REACTION PAPER ABOUT THE EPISODES IN CATHOLISM

(Christian Living Education)

I was really fascinated by the fact that God became human. He became one of us, absorbing to himself
a human nature. For me it was a sign of his humbleness, having the fact that he is the son of God but is willing
to experience those kind of hardships in real life. Even though he was in the form of God, he never claimed that
he was equal to him but emptied himself. Because of his love to us, he was willing to be a slave for us. He was
willing to die for our sake. It was upsetting that some of us won’t even acknowledge his greatness and
goodness. There are some instances where he has to show his wounds to other people in order to believe in him.
But does it really have to be seen in our eyes? I know that without just seeing it, I felt his presence every now
and then. He gave me strength and courage to just have faith in him and everything will pass. I feel very blessed
that with him I’m alive, living in this world he had given.

Jesus won the battle against sin and death, without a sword or with any weapon but with the cross. With
him dying on the cross is giving us the good news about his victory. We have to remember that God made the
world not with violence but with love. With that being said, I felt what true love is. And it is sacrificing yourself
for other people’s sake. It is saddening that other people have the guts to hurt others even though they are aware
enough that it is not what God chooses us to do. By doing deeds according to God’s will, surely will feel
pleasurable, at the same time peaceful. Temptations are always there, roaming in places, but with
acknowledging that God is with us we can conquer all those temptations. Just like what happened in the parable
of the prodigal son, the younger son was tempted to get all his inheritance from his father, but later on regret it
as well. Even though he had done all those things, his father accepted him whole heartedly. God is like the
father in this story. We are so blessed to have someone that will accept us truthfully and whole heartedly even
with our sins and flaws. We should imitate his kindness in order to live a life with worthiness, in order to live a
life with a goal. Not by spreading negativity, rather positivity and peace.

In every era, the words of Jesus have proven fascinating, disorienting, sometimes confounding, deeply
transformative, and always unforgettable. By understanding his words, we can learn so many different things
which we may not understand deeply in the four sides of our class room. His words can be a form of powerful
conversion of a person, from being away to God and now having faith and trusting in him. Bishop Barron
highlights the beatitudes, the way towards non-violence and learning how to forgive truly, and most importantly
caring for the poor and connecting with God. We can attain great happiness without violence and by giving
second chance to other people. By understanding those words deeply, I now conclude that freeing your heart
with negativity, anger will lead us to contentment and happiness.

God is love. God's love is "everlasting". "For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my
steadfast love shall not depart from you." Through Jeremiah, God declares to his people, "I have loved you with
an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you." Like him we must continue on having
strong faith in him. We should never doubt his power to turn things upside down. In this episodes I have learned
not to question anything that is happening to me but to feel his presence and blessings he have always given me.

The episodes made me feel like reborn again not physically but emotionally. It just made me to think of
God in different way that I was before. To grew more connection with him, because in the end I don’t know
really much about him. But my heart knows him, my love for him grew stronger as hard days goes by and I’m
so thankful that with the journey that I’m taking, I’m not alone, he is with me.