Buddhism

Siddhartha was a prince in India that was shielded from the bad in life like aging and sickness, by his father. After almost thirty years, Siddhartha left the castle to roam and he saw an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a spiritual seeker. He had a life of pure pleasure but now knew that there was suffering in the world that was inevitable and it troubled him. He left his wife and newborn son and became a spiritual seeker, trying to reach enlightenment. He tried everything all the way down to starving himself to near death for six years before he realized that it wasn’t working. Finally, while meditating under a tree, Siddhartha defeated the god of desire and reached enlightenment or nirvana. He then proceeded to teach others starting with his friends and eventually had many followers and created a community where monks could stay and learn.

Three Jewels:

1.      I take refuge in Buddha

2.      I take refuge in Dharma

3.      I take refuge in Sangha

4 Noble Truths:
       1. All is suffering (dukkha). 
       2. Suffering is caused by desire. 
       3. If one can eliminate desire, they can eliminate suffering. 
       4. The Noble Eight-fold Path can eliminate desire. 

Noble Eight-fold Path:

1. Right Views.

2. Right Intent.

3. Right Speech.

4. Right Conduct.

5. Right livelihood.

6. Right effort.

7. Right mindfulness.

8. Right concentration. 

Hinduism

1.      Moksha is the Sanskrit word for liberation or release. It is the release from the material world and becoming one with Brahman.

2.      This doctrine is monism. An analogy for this is how there are rivers, lakes, and oceans but they are all bodies of water which connects them and makes them one.

3.      Brahman is the eternal essence of reality and the source of the universe. Atman is the eternal self of soul of an individual that gets reincarnated from life to life. They are associated as being the same.

4.      Their function is to provide points of contact with Brahman who is unreachable physically or mentally.

5.      Samsara is the wheel of reincarnation. It is the worldly realm in which rebirth occurs.

6.      It is the Bhagavad-Gita.

7.      The two principles are karma and dharma. Karma is the moral law or cause and effect and determines the nature of each reincarnation based on how good you were in this life. Dharma is the law that karma is based on. It is the ethical duty based on the divine order of reality.

8.      The four classes are Brahmin who are priests, Kshatriya who are warriors and administrators, Vaishya who are producers like farmers and merchants, and Shudra who are servants and laborers.

9.      He encourages him because according to his dharma it is his duty as a warrior to fight in a just cause.

10.  The four stages of life are student, householder, forest dweller, and sannyasin. In the student stage the boy learns and studies the Vedas and other sacred literature. In the householder stage, which is marked my marriage, his goal is to have a career and raise a family. In the forest dweller stage, which is marked by the birth of your first grandchild, the goal is to retreat from worldly bonds in order to fully engage in a spiritual quest. In the sannyasin stage they return to society but remain detached from normal attractions and distractions of social life.

11.  The four goals of life are sensual pleasure (aim to have the utmost pleasure in life), material success (yearning for artha or maerial success and the social power and prestige that comes with it), harmony with dharma (desire to do your duty), and the bliss of moksha (becoming one with Brahman and escaping samsara).

12.  The three paths of liberation are the path of works (Karma Marga) which is for the active in things like raising a family and physical activities, the path of knowledge (Jnana Marga) which is for people with a talent for philosophical reflection, and the path of devotion (Bhakti Marga) which is for those whose emotional attachment comes naturally.

13.  The three most important schools are Vedanta, Sankhya, and Yoga. The task they have in common is the attainment of knowledge over the ignorance that binds the self to samsara.

14.  Three important gods are Vishnu, Shiva, and Kali.

15.  An avatar is an incarnation or living embodiment of a deity. Two popular ones are Krishna and Rama who are both avatars of Vishnu.

16.  That is the Bhagavad-Gita.

17.  Three aspects are household and village rituals, holy places, and cow veneration.

18.  He fueled Hinduism’s tendency to accept all wisdom as lighting the way to the divine.

19.  A significant change was that it was made illegal by the Indian government in 1948.

20.  Sati is the practice of burning a widow. It has been forbidden since 1829 though it does still rarely occur.

21.  A significant development was the separation of Pakistan from India to make a predominantly Muslim country. It turned bloody and a lot of people died on both sides. 

