Factory Fire

The Fire in Bangladesh is certainly a tragedy. The death of over one hundred workers is a great loss no matter where in the world you are. The working conditions in the Bangladesh factory were terrible. After reading this article, I was most upset by the fact that many of the stores denied that some of their products had been made there. Some stores claim that they have not had their products made in that factory in over a year or certain periods of time. In my opinion, I was disappointed in the ways in which many of the US stores responded to this fire. I think they (Wal-Mart, Sears, etc.) should contribute in some way to the rebuilding of the factory or pay for some of the losses. It is not fair that the factory workers should have to settle just because of the working conditions. I think a story like this is an eye opener to many of Disney, Wal-Mart