Sin in Society Today

In today's modern society, gluttony is a very common practice. Gluttony is committed everyday by millions of Americans. If you drive down the street there are numerous fast food restaurants. Or if you turn on the television you are bombarded with commercials about food and restaurants. Americans waste food everyday and overeat, which is causing a mass epidemic of obesity especially in children across America.

Temptations

Teenagers are tempted from the Devil just as Jesus was when He spent 40 days fasting in the desert. Teenagers are tempted to experiment with drugs and alcohol especially during high school. At parties, kids sneak alcohol into parties, hoping they won't get caught. To make matters worse, people are tempted to drink and drive, risking their life and the lives of others. However, there are the teenagers out there who just say no to drugs and alcohol and make the right decision, resembling Jesus in the desert.

Saint Gianna Beretta Molla

I enjoyed Dana's presentation on Saint Gianna Beretta Molla. Saint Gianna was a physician and a working mother, just like my mom. She died on my mom's first birthday, April 28 and her feast day is the same date.  Saint Gianna was faced with the difficult choice of saving her baby's life or her own life since she was diagnosed with a fibroma on her uterus. She opted to remove the fibroma, wanting to preserve the child's life. In a similar ordeal, my mom was diagnosed with measles when she was pregnant with my sister. The doctors told her to abort my sister, but my mom strongly disagreed, saving my sister's life. Saint Gianna was canonized as a saint by Pope John Paul II on May 16, 2004.

"One cannot love without suffering or suffer without loving." -Saint Gianna Beretta Molla

Kony 2012

A 30 minute documentary about Joseph Kony went viral Monday night on Facebook and Twitter. However, this isn't recent news. Joseph Kony has been forcing boys into his army and girls into prostitution for 20 some years now. This video tells us that we have until December 31, 2012 to find Kony or Congress will move onto another problem. Many people on Facebook and Twitter have ridiculed the recent uproar about Kony and called many of us bandwagoners. However, this is the only way to get news out. We have to repost this video and make our statuses and tweets about Kony so we can make him known. The Invisible Children Inc. is not asking for money; they are asking to spread this video, make Kony our statuses, and email, call, write, or meet with members of Congress. If we would like to, we can purchase a bracelet, poster, or t-shirt to support the Ugandan children. We can make Kony famous. One person can make a huge difference. Support the cause and give these children the voice they deserve.

Mother Teresa

Question: Mother Teresa forbade fundraising and relied solely on "divine providence." Define "divine providence" and give examples for its work in Mother Teresa's life.

Divine providence means that God will provide. While Mother Teresa was in Guatemala, a man wanted to document her saintly work and ask people in America for donations of money and medicine. Mother Teresa made it very clear that she does not except donations from groups of people. She said that if the man wanted to donate, she would accept his individual donation. She wanted people to give from their heart. Mother Teresa and her group of sisters took a vow of poverty, and as an outsider we might think that they are crazy not to fundraise, but Mother Teresa states that individual people always provide them with the basic necessities.

My favorite quote of Mother Teresa's is, "I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."

This is especially true to me since I am in high school. A lot of us are stressing over what classes to take junior year. How many APs can I take? What happens if my GPA drops? These are just some of the questions swarming my head during the school day. I find myself praying to God when I am faced with decisions like these. I know that I have to make the final decision myself, but God will always be one step ahead of me, guiding me on the right path. I realize that I will be faced with these decisions for the rest of my life, just in different circumstances. Next year I will be taking the SATs, which determine what college I will get into. Senior year I will be faced with the decision of picking a college to attend. Once I am in college, I will have to choose my major. The list goes on and on, but if I have strong faith in God, I can find comfort knowing that He is watching me every step of the way.

Contemplative Prayer

I really enjoy the contemplative prayer every morning in class. It allows me to relax for five minutes from my busy day and pray. It's nice to have someone else read the bible passage to me rather than get the bible myself and read the passage. Considering how busy my day is, I would probably never open the bible in the middle of the day to read the daily passage. I also really enjoy the questions they ask. It allows me to reflect on my relationship with God. Hopefully we will continue listening to the daily reading and meditating.