Aztecs/Mayans

Aztecs

Location:

Cosmology:

Creation began with two deities: Omerecuhtli (Lord of Duality) and Omecihuatl (Lady of Duality) who then had four sons Xipe Totec, Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, and Huitzilopochtli. Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopochtil then created the world with fire and a half-sun being first, then the first man and woman, then the lord and lady of the underworld, then the calendar, then the heavens, waters, and land,  and then Tlaloc(rain god) and his wife. The Aztecs also believe that there were four ages before this one, each with its own sun: the Jaguar Sun, the Wind Sun, the Rain Sun, the Water Sun, and the Earthquake Sun. The name of each sun names what would or did destroy that age. Sacrifices of hearts and blood are used to nourish the sun. They also believed in there being nine levels of the underworld that the soul had to go through: river, clashing high mountains, obsidian mountain, icy winds, flapping flags, arrows, ferocious beasts, narrow passages between hard rocks, and darkness and rest. They believed in many gods and each had a certain thing that he/she controlled and looked after.

http://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/ant322m_files/cosmology.htm

Sacred Symbols:

The only sacred symbols that the Aztecs use are the symbols used to tell the dates on their sacred calendar. It is a 260-day calendar called tonalpohualli and consists of two parallel and interlocking cycles. One cycle has 20 days (day signs) and the other has 13 days (coefficients). A date in the calendar has one day sign and one coefficient. The Aztecs had two other calendars but they were not sacred and not a commonly used. These are the day signs:

http://www.ancientscripts.com/aztec.html

Sacred Locations:

Aztec sacred locations were their temples though sometimes they had entire cities dedicated to religious activities. They called them Teocalli (God houses). The priests went there to worship and pray and make sacrifices. The temples were commonly giant pyramids with stairs on one side and a flat top. One of these temples is the Templo Mayor with was built to honor Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc. It was the main temple of their capital city and had two shrines on top. Human sacrifices were the most common rituals done at this temple.

http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-temples.html

Major Gods:

The biggest major gods were Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl who were the parents of a lot of the other major gods. The represented the primordial forces of nature and duality. The next major god is Quetzalcoatl who was believed to be the creator of the humans though he was not the first. He simply recreated the humans each time an age ended and a new one began. He is represented be a feathered serpent. The next god is Huitzilopochtli (Hummingbird of the South/Left) who was a warrior sun god. Many human sacrifices were made to him to help him fight the darkness and wars were fought with other peoples especially for their need to capture sacrifices. He was the most revered of the Aztecs. The next god is Xipe Totec (Flayed one) who was the god of the seasons and growing things and the patron of the gold workers. He was believed to have flayed himself to give humans food so sacrifices to him were flayed as well. The last major god was Tláloc who was the god of rain and water. He often had goggle eyes, fangs, and a curled nose. Children sacrifices were made to him since it was believed that children tears brought rain.  

http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-gods.html

Totems:

The Aztecs used art to pay tribute to their gods through pottery, sculptures, pictographs, masks, and warrior art.

http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-art.html

Fetishes:

The Aztecs got their protection from their sacrifices. The sacrifices were done to both please and replenish the gods. Anyone could give blood but there were different processes for each god for the sacrifices. For the maize goddess, young girls were decapitated. For the fire god, people were scorched then sacrifices. Every sacrifice had a purpose and was needed for the god to live. Victims were usually chosen a long time in advance and it was estimated that the Aztecs sacrificed 10,000 to 50,000 people a year.

 http://www.plu.edu/~bluchehn/sacrifice/sacrificial-victims.html

Taboos:

  

The Aztecs had many taboos but the most they had were for pregnant women. Pregnant women were forbidden to lift heavy objects, take excessive sweat-baths, engage in excessive sex (fetus would be glued to the womb), and have abortions since pregnancy was seen as a favor from the gods. The women were told not to go out at night without spreading ash, a pebble, or wormwood on her chest so women that died in childbirth would not haunt her child. They also should not look at a hanged person (fetus would be strangled by umbilical cord), should not look at an eclipse or rising moon (child would become hair-lipped), and in the last months she was not allowed to sleep during the day or look at anything frightening, offending, or red. There were also some for children like if you one-stepped over a child you had to step backward over them or their growth would be stunted.

http://malinche.info/blog/?p=81

Role of Shaman:

The priests were treated as nobles but their lives were stressful and hard. They had to watch the planets and stars to prophesize and sound the time, keep track of the eclipses and other events, name certain constellations, read the calendar, divine the incantations to the gods and horoscopes, divine horoscopes for newborns, check the horoscopes of engaged couples, make offerings and sacrifices to the gods, sacrifice victims on the sacrificial stone, and draw blood. The priestesses had many of these responsibilities as well.

http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=you&id=429&typ=reg

Rituals:

