrainian Catholic Church, use the Byzantine rite. These differences show that people can practice the same faith in different cultural ways, just like different parts of a body do different things.

• The unity of the Church comes from its shared faith in Jesus Christ. All parts of the Church believe the same core teachings, share the same sacraments, and are connected as one Church under Christ. Even though traditions and worship styles are different, the Church remains one because all members belong to the same Body of Christ.

How is the Eucharist the “source and summit” of the Christian life?

? theology notes