The Wealth of the Church

Does the Church miss-use its money?

Its good question, and in many ways it can appear that the answer is yes. It is easy to find evidence to support the gluttony of the Church. Simply speak of its massive buildings and the "lavish' lifestyle of the pope and bishops. Simply speak of the Church's "refusal" to spend money on the poor but rather to build bigger cathedrals and renovate the current ones.

There are countless arguments for the Church's misuse of money, however, I only have time to counter the ones mentioned above.

To answer these questions I did some research on the argument.

First, lets talk about the "lavish" lifestyle of the pope. Lets make it clear, the pope himself does not live in a mansion, but in an apartment no larger than ten rooms. The rooms of this apartment are dedicated to the necessities of being a religious man. He has a bedroom, a library, bathrooms, a study, and living rooms. There are no media rooms or indoor pools in this building. The white house on the other hand has all sorts of unnecessary additives including a pool. So why doesn't the president ever come under the same accusations? It is because, just like the pope, the president is elected into office and is allowed to use the public property which comes along with the position, most of it being a necessity for performing the position itself (excluding the pool of course).

Second lets talk about the Church spending "too much money" on Cathedrals and too little on the poor. First of all, let it be said that a Cathedral is a statement of our love for God and a home for his real body and blood. It is really acceptable for a wealthy community to have a small shack of a church where they worship? Doesn't that say something about where they prioritize God in their lives if they go home to a wealthy lifestyle? It there therefore necessary to spend a reasonable amount of money on our churches. But there is more to it than that. Many of the Churches that come under fire are the ancient ones like St. Peter's and Notre Dame. However, the truth is, that when these churches where built, a Cathedral was one of the best investments a medieval town could make. Along with the spiritual aspects, the build site of a cathedral would provide much needed jobs for up to a century. In addition, they became beacons of learning and knowledge in the dark age and would attract pilgrims that would in turn need food and lodging, therefore sustaining the towns income.

Take the Vatican for instance, St. Peter's is nearly a thousand years old. The Church does not nearly have enough funds to build a new one, and even if it did It would not allow the funds. The Vatican merely maintains what it has, which it does on a budget less than that of Harvard University. Furthermore, those that claim the Church does not help the poor should know that the Catholic Church is, among many things, the largest charity organization in the world.

The Homeless Man

What should we take out of this interview?

Mr. Cole had a us watch a video (http://youtu.be/AusCA28efa0) today that contained an interview of a homeless person. This man was obviously distraught, he had been searching for a very long time to find a job with little success. He could never leave any way for a company to contact him because he had no phone number. He was forced to rely solely on the generosity of others to survive. This man was humiliated by his way of life. He disliked the disrespect that comes with begging and the label of being called a bum. He began to tear up when he talked about his inability to escape his situation

We can interpret this any way we like, but the fact is that this man is misunderstood. So many people walk by him accusing him of being lazy when in reality he is desperately searching for a job. He even says that he would take any kind of work offered to him, the only problem is that he never gets a job offer. A common stereotype would have us believe that men like him take all the money that they are given and go out and waste it on alcohol and drugs. In this case, we would be very wrong because this man uses his money for food and shelter, not much else.

Furthermore, something that I have come to realize is that there is no excuse for not helping people like that. Even if we worry that our charity will be poorly spent, there are ways around that. Giving out fast food and hotel gift cards are a great way to ensure that the money goes to a productive cause. Donating to the local shelters achieves the same end. But our assumptions should never be an excuse to let someone starve.

All Are Welcome

What did I get out of Cardinal Dolan's article

Well, a lot. It was very well written and offered a point of very that is very applicable to the modern world. who does the Church accept? If the answer is everyone, than doesn't that mean the church accepts sin?

What follows was this article's answer to the above questions.

The Church accepts everyone. It loves and respects every single human being. HOWEVER, that does not mean that the church will accept and approve of the actions of every one of its members. Its not much more complicated than that. The church will and is made to love every human being. But Christ's Church, the very church of God, cannot condone sin without losing its very identity. Cardinal Dolan compared story from his childhood with this concept. He spoke of one of his friends who was allowed to have dinner with his family under the condition that he wash his hands, Just as any person is a friend of the church who may be a true productive part of it only if they conform to certain expectations set by the church. This does not mean that sinners are kicked out of the Church. If that were true, we would have an empty church. Rather, it means that if one is to truly take part in the Church in a meaningful way, this person must do everything in his or her power to abide to its rules and expectations, which are in turn, ultimately set by God.