Two Aztec rituals were the New Fire Ceremony and the Etzalqualiztli. The New Fire Ceremony occurred every 52 years and was their most important ritual since if it failed, the fifth age would end and everything would die. Every fire was put out and everyone would climb to the roof of their houses. The priests would dress as deities and climb the sacred mountain, Uixachtlan and make a sacrifice. After they removed the heart of the person they would light a fire in the chest and then light torches that would light every school, temple, and house. Etzalqualiztli begins with the priests going to Citlaltepec for reeds that they then use to decorate the temple. People avoided them while they were on their way back to the temple because they had a right to rob you of everything you had if you were caught by the priest. On this day the priests would beat any servant that did something wrong at the edge of the lake. This ritual was performed for the god Tlaloc to try to bring more rain and a better harvest.  

http://www.plu.edu/~seppibj/rituals/home.html

Art:

 

1)      Some forms of religion are called primal because they have been practiced since prehistoric times and tend to come before the popular religions of today. Some characteristics of a primal religion are that they provide special insight into the mythic and ritual dimensions of religion, it is the stem of all religions, generally are practiced by nonliterate people and don’t depend on scriptures or written teachings, and they tend to be the traditions of tribal peoples.

2)      They established the landscape, various life forms including humans, tribes, territories, language, social rules, and customs.

3)      The spiritual essence of the Ancestors survives in the symbols.

4)      A totem is a representation of something like ancestors. Taboos are things that are forbidden to do.

5)      Rituals are essential because it is only through rituals that the sacred power of the Dreaming can be accessed and experienced.

6)      They originated with the very first humans.

7)      The purposes are to awaken young people to spiritual identity, redefine their social identity within the tribe, and help them learn the essential truths and their world and how they are to act within it.   

8)      Two acts are the two lower middle teeth being knocked out and buried and having the boy’s neck and back struck with wounds.

9)      The Yoruba live in the western regions of central Africa in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo.

10)  It has always been the center because it was there that the god Orisha-nla first began to create the world.

11)  They believe that reality is divided into heaven and earth with the gods and ancestors in heaven and the humans and deviant forms of humans on earth.

12)  Olorun is the primary, original source of power in the universe and all life forces owe their existence to him.

13)  The orishas are the lower gods and deities under Olorun and serve as the mediators between Olorun and human beings.

14)  Orisha-nla created the earth and Ogun is the god of iron and war.

15)  A trickster figure is a mischievous supernatural being that goes between heaven and earth because it contain both good and evil aspects.

16)  The two types are family and deified. The family are only worshiped by the family and the deified are worshiped by everyone.

17)  Their role is to mediate between the gods and ancestors in heaven and the human beings on earth.

18)  It is learning your future. It is regarded as essential because they believe that it is necessary to determine how to proceed with your life.

19)  They believe that they came twenty thousand to thirty thousand years ago from Asia by the Bering Strait.

20)  It is of vital interest because this religion serves as the model of pan-Indian religion, a recent popular movement uniting many tribes from across North America.

21)  Wakan Tanka is the name for the supreme reality.

22)  Inktomi is the trickster figure of the Lakota.

23)  They believe that four souls depart a person at death. One goes along the “spirit path” of the Milky Way and meets an old woman who decides whether it goes to live with the ancestors or goes back to earth as a ghost. The other souls go into unborn children.

24)  They try to gain access to spiritual power that will ensure greater success in activities such a hunting, warfare, and curing the ill.

25)  The structure is a dark, airtight hut made of saplings and covered with animal skins. The function is to purify the person body and spirit.

26)  A typical vision is a message coming from a spirit in the form or an animal or some other object or force of nature.

27)  A woman of outstanding moral character presides.

28)  The axis mundi is the axis or center of the universe. In the Sun Dance it is the cottonwood tree set upright in a certain spot.

29)  They do this because they feel that their body is the only thing can sacrifice because it is the only thing they truly own.

30)  Aztecs were a highly developed civilization and the people were urban, city dwellers. It is like other primal religions in its emphasis on the interrelationship between myth and rituals and how it predated Catholicism.

31)  It included most of Mexico and extended southward to Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

32)  Quetzalcoatl created and ordered the world. Teotihuacan was the origin of the cosmos.

33)  He was a priest-king. He provided the Aztecs with the perfect model for their own authority figure.

34)  They called their present age the fifth age and anticipated that it would end.

35)  The Aztecs understood the spatial world as having four quadrants extending outward from the center of the universe which connected the earthly realm to the heavenly realm above and the underworld below.

