Confirmation Experience

The religion I choose to observe for my fieldwork project is Catholicism. In order to complete the fieldwork assignment required for this paper I attended St. Lawrence Church on 5225 N. Himes Avenue in Tampa, FL. One of the reasons I chose to observe Catholicism for my fieldwork project is because it is a prominent religion throughout the world. In addition to the US, Catholicism is widely supported within Europe and Latin American countries. Another reason I chose Catholicism is because I found it to be relatively different from my own religion, Hinduism. I favored St. Lawrence Church over some of the other catholic churches in the area due to the fact that a few of my friends were already part of the community. Also, St. Lawrence Church

Daniel James Brown, the author of The Boys in the Boat, uses Joe Rantz’ story to symbolize the way America was able to find hope in a time of hopelessness and despair in the world-the Great Depression, and Nazi Germany. Joe Rantz was kicked out of his home at a very young age, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. Joe’s mom, “Thula exploded in the face of what she saw a lax discipline...she would not live under the same roof as Joe...went back upstairs and told [Harry’s] only son he would have to move out of the house. Joe was ten” (Brown 36). Joe’s life had changed right before his eyes, just like a lot of Americans lives and the Jews in Germany during the early 1930s. Millions of people were displaced during the tumultuous times of the

The title of the document Welcoming the Stranger among Us: Unity in Diversity, word by word, tells us four elements: the action, the subject, the reality, and the purpose (goal) in order to approach the issue of receiving immigrants in the Church. The document defines, “Unity in diversity is the vision that we bishops, as pastors of the Church in the United States, offer to our people as they welcome the new immigrants and refugees who come to our shores”. The document contextualizes the call to “conversion, communion, and solidarity” in Ecclesia in America as the way to pursue the vision of “unity in diversity” with a “new evangelization.” The spiritual reason for the unitary call is to imitate the trinitarian

In Pat Conroy’s “Confessions of an Ex-Catholic”, Conroy describes the love he had for the Catholic mass rituals, the Georgian chants, and the prayer even though he left the character and swears to never return. Conroy includes that, although he was thankful for this upbringing, he will never force his children in the church. Conroy also confesses that while he is an ex-Catholic he is still part of the church and forever will be. The purpose of Conroy’s confession is to admit and almost convince the reader, the audience, that even after leaving a religion or certain belief, one is always part of it and it is a part of one. “Just as I always will be American and Southern, I will always be Catholic. I left the Church but she has not left me.” Many might think that after leaving a religion, the connection is over but it quite the opposite. Conroy proves in his confession that his upbringing within the Catholic Church shaped him as not only as a person but also as a writer.

In the passage from the novel Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo, Trumbo tells the story of a young boy named Joe and his father, who have a very close relationship. They each love to do the same things, but Joe thinks it is time to experience life on his own. Trumbo uses techniques such as Joe’s point of view, imagery, and unquoted dialogue to illustrate the strong relationship between Joe and his father.

    The boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown, takes the reader through the life of one of the main characters named Joe Rantz. The reader follows Joe through his highs and lows he endures throughout the story. Joe is a very determined, strong, and eager young man. He is six feet and two inches, a freshman, strongly built, blonde, with gray-blue eyes (Brown, 12). Joe continues to pursue in rowing even though he had to undergo some treacherous weather during his rowing practices. Determined, focused, and brave, Joe continued on with rowing. “The girls in the library lawn who had glanced appreciatively his way had had to overlook what was painfully obvious to him: that his clothes were not like those of most of the other students..” (Brown, 13). Based off the quote you can conclude that Joe didn’t have the newest clothes but he continued to go to school despite the fact he was a little different from his peers.

The Reform position of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is possibly the most commonly held position in the American mid-west. Walter Kaiser is a brilliant theologian but very typical in his assessment of the Holy Spirit’s representation in the New Testament. Kaiser does a masterful job of presenting the theological and chronological exegesis of the Holy Spirit without jumping off the Calvinist cliff. He makes an excellent observation of seeing the Pauline letters as didactic and Lukan letters as narrative, but falls short of full scholarship by asserting that narrative passages could not be doctrinal in scope. Kaiser also stays true to the conversion initiation theory by using 1 Corinthians 12:13 as the proof text for one Spirit and his defense against subsequence. I also appreciated that Kaiser did not try