Hardship

Why do Catholics face hardship?

Why are bad things a part of a good Christian's life? First, lets make something absolutely clear: Jesus never promised us easy lives in return for following him. Original sin has corrupted our world. Pain and strife are a part of our everyday lives, no one is exempt from it. It is a common misconception for people to believe that, because they are good Catholics, they therefore should have easy life's. That is only fair after all, isn't it? Doesn't that make sense? Shouldn't the good people have good lives? Not really. Besides, how can someone truly be a good Catholic without hardship. Our faith must be tested if it is to be proven. We must face every challenge with confidence in the lord and the belief that he will see us through it. Hardship builds faith.

That explanation can also answer questions like; "If God loves us so much, why doesn't he just will away our problems when we ask him to?" The answer is confusing, but very true. Sometimes God helps us by not helping us. God sees our problems and are hardships and he pities us with all his heart, but he also sees a greater good. God, in many cases, will see that a problem that we face will only make us stronger, more faithful, and a better person in the long run.

So he allows us to suffer.

Out of his infinite love for us, he allows us to suffer. He allows us to suffer so that one day our suffering will pay off upon entrance into his Kingdom of Heaven.

But is that God is? A bystander who simply realizes that our pain is for the best and is content to let it continue until will die? in my experience, absolutely not. Life is wonderful, it is made more wonderful by the overcoming of challenges and the hard work of the soul. More often than not, God will reward us for our faith long before we enter heaven. I cannot think of a time where I asked God for help with something and one way or another, whether I expected the solution or not, or no matter how long it took, he came through. These are the times that I stuck it out. times I realized that I was being tested and kept on going. Times I did not give up. I also know that I am not the only one, people all over the world have experienced the answer to all our problems: God. These instances are solidifiers of the faith. Events and memories that remind us that God is real and present throughout or lives, and reminders of his infinite love for us.

Blood Drive

Yesterday, I participated in a donation of blood which was quite a long process. There was a lot of questions and standard procedure. Only about 1/12 of our school donated this year. Last year about 1/5 or 1/4 donated. We don't know why there was a shortage but there was. I had many people ask me " Why are you donating blood?" And I would look up at them and tell them "Because there is someone out there that needs it more than I do." They would get silent after me telling them this either for feeling guilty for not doing the same or just simply not knowing how to respond to it. After saying this to about 10 different people and seeing the same reaction, I realized how this related to My Catholic faith.
At the Time of Jesus, Jesus was sent to earth to give us salvation because without it, we would all be bound for hell. God realized this and sacrificed his own son. God did this because he saw that we needed his love and grace more than he did, even if it meant sacrificing his own son. God is forever giving, He will do anything for us but it is up to us to recognize it.

Ex Opere Operato

Through this, we get a deeper understanding of The Sacraments.

• A Sacrament is a sign because it points to a deeper and invisible reality. In Baptism, for example, The Primary sign is the water being poured on the one being baptized. We use water because it's a sign of cleanliness and our sins being washed away.
• A Sacrament is a sign of grace because through divine life is dispensed to us. By participating in the sign of the Sacrament, the participant receives grace, a share in the life of God. To the extent that we are properly disposed to receive the Sacrament, this grace draws us closer to Christ, strengthens us to seek God's will in our lives, and helps us to live according to the example of Christ.
• A Sacrament is an efficacious sign of grace because it dispenses the grace it signifies. The truth of the sacrament does not rely on holiness of the minister nor on the holiness of the person receiving the sacrament.

I Gave Blood Today

Why did I do that?

Well, first off all, it allowed me to get away with eating Ms. Riojas' class afterwards, which is a win, but mostly because I felt like I should. People need blood, that's why we have blood drives. For a blood drive to work, people need to sign up. The whole thing can exist because people are willing to give up their time and organic property for the good of another. How do we relate this to God in our everyday lives? Simple. God calls us to sacrifice ourselves for the good of each other. I wrote an entire post about the same concept a week ago, but here is an example of following through with it. Giving Blood. Its not hard, and I'm not exactly sacrificing my life, but I might be saving someone else's. I sacrificed a small part of me for the whole of another. I might be drifting away from modesty here a little bit but I don't mean to brag, I mean to make a point: Its not hard to make all the difference in the world for another person. And who knows, maybe you'll need a blood transfusion yourself one day.