"Deliver us from evil."

Today, in everyday society there are many sins that we need to be delivered from. One of the greatest sins in our society is greed, especially. Greed is one of the seven deadly sins and everyone experiences greed in their life time. Greed is defined as a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed. As previously stated money is one of the most common things that society greeds for. Many people and businesses keep their money instead of donating a portion of it to the sick or poor. They do this because, even if they are one of the richest people in the world, they feel that they never have enough money. People also lie and cheat to gain more money and they don't care who they hurt in their quest for money. Another major thing that people greed for is power. Once again many people do not care who gets hurt in their quest for power and are willing to do anything to gain power, even commit illegal crimes. Greed is one of the worst sins in our society and it is a sin that will never fully be extinct.

Temptations

Jesus experienced three temptations in the desert. The first temptation is when the devil tells Jesus to turn stones into bread. If Jesus were to do this it would show the special powers that Jesus possessed and just how powerful he was. Young people experience temptations like this everyday. An example of this might be a football player who is really good at the game who has the temptation to show off to prove that he is better at football than everyone else. The devil then told Jesus to throw himself down from a high point of the Temple and have God catch him. This would prove Jesus's special relationship with God. This is also a temptation that many young people experience today. An example of this would be if a girl had the temptation to flirt with another boy to make her boyfriend jealous. The boyfriend becoming jealous would prove that the boyfriend really cares for the girl and doesn't want her to be with another boy. The devil finally tells Jesus to fall at the feet of the devil and worship him, for which Jesus would receive "all the kingdoms of the world". This is a temptation of power. A temptation of power is one of the most difficult temptations to overcome. Many people do not overcome this temptation and succumb to it. An example of this would be if someone who is running for school president is tempted to do something that they know is wrong because someone else came to them and told them that if they did this wrong thing they would definitely win the election.

The Saint I Would Like To Learn More About

I would like to learn more about Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. I thought it was really cool learning about how she basically started catholic education. It's interesting to know that if it had not been for her Mount Saint Joseph Academy might not exist today. I also thought it was really interesting that she had been married before she had gone into religious life. When I think of people in religious life I don't really think of them being married to anyone other than God. I also thought it was cool that she had children. Once again I do not really think of people in religious life having children. I plan to do research on Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, so I can know even more about her interesting life.

My Thoughts on Kony

Today in class we watched a very powerful video about a horrible man named Joseph Kony. He kidnaps children and makes them do horrible things. He makes the girls become sex saves and he makes the boys fight in a child army. He makes the children shoot their own parents.
The video showed us ways that we can make a difference and help bring Kony down. All we need to do is raise awareness. How is he supposed to be found if no one knows about him? If more people know about him the chances of him being captured and the children being reconciled with their families are much greater.
I thought this video was amazing and genuine. It was made by a normal guy who just wants to raise awareness. He made me want to help. I'm going to spread the word about this horrible man in every way I can. These children do not deserve a life where they are abused. They deserve to have a normal childhood and this man took it away from them. I hope we can help give them their lives back.

Mother Teresa: Living the Gospel

"Explain the following statement: loneliness is the greatest poverty of rich countries."

As we saw in the documentary of Mother Teresa and her work, there are countries in the world that have more homeless people than not. Here in America we might see a homeless person occasionally, maybe begging for food or money, or even just sleeping on a park bench. This breaks my heart. I want to help them, but I just don't know what I could do because lets be honest, I'm only sixteen. I don't have money to give them or a place to stay, but as said by Mother Teresa this isn't even the greatest poverty. In poorer countries than ours there are homeless people who are so weak from malnutrition that they don't even have the energy to beg for food. They don't have the energy to do anything, but lie there and yet Mother Teresa tells us that we are more in poverty than they are. We aren't necessarily in poverty of hunger. We are in the poverty of loneliness. Someone might have a million dollars, but still more miserable than a man who has only five hundred dollars, rent to pay, and a family to feed because he is lonely. The man with the family has people to love and people to love him back, but the man with the million dollars, doesn't have people to love or people to love him back and money can not buy happiness. And this is what I think this statement from Mother Teresa means.
My favorite quote by Mother Teresa is: "Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat." This quote ties into the statement she made that I mentioned previously. Before watching this documentary, I never really thought of people who could buy anything they ever wanted as people in poverty, but now I can see that they are. It's not the type of poverty that first comes to mind when first thinking of poor people, but it is poverty nonetheless. It is a poverty of love and I now understand that this is the worst type of poverty there is, but now I know that I can really help, even though I am young. I can make people feel that they are not alone and that they do have people that love them, even if I just cheer of a person who is having a bad day. Mother Teresa taught me this.

Praying as We Go

Every morning, before class starts, we have prayer. We hear a short summary of the gospel for that day, whose birthday it is, and who we should keep in our prayers. These few minutes we take in the morning really make a difference in the rest of our day. Starting out our day this way really helps us be in the right frame of mind for the day. I really like when we are told who needs our prayers because then whenever we are praying individual we can make sure they get the prayers they need.