Because I am Mexican and live in a predominately Hispanic town, nearly everybody I know is Catholic. My friends, my teachers, and even my loved ones. It was difficult to explain to them that I did not share their beliefs. I was labeled and judged by many of those around me (which I found ironic considering Matthew 7:1). I began to feel pretty low, until I realized that our Lord Jesus was too judged and labeled and even humiliated for everyone to see. Everybody’s judgment only made me love Christ more. It made me feel a true connection with Him and what He went through to save me and give me eternal life. Every and any rude comment my religion and my love for Jesus only strengthens my faith even more. Jesus ignited a fire within me that I didn’t even know existed. He opened my eyes to the true beauty of what it means to be a Christian, and opened doors to many beautiful friends and opportunities I would have never received if I did not love

Joe is the center of the universe. In the beginning of the play he has everything and everyone but he does not like himself. He describes himself as an empty shell, “nothing left to kill,” (Millennium Approaches 46). Although he may be Mr. Popular, Joe is not happy with his life. As the play continues, Joe eventually loses his mother, Harper and Luis. He is alone; he has no job opportunity in Washington because Roy has died. But Joe is happy. Joe has finally faced unlocked that “hidden thing” and he has embraced it. Joe’s secret exists no more, and he gains that confidence and sureness that he was missing. Although Joe loses everyone else, he finds himself. And as we know, Joe’s happiness comes from how he sees himself. How can someone expect another to love them if they do not love themselves? Joe demonstrates progression in that he finally learns to love

Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio. The first chapter of The Big Book tells how Bill Wilson was introduced to the concept of using a faith based, group support program to provide the mental and emotional support needed to manage Alcohol Addiction. The main purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety. The program is unique in that each chapter is self funded, develops their own meeting format. I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting on Thursday, October 6th

Each day that goes by, certain individuals and groups of people are faced with threats, menace, and risk. These people can be targeted just by random choice, have current or past affiliation with crime, or can just be part of a certain situation going on in the community. Dana from the novel Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, and China Joe from the A Path Appears by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn happen to represent this situation perfectly. In the books Kindred and A Path Appear, threats serve as a motif for characters to enhance the importance of protecting and having a direct connection with each other.

I have never attended Catholic Mass. It almost seemed like stepping into a different country. Although he did not state his name and credentials, his attire, formality, and title allowed everyone know that he was a priest. The topic of the speech concerns our human nature to bargain and diminish another person’s work. The priest orated stories to inform and mainly pursue not to belittle one another’s experience on this planet. This was taken place at University of the Pacific’s Morris Chapel, Sunday evening. Though I can safely say that the majority of the audience consisted of frequent Catholic followers, I noticed a number of students who are also in COMM 27.

First, as the priest walked on to the altar there was a table with a cloth over it which the priest kisses. I was curious as to what the meaning of the table was and asked my friend Paul. His answer was that the meaning the table signified the body of Christ. On that same table the priest set a gold colored what seemed to me to be a wine glass and a circular disk on the table. The priest lifted the circular disk in to the air with both hands and said “this is my body which will be given up for you this is the challis of my blood”. I asked Paul what the meaning of the circular disk was. He answered that the circular disk is bread that represented life, and the body of Christ. In addition to the bread, I also asked about the wine glass, and the wine glass is supposed to be the blood of Christ. Both the wine and the bread are drank and eaten to signify the acceptance of Christ or also known as Holy Communion. But before the bread and wine are received there is prayer. After the prayer all the church members turn to each other and make an offering of peace to each other as a community to bring everyone together. This is where I had to join in also, all the members reach out to shake hands and exchange a hello or a god bless

Though I no longer accept their doctrine, I have a deep respect for many aspects of the Catholic Church and all religions that bring acceptance and goodwill to the world. Today, I like to say that my religion is kindness. In my experience on this earth, I’ve found that the only thing that really matters is how we treat others today, and not so much where we’ll be when we die. I try not to think that far ahead. Instead, I focus on how I can make the world a little better now. I don’t regret my time in the Catholic church, but I’m glad I’ve found a way of life that feels right for my own beliefs; beliefs I live to their fullest potential every

I grew up in a Catholic family—my parents and relatives are all Roman Catholics. In my younger years, I already remember my parents teaching me basic Catholic prayers and telling me stories or parables from the Bible. In addition, I spent my grade school and high school years in a Catholic school in Pasig. For ten years, we would pray before and after every subject and break time. Catholic retreats, recollections, seminars, and outreach events became a part of our student life, apart from having religion classes three times a week. In short, I grew up actively practicing the Catholic faith, with Jesus as the center and the role model of my life. I grew up believing that God, our Almighty Father, is the most powerful Being behind the creation of the universe—all of his attributes and characteristics are beyond measure. I grew up not doubting the