Pilgrims on the Journey

I think the most important thing I learned in this course is that there is always more than one way to do things. One way is not the "right" way. That is highlighted by the one article about the Camino. Everyone walks the Camino a different way, but it does not mean someone is doing it wrong. it is simply different than how you would do it. That is an important lesson because we can not judge people because they are different than us. We have to try to see things the way they do and see where they are coming from. It is not always easy, but the world would be a much better place if more people did this.

IVF

The biggest pro to IVF is allowing couples who are unable to have children naturally, have their own biological child. Many couples are unable to conceive naturally, so this process allows the mother to still experience pregnancy and have their own child. However, there are many cons to this practice as well. IVF is very expensive. However, it is expensive because of the science behind the procedures. This doesn't change my opinion about IVF. The Church advises against artificial insemination in any way. However, there are ways to do IVF and not kill unused eggs. You can just take out as many eggs as you want.

Abortion

I was horrified when I read the article about Kermit Gosnell. I just can not believe that this happened and that he is denying the charges. Before we talked about it in class, I had not heard about the trial. I am surprised because abortion is such a national concern. Especially during the election, the topic of abortion was brought up a lot to the candidates. I think this story has not made national news because no one wants to talk about the awful truth of what happened. There are so many different parts to this story that it is hard to focus on one. He had a child injecting drugs into patients, one of these patients died as a result, his clinic was filthy, and he murdered many delivered children because of late term abortions. This should be national news just to make sure he does not get away with any of this. I hope that this story isn't major news because of his race or the victims race and economic status but I am sure that it has played a role. I think we would have heard this story if a girl from the Main Line was the victim because of the bias in the media.

The Changing Face of Marriage

The "domestic church" is an interesting concept because I feel like I have experienced both. While my parents are divorced and I did not technically have a conservative family, I lived primarily with my mom, stepdad, and other siblings. This felt like the "domestic church" because of the normalcy of our family. However, the changing face of family and marriage is shown in a lot ways. We see same sex couples with families, single parents, and divorced parents. These are not bad things, just different from the original idea of marriage. I don't think having a college degree makes your marriage more likely to last. I think it is all about who you decide to marry. As long as you don't rush into a marriage, I think it can work. To me, education does not have anything to do with it. However, it is good to know that when I receive my college degree, I will have a better chance of my marriage lasting.

Papal Conclave

I think the biggest issue the Church is facing right now is the sex abuse scandal. The actions of many in the Church has directly affected the people closely involved in the abuse and indirectly involved all Catholics. Many people have had a crisis of faith because they find it hard to believe in an institution that would harm innocent victims the way they have.
I think the Church needs to modernize. As a young person, I find it very hard to relate to the stiff and formal masses that do not truly affect me. However, it is the tradition of the Church and I understand that but I think they need to find a way to connect with the Catholic youth around the world.
Women do not have as big of a role as men in the Church. Women need to have more say in the Church and be authorized to hold higher positions.
Democracy can be hard sometimes. Sometimes we have to do something that may not popular but it has to be done. In the Church, they need a few trustworthy people to make decisions, but be accessible and open to discussion.

What's the Point?

I can see what the textbook is saying because if no other relationships have ever worked out, why would this one? People breakup and find a new partner in record times today. You can think you have a deep connection with someone and then two months later be dating a completely new person, making new connections. In a way, it is good practice for divorce because before marriage, relationships are seemingly disposable. But marriage is supposed to be a permanent, life- long commitment. On the other side of the argument, dating allows for people to find out what they like and dislike in a partner. They can be seen as trial runs for the real thing. As in the old fairytale, the princess had to kiss a lot of frogs before she found her prince. Sometimes you have to date some bad guys to recognize when the good guy comes around. This relates to the hookup culture because hooking up occurs much more often than dating. Hookups are not preparing you for relationships or commitment. They are simply meaningless actions that people often look back on and say "What was I thinking?"

Becoming Who I Am

I completely agree with Parker Palmer when he says that becoming who you are is more about reinforcing the way God made you. However, I also believe that it is very important to become a "better you" because we have to always try to be the best possible versions of ourselves. Not everyone experiences a concrete vocation for the directions of our lives. It can be hard to find our path when there isn't an external force steering us in a certain direction. Society is an important factor, I believe, in our vocation because it can be very accepting of mistakes, as long as we learn from them. The process of trial and error would be a lot more difficult if we lived in a harsher society. Like Palmer says, it can be harder to accept the person we truly are than to pretend to be someone we're not. Being someone you're not only puts a mask over God's vision of us. We have to be true to who we are. Being yourself is the greatest vocation a person can receive.