36)  Each human being was regarded as a sort of axis mundi because of the potency of the divine force in the head and the divine force in the heart.

37)  They were able to communicate with the gods and make offerings through language instead of sacrifices.    

38)  The coincidence that Cortez was wearing a feathered hat so the king at the time thought he was Topiltzin because he was supposed to come back that year.  

39)  It shows it because it joins the living and the dead through festive and spiritually meaningful rituals like the Aztecs did every year for the same basic purpose.

40)  The three themes are the thin and often crossed boundary between the supernatural and the human world, the all-encompassing nature of religion, and change.

Midterm Terms

1Introduction Unit:

1)      Heart- one's innermost character, feelings, or inclinations

2)      X and Arrows- The X represents God or the Mystery that mankind strives toward. The arrows going up represent religions or mankind’s attempts to reach the X. The arrow going along the bottom represents time. The arrow coming represents the Mystery coming down to us or Jesus.

3)      Desire- to long or hope for

4)      Reality- That which exists objectively, and independently of the mind, as opposed to the unreal, which is merely subjective or fanciful. Reality is that to which the mind conforms when it possesses the truth. 

5)      Religious Sense- The very essence of rationality that allows us to experience reality as it truly is.

6)      Ontology- A term introduced into philosophy by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) in 1826, to identify the science of ethics or moral duty, mainly as distinct from law or jurisprudence.

7)      Being-Whatever in any way is, whether it exists or is possible, whether in the mind, in the imagination, or in a statement. Philosophically being is the real, and corresponds to essence or thing. Its opposite is the unreal and finally that which implies an inner contradiction.

Anointing of the Sick:

8)      Job- The chief character in what many critics consider the most beautifully written book in the Bible. The author is unknown. From internal evidence it is speculated that he was an Israelite who wrote between 600 and 400 B.C. The Book of Job is a profound philosophic discussion of human suffering, with Job and several of his friends taking turns offering possible solutions to the problem of good and evil.

9)      Original Sin-Either the sin committed by Adam as the head of the human race, or the sin he passed onto his posterity with which every human being, with the certain exception of Christ and his Mother, is conceived and born. 

10)  Who administers the sacraments- priest

11)  Who can receive the sacrament- a sick, baptized person

12)  Four main effects of the sacrament- the uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ, for his own good and that of the whole Church; the strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age; the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of penance; the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of his soul; the preparation for passing over to eternal life

13)  Transformation through the sacrament-The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has the power to transform the sick, filling them with newly found courage to join their sufferings with those of Christ in His Passion, strengthening their will to be one with the loving will of God. A spiritual transformation always takes place as an effect of this sacrament.

14)  Theodicy-Natural theology, or the study of God's existence and attributes as known by the light of natural reason and apart from supernatural revelation.

15)  Oil of the Sick-Olive oil, blessed by a bishop, is normally used for the anointing, but any vegetable oil may be substituted in case of emergency.

   Reconciliation:

16)  Penance- repentance of sins

17)  Confession-A written or oral statement acknowledging guilt, made by one who has been accused or charged with an offense

18)  Forgiveness-Pardon or remission of an offense. The Catholic Church believes that sins forgiven are actually removed from the soul (John 20) and not merely covered over by the merits of Christ. Only God can forgive sins, since he alone can restore sanctifying grace to a person who has sinned gravely and thereby lost the state of grace. God forgives sins to the truly repentant either immediately through an act of perfect contrition or mediately through a sacrament. The sacraments primarily directed to the forgiveness of sins are baptism and penance, and secondarily, under certain conditions, also the sacrament of anointing.

19)  Empathy- A function of the virtue of charity by which a person enters into another's feelings, needs, and sufferings.

20)  Examination of Conscience- Reflection in God's presence on one's state of soul, e.g., in preparation for the sacrament of penance.

21)  Contrition- The prayer of the penitent in the sacrament of penance, by which he expresses sorrow for the sins confessed before receiving absolution. In general, an act of repentance for having offended God.

22)  Sin- a moral evil

23)  Mortal Sin-An actual sin that destroys sanctifying grace and causes the supernatural death of the soul. Mortal sin is a turning away from God because of seriously inordinate adherence to creatures that causes grave injury to a person's rational nature and to the social order, and deprives the sinner of a right to heaven.

24)  Venial Sin-An offense against God which does not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace. It is called venial (from venia, pardon) because the soul still has the vital principle that allows a cure from within, similar to the healing of a sick or diseased whose source of animation (the soul) is still present to restore the ailing bodily function to health.

