Pilgrims on the Journey

       In this course, I learned about many different topics regarding love and sexuality. One  that stood out to me is abortion. I picked this topic for my newspaper and I learned many different views. I did not realize how many people have abortions around the world, the statistics in China were extremely shocking to me. In researching, I also learned that the issue of abortion itself is more about the right of a woman as oppose to the killing of a baby. After learning about this topic, I still do not understand why people believe that woman have a right to kill. This further developed my belief of anti-abortion.

      In addition, we also discussed the topic of cohabitation. I never realized thought about this as a topic before. I knew that church did not believe in it, but never knew why, except the obvious reasons. I know many people who have lived together, and it did not work out for them. After learning about this topic in VHS, I understand why people it may or may not work out for some people. This topic was interesting to me since I had never discussed it before.

IVF

After watching the dateline special on IVF, I learned much more about the treatment itself and its effects on other people. I know many people who have received IVF, and it has been very successful for them. Because of this, I was a little confused as to why the church is against; however, after watching this video, I understand why. A mistake like that can drastically affect many peoples live, like those two families. IVF takes away from the human part of creating a family, and makes it more like a science experiment. The financial aspect of the cost doesn't affect my opinion of the morality of the project, but it is still a downside to it. People can spend thousands of dollars on this treatment which is a huge financial burden for something that might not even be successful.

Abortion: Why isn't this a national outrage?

After reading the article about Kermit Gosnell, I think that it should be publicized much more. Before this class, I never heard about this scandal. I think that he is completely guilty and should go to jail. The fact that he kills babies right from the mother's womb is on outrage. These women were not treated well, and some of them even died because of the poor treatment that they were given. I think that the economical status of most of these women played a huge impact of the reaction of others. Because the women receiving these treatments were poor, many people did not show as much concern about their treatment.

The Changing Face of Marriage

Marriage and family are two things that are taken very seriously in my house. I would say that my family lives out the values of the domestic church. My parents, my father, in particular, has instilled his strong sense of faith in both me and my younger sister. They have passed their moral and religious values onto us as well. One of the most important values that my parents believes in is kindness. I try my hardest to be nice to everyone. I don't judge people for their beliefs or differences. My family believes that as long as you a kind person, you are ok in my book. 

This belief relates to my view on changing the structure of marriage. If two people are in love with one another, I don't think its my place to judge them. There is so much hate and violence in this world that I don't understand why we are refusing people to be in love and stay together. The media is making statements about this as well, with television shows like Glee, Modern Family and the New Normal. These shows demonstrate how different types of relationships are slowly becoming more acceptable in society, but there are still changes that need to be made. 

Reading that people with college degrees are less likely to get a divorce makes me very happy. I believe that marriage is a sacred thing for two people who love each other. I hope that I will only get married once in my life. I want to establish a domestic church in my home so I can pass my religious and moral beliefs onto my children like my parents did for me. 

The Papal Conclave

I think the next Pope will have many new topics to address for the future church and the world. With the recent scandals that just occurred many people are losing faith in the Church. The Pope will have to remind as those people to replace their faith in him and God. There are also many world wide issues that have to be addressed such as abortion, gay marriage, women involved in the Church, and many more.

 I think that Church needs to modernize with society. Times are changing rapidly in society, and I think the Church will have to change too. However, I believe this will be an extremely difficult job. It will be hard for the Pope to modernize the Church without drastically changing its views.

Personally, I do not believe that women should be allowed to be priests. I still think Jesus was a man and so should priests. However, I do believe that more women could be involved with administrative aspects of the Church. Incorporating this will also be a challenge I believe.

The thing I would change about the Church is the accountability of the priests. I think the way that the Church handled the sex scandals was extremely upsetting. I understand that it's not all priests, but during these times, I think all priests need to be accountable for their actions.

I think the hierarchy of the Church is fine the way it is. The Holy Spirit will guide the next Pope on what direction the Church needs to be taken in.

Who I Am

    Reading the excerpt from Parker Palmer's book, Let Your Life Speak, gave me a better understanding of vocation in my life. He says that we should understand vocation as "not as a goal to be achieved but a gift to be received." This quote in particular made me think differently about vocations. I always viewed them as what God wants me to work towards rather than the calling in life that I receive. After reading this passage I agree with Palmer. God gives us these vocations and because he knows we can handle. My Dad always told me that God gives you opportunities in life because he knows you can handle them. I think that goes along with Palmer's view of vocations. God gives us the opportunity or calling in life and it is our job to do the best we can to follow his intended path for our future.
  This time in my life the future is something that is constantly talked about and extremely frightening. Every person I see ,whether it's somone new or a close friend, always asks me about college, careers or future goals for myself. For me, figuring out what I wanted to do was not hard. Ever since I was a little girl, I knew that I wanted to study music in college. It was a no brainer that I wanted to major in vocal performance. The challenging part is going to be actually getting there. While I have wanted to study music my entire life, I have also been told that it is a mistake. Whenever I tell people that I am majoring in vocal performance, they always give me a very strange look, almost like I am crazy. People think that going into music is a huge mistake. That it is not a reliable career and I am going to end up with no job or money once I graduate. Even my family members told me that I should do something else. They said that "Music is a hobby, not a career." While I understand their point, I know that they are wrong. Studying music is following "who I am" as oppose to what the rest of the world thinks I should be. God gave me this gift and passion so I can use it to the best of abilities. It will not always be easy, and I'll have to work a lot harder once I get out of college, but I know that this is my intended path. God has given me that opportunity to develop the gift he gave me and to follow who I really am.

Mission Statement

My mission in life is quite simple, to always be happy and to love whatever I am doing. The career that I am choosing is definitely not an easy one, but I will living out my passion each and every day. I want to inspire others with my passion and dedication. I have been very lucky to have great influences in my life, my parents, sisters, aunts and uncles, voice teachers and friends. These people have had an huge impact on my life, so I want to influence others like they have to me. I want to inspire others with my positive and optimistic outlook on life and my music. By being a voice teacher I want to inspire others with my love of music. Music has helped me become who I am today, and I want to pass my love of it unto others. To fulfill this dream and to follow God's true intended plan for me is my mission in life.