Factory Fire

I think this is a tragic occurrence that could have easily been avoided, had the factory had the proper fire precautions. Perhaps if they did, 112 families would not be grieving the loss of their loved ones. Personally, I do not think it is the responsibility of the costumer to know where our products are made, however I do think it is the responsibility of the government and the corporation. I believe that they should know not only where the products come from, but the working conditions these workers have to endure everyday, and also the safety measures the factory itself has. Just because I do not think it is our responsibility to know, doesn't mean I think we should be oblivious to it. This is not exactly related to safety conditions, but my grandmother checks the labels of everything she buys to ensure that it was not made in china due to the fact that jobs are being lost because of all the imports and money spent on items not made in the US. It is of course not her responsibility to know where these items are made, however she is aware of the issue and takes actions to help prevent it. This is how it should be with the products that come from unsafe warehouses. We as a whole should all be aware of the products and/or companies that have items made in factories that promote unsafe working conditions and unfair treatment to workers. This way, perhaps the issue is less likely to continue.

Radical Forgiveness

Forgiveness is probably one of the hardest things to do, in my opinion. It is much easier to hate and hold a grudge against someone who has done you wrong. Yet I think it is very important to forgive to show to yourself, and to your wrongdoer, that you can move on. In this instance, Pope John Paul II went above and beyond when he forgave the man who shot him six times. Honestly, I'm not a perfect person and if someone had tried to kill me I don't think I would be capable of sitting down with that person and talking to them, showing my forgiveness. It takes someone with a lot of faith in the Lord and humanity itself to do such an act. To sit down and look the person in the eye who tried to kill you, and say that you forgive them. If I'm being honest, I dont think I would be able to do it. This relates to Immaculee's story because she did almost the same thing as Pope John Paul II. She met the man who killed her own brother, and told him that she forgave him. I said earlier that I would never be capable of sitting down with someone who tried to kill me and tell them I forgave them. It would be even harder for me to do that to a person who killed one of my family members. In a world full of hatred and violence, Immaculee and Pope John Paul II find it in themselves to make peace rather than succumb to the violence.

The Messy World

When I hear about immense suffering in the world it pulls on my heart strings, as I'm sure it does with many other people as well. Of course my first thought is to find someway to help them, whether it be to donate or to simply raise awareness. However, I'm ashamed to admit more times than not I do not do anything to help. Although my first thought is to help in any way possible, the situation is soon forgotten and in the past before I have the chance to do anything about it. When a friend is in need of my help though, it is easier to help because for one I have the ability to see them everyday and I know how to help them. I think the Gospel tells us that we should do anything that we can to help them whether small or big, anything would help. We can support this by simply caring more about other people in the world and not just about people you know. I'm not saying that everyone is selfish but in my opinion, people are more prone to jump at the opportunity to help when they know the person they are helping. If we all began to care for those people who we don't now, if we all began to put ourselves in the places of those people maybe we would all be more willing to do something about it.

Global Solidarity

I think that it is our job, simply as human beings, to help and support those women who are abused and taken advantage of. Unfortunately, it is not an uncommon thing anymore which is terribly sad and should be stopped. I think that in this specific case, it is mind boggling to hear that the mother-in-law of this girl was the one who was pushing her towards prostitution and then killed her because she refused. If solidarity means that we are all one family and part of the same world and should help each other and treat each other with respect, then we should be doing something to help and support these women. It is sad when girls live in fear of becoming victims of such violent crimes yet no one is there to help them. Thousands of people come together to raise awareness and money and support for natural disasters such as hurricanes and tsunami's, so why should this be any different. Perhaps money is not necessary but women definitely need help and protection and i think we should be helping to provide that.

Resolutions

I think that Bishop Ricken has some very insightful thoughts on new resolutions and i agree with many of them. If i had to write down five resolutions of my own for a year of faith, my first would be to be kind and compassionate and caring to everyone around me. It is important to be seen as an object of sincerity to others and know they always have someone there for them and i would like to be that person. My second resolution would be to participate in more volunteer work. I would very much like to be more involved with our schools CSC program and help those who are in need or less fortunate. My third resolution would be attempt to attend mass more often. I am not very vigilant when it comes to attending mass and a strong resolution of mine is to change that. My fourth resolution would be to insinuate solidarity among my friends and my family, meaning creating closer relationships between one another. My final resolution would be to hold true to my faith. It is hard, especially when going through rough patches in life, to hold true to one's faith which is why i want to make it a resolution to always stay true to it. Even if I am faced with difficulties, it is important that i remember who i am and what i believe.

