10/2/18 – First Faith Journal

I grew up in a household which the word “faith” was never brought up. Words such as God and
Jesus were almost never brought up unless they were accompanied by a cuss word. I am
baptized as a Roman Catholic and this was the last time I was at church with my parents. I felt
like going to a catholic school like Seton Hill was odd because I’ve never been to a church
service. Thus, I was never exposed to religion. However, I always knew that I believed in God
and was a follower of Jesus. Coming into Faith, Religion and Society, I was hoping that it would
answer some of my questions about my faith that I had living in a household like mine. The
reading that struck me the most was Terrence W. Tilley’s, Faith: What It Is and What It Isn’t. I
am pleased that this was one of the first readings we did. It really helped me understand the
situation that I am in. Tilley defines faith as, “the relationship between one and the irreducible
energizing source of meaning and center of value in one’s life” (Tilley 26). I wouldn’t say that I
have faith in Jesus as Tilley describes it because Jesus is not the center of my life. However, I
have my trust in God that he is there for me. Stemming from this, Tilley also writes, “The
communal aspect of faith is important. Others teach us how to have faith and how to understand
our faith. We learn how to be faithful from and in communities of faith, even if we may come out
later to reject the faith of those communities have taught us” (Tilley 27). I never had a
community of faith except when my grandma would read stories to me out of the Bible of Jesus
doing extraordinary things. I loved hearing these stories. The story that I remember the most
was about the little girl who was dead and Jesus revived her (Mark. 5.35). We actually read this
in class! I forgot completely about these stories and reading them reminded me of my grandma
trying to instill something on me. Now, I wonder if she was trying to remind me that I am a
follower of Jesus. Maybe, she has faith in Jesus and would die for him. However, she was my
communal aspect of faith and belief. I did not reject the things she was telling me. I guess that
my roots of faith have stemmed from her but are still different. Tilley writes, “One’s faith shapes
their life” (Tilley 35). My grandma has pictures of Jesus all over her house so I guess her life is
shaped by him. In my life, I surround myself with medical books and other objects that stem
from medicine. I have an articulated skeleton in my room. Unlike her, I only have a cross
hanging and that’s it. My faith may be classified as a lover of medicine and learning with an
interest in Jesus and Christianity. Also my end goal is to help people. Lastly, Tilley writes,
“Something that makes my life worth living, even if I cannot quite figure out what it is or express
my faith very clearly” (Tilley 30). I think that he is wanting the reader to say the quote to
themselves and this is what they have faith in. I would definitely say that the idea of becoming a
physician assistant makes my life worth living because it means that I get to express my love for
medicine and helping people. In all, I can classify my faith in helping people in the realm of
medicine.

11/28 – Second Faith Journal

In my life, as a person who inhabits the earth, I need to provide charity. Charity, as I see
it, comes from the works of mercy as seen in The Long Loneliness pages 180, 220, and 224.
“Charity is personal, Charity is love” (Day 179). This short statement has a powerful meaning to
me because it reassures that the charitable acts are not only for someone else but for myself,
too, residing with my faith. Charity for me is feeding the poor and hungry at the soup kitchen. I
hold this dear to my heart. 
“Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and especially by
his death and resurrection, is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of
every person and of all humanity” (Caritas in Veritate no.1). This definition of charity from
Caritas in Veritate is something I agree with even though I am not a “religious” person or had
the religious background that many people have had. Like in my past faith journal, I spoke about
not being brought up in a religious household, however, I do have faith. I have faith in helping
people in the realm of medicine. Looking deeper into that idea as we progressed through the
second half of the semester, I can say that not only do I have faith in helping people in medicine
but actually helping people in general. My faith has changed to a broader idea of “helping”. I feel
as though if I only had faith in helping people through medicine, that I could only help people for
part of my day. It seems a little selfish to me. 
Through Seton Hill, I was able to volunteer at dinners to feed the poor at the Otterbein
United Methodist Church in Greensburg. I have to thank Seton Hill for getting me involved. I
started to go for my connections class but soon turned into a regular, going almost every week.
When I began to see the true meaning of what this dinner actually meant to the people, it made
me think about why I really wanted to be there. Sure, I like the interaction between myself and
the people who attend but I felt that there was something more meaningful. After reading this
quote from the Long Loneliness, “We helped others, it is true, but we did not deprive ourselves
in order to help others” (Day 87). The idea of helping others did not deprive me of anything like
Day describes. I was not deprived of my time, my energy, or knowing that I could be doing
anything better than being in the basement of a church. I enjoy being there and helping these
people, providing charity. 
 My faith has changed since attending these dinners. Tilley defined faith as, “the
relationship between one and the irreducible energizing source of meaning and center of value
in one’s life” (Tilley 26). Like I said above, my faith is not only in medicine anymore because of
the real reason why medical practitioners should be practicing medicine, and that is to make the
lives of people less fortunate better at that moment! “Charity is personal, Charity is love” (Day
179). “To love someone is to desire that person's good and to take effective steps to secure it.”
(Caritas in Veritate no.7). This describes my faith and the real reason why I value charity as a
part of my faith. Helping people, not only with medicine, is now what I have faith in and is the
center of my life.