25)  Concupiscence- Insubordination of man's desires to the dictates of reason, and the propensity of human nature to sin as a result of original sin.

26)  Fornication-Fornication is carnal union between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of persons and of human sexuality which is naturally ordered to the good of spouses and the generation and education of children. Moreover, it is a grave scandal when there is corruption of the young. 

27)   Excommunication- An ecclesiastical censure by which one is more or less excluded from communion with the faithful. It is also called anathema, especially if it is inflicted with formal solemnities on persons notoriously obstinate to reconciliation.

28)  Heresy- Commonly refers to a doctrinal belief held in opposition to the recognized standards of an established system of thought. Theologically it means an opinion at variance with the authorized teachings of any church, notably the Christian, and especially when this promotes separation from the main body of faithful believers.

29)  Schism- Historic divisions in Christian unity. These divisions are differently appraised by different communions. 

30)  Who forgives sins?- God

31)  What is the role of the priest- The priest is the sign and the instrument of God’s merciful love for the sinner.

32)  Three required acts of the Penitent- The sinner must be contrite of heart, confess with their lips, and make fruitful satisfaction

  Matrimony:

33)  Abortion- In Catholic morality, abortion is either direct (induced) or indirect. Direct abortion is any destruction of the product of human conception, whether before or after implantation in the womb. A direct abortion is one that is intended either as an end in itself or as a means to an end. As a willful attack on unborn human life, no matter what the motive, direct abortion is always a grave objective evil.

Indirect abortion is the foreseen but merely permitted evacuation of a fetus which cannot survive outside the womb. The evacuation is not the intended or directly willed result, but the side effect, of some legitimate procedure. As such it is morally allowable.

34)  Contraception- deliberate interference with marital intercourse in order to prevent conception.

35)  Sterilization- Depriving the body of its generative powers in order to prevent the conception or fetal development of undesired offspring, for the satisfaction of a person's wishes and/or the relief of an economic or social need. Its morality falls under the same category as contraception. It is forbidden by the natural law.

36)  Natural Family Planning- The controlling of human conception by restricting the marital act to the infertile periods of the wife.

37)  Fidelity- Constancy in allegiance to God or the things of God; steadfastness in fidelity to a person or cause, organization or enterprise.

38)  Divorce- Legal separation of husband and wife, or the release by civil authority from any one or more of the bonds of matrimony between them. 

39)  Polygamy- The status or institution of simultaneous marriage of more than one woman to one man, or of several women to several men. The two forms are polygyny and polyandry.

40)  Adultery- Sexual intercourse of a married person and another who is not the wife or husband.

41)  Intimacy-a close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving personal relationship with another person or group.

42)  Grace- Temporary supernatural intervention by God to enlighten the mind or strengthen the will to perform supernatural actions that lead to heaven. Actual grace is therefore a transient divine assistance to enable man to obtain, retain, or grow in supernatural grace and the life of God.

43)  Family-
a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not

44)  Creation- The production of material and spiritual things in their whole substance, done by God and of nothing.

  Holy Orders:

45)  Diocese- The territory over which a bishop exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction. 

46)  Vicar- A delegate to a titular see, having episcopal consecration, appointed by the Holy See to govern in territories where the ordinary hierarchy is not established. Vicars apostolic have the same powers as bishops and are generally conceded special privileges because of the extraordinary situation in which they exercise their ministry.

47)  Infallibility- Freedom from error in teaching the universal Church in matters of faith or morals.

48)  Presbyters- (in the early Christian church) an office bearer who exercised teaching, priestly, and administrativefunctions.; (in hierarchical churches) a priest.

49)  Seminary- A school established for the academic and spiritual training of candidates for the priesthood.

50)  Who can be ordained- Baptized men

51)  Three degrees of Holy Orders- 1. episcopate 2. presbyterate 3. diaconate.

  Baptism:

52)  Baptism- The sacrament in which, by water and the word of God, a person is cleansed of all sin and reborn and sanctified in Christ to everlasting life.

53)  Proper matter of Baptism- holy water

54)  Correct words/form- “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” with triple pour of water.

55)  Designated Minister- Bishop, Priest, or Deacon (in emergency anyone who intends to offer baptism)

56)  Candidates- Anyone who understands the community they are joining or will be taught later

57)  Catechumens- in the early Church, was the name applied to one who had not yet been initiated into the sacred mysteries, but was undergoing a course of preparation for that purpose.

58)  Signs of Baptism- water, paschal candle, white garmet, oil of catechumens, and schism chrism oil

59)   White Garment- symbol of how baptism is supposed to cleanse us of sin.