Circle Of Protection

In the videos, Obama gives his input on poverty and his way of helping prevent poverty in the future. Putting this in the perspective of acts of charity and acts of justice, Obama's method is more of an act of charity. He sees poverty as a moral issue, meaning that we as a nation should work together to do more to help those in poverty. Although this sounds promising, he has no plans of creating more jobs or job opportunities in order to help those in poverty. His hopes in helping those in needs is not a long term solution. There is no way to create jobs or help those in poverty when the nation itself is in a tremendous amount of debt and Obama has done nothing to fix this problem. Romney on the other hand, has a plan of creating more jobs and doing his best to fix the economy. He has a five part economic plan that will help create 12,000,000 new jobs which in turn will create more opportunities for those to get on the payroll and create a new life for themselves. Romney's plan to help prevent poverty is an act of justice, meaning it will help to change the way of the world in the long run. It will not only help people to get out of poverty, but it will prevent it in the future by creating a better economy so fewer people fall into the grasp of poverty.

Project H.O.M.E.

Project H.O.M.E. works for justice in the way they strive to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty. They make it their job to be the help people need to get back on their feet by providing affordable housing and access to quality education, employment, and health care. I do believe that they also do works of charity. While they are centered around the long-term goal of being able to prevent homelessness and poverty, the little every day acts they carry out can be considered charity. In a way, charity and justice are linked together. If an organization is striving for justice, then they will be doing acts of charity everyday in order to achieve justice. I believe that is what Project H.O.M.E. is doing. Project H.O.M.E. differentiates from other homeless shelters simply by the fact that they do more to help. Other homeless shelters offers a roof over your head and food to eat, whereas Project H.O.M.E. offers you a second chance at life. They help you find your way to affordable housing, and provide access to employment opportunities. I would say it is definitely more complex than other homeless shelters. After looking through their website, it is hard to choose one of their programs that is the most important. I believe that all of them are equally as important. For starters, education is very important because with out education it would be near impossible to get a job. Which leads to their second program of opportunities. They open a lot of doors for people by helping them to find jobs and reach their full potential. With out a job, they wouldn't be able to pay for a house, which brings us to their next program of housing. With out the education to get a job, paying for a house would be extremely hard. All of these programs tie together in order to create a healthy living which is why I think all of these programs are equally as important.

Forgiveness

To me, to forgive means to accept what has happened and be able to move on from that. It is the ability to look at the person or thing that has caused pain in your life and have no hard feelings towards them. Forgiveness is definitely not an easy task and, depending on the situation, can take years to accomplish. But I think it is important to forgive in order to make your life better and happier. It is a burden to carry all those unhappy and grudge-filled feelings with you. Forgiveness is definitely important, but are we as a nation ready to forgive Osama Bin Laden for that tragic day? The way I see it, 9/11 was most definitely a horrible occurrence that should have never happened. But after it happened, it created a unity between the people. We were all fighting together to help and save as many people as possible and even days, months, and years after it happened we all still come together to remember and honor all those who lost their lives. The question still stands, is Bin Laden worthy of our forgiveness? I think that that question cannot be answered by any one person. There are some people who have already accepted what happened and forgave him, yet there are others who have feelings of hatred and revenge towards the man that caused this all. I think that regardless of if we forgive or not, 9/11 will never be forgotten and we will continue to honor that day and all those whose lives were lost. But I also think that we will never have peace on that day until we can come together as a nation and forgive together. Forgiveness is relevant to the Christina story because of Jesus' teachings. He tells people that they need to forgive and be forgiven. There are two parts to that statement and both are equally as important. In order to forgive, a person needs find their inner peace on the matter and release any hard feelings towards the wrongdoer. At the same time, you need to be forgiven which puts the ball in someone else's court. You can apologize, but it is the other persons responsibility, if she/he wants to, to forgive you.