60)   Oils of Baptism- Oil of Catechumens and Schism chrism oil

61)  Effects of Baptism- washes away original sin and the punishment due, makes us children of God and temples of the Holy Spirit, welcomes us as members of the Church, and marks us forever as sharers in the common priesthood of all believers, and in Christ’s mission of justice and peace

  Confirmation:

62)  Definition of Confirmation- The sacrament in which, through the laying on of hands, anointing with chrism, and prayer, those already baptized are strengthened by the Holy Spirit in order that they may steadfastly profess the faith and faithfully live up to their profession.

63)  Proper Matter- Chrism

64)  Form- “Be Sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit” with oil on the forehead in the sign of the Cross.

65)  Designated Minister- Bishop

66)  Fruits of the Spirit- love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

67)  Gifts of the Spirit- wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord

68)  Pentecost- Feast commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. It takes its name form the fact that it comes about fifty days after Easter.

69)  Conformation Name- A patron saint that the candidate wishes to follow

70)  Key elements- anointing with chrism, laying on of hands, blow on the check.

71)  Effects- increase of sanctifying grace, gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the strengthening of our faith

  Eucharist:

72)  Transcendence- Supassing excellence, which may be either relative or absolute. It is relative when the excellence surpasses some objects below it, as human nature transcends the irrational creation.

73)  Consecration- The words of institution of the Eucharist, pronounced at Mass, by which is accomplished the very sacrifice that Christ instituted at the Last Supper. The formula of consecration is uniform for all the approved canons of the Mass and reads, in literal translation: "Take and eat of this, all of you; for this is my body which will be given up for you . . . Take and drink of this, all of you; for this is the chalice of my blood, of the new and eternal testament, which will be shed for you and for many unto the remission of sins. Do this in commemoration of me." 

74)  Transubstantiation- The complete change of the substance of bread and wine into the substance of Christ's body and blood by a validly ordained priest during the consecration at Mass, so that only the accidents of bread and wine remain. 

75)  Proper Matter- Wheat based Bread & pure grape wine

76)   Correct words/Form- The words of Institution: “This is my body . . . This is the chalice of my blood . . .”

77)   Designated Minister- Bishop or Priest

78)  Requirements for Reception- must be in state of grace and must fast for one hour prior.

Call to Holiness Essay

            In this world we care a lot about instant gratification and material things. We want to make the things we desire as easy to get as we can. Holiness doesn’t get counted out of that. We all want the quickest, easiest way to heaven and don’t want to do any work. However, the Church continues to tell us that going to heaven is impossible on our own and that we need divine help that we need to do a lot of work for. As a result, when the Church started to lose its way in modern society, we didn’t go after it.

            There are many things that we want in life but very few that we will chase after. We only chase after the things that we need like food and shelter. We live our lives for the goal of being rich enough to have food and good shelter. Another thing that we chase after is happiness. We search for it in every nook and cranny of reality but never quite get there. We should be chasing after God if happiness is our goal but the world always feel as if God has failed them in some way. As a result of this lack of faith, as the Church began to fall, we let it.

            We let it fall because the Church calls us to be holy and we as a society simply don’t want to do the work or go through that pain. Jesus calls us to be perfect as God is perfect and we see that as an impossible task. We don’t want to do it. We all think that that is impossible and being a good person should be enough to get into heaven. Saints are things of the past to us and part of a time when being holy was easier since they had less distractions. The Church is telling us that we need God’s grace and the Holy Spirit to fulfill our call to holiness and it’s going to take work. We don’t want to chase after something that seems that impossible and is known to require a lot of work. We have too many things that are easier to get that give us limited happiness.

            The quote by Giussani implies that every Christian needs to chase after the Church and really want God’s grace and love and the Church needs to show us that they can lead us to that goal. This means that we need to stop chasing after things that give limited happiness and really strive for the perfection that Jesus calls us to. This means that we can’t give in to our worldly desires and we must be charitable and virtuous people upholding God’s laws. We must love each other as God has lived us and follow each commandment with joy in our hearts. We must be able to speak Jesus’ name and not feel shame. We must not be scared to go against society but to stand up for our newfound happiness in the name of Jesus.

            Society at this time makes it hard for us to want to work for anything especially something not of this tangible world. We chase after things that are easy to get and make us temporarily happy because God seems like an impossible dream for people that are born holy and with God. We don’t want to go through the struggle of seeking God and staying with him. Being holy is hard and we always chase down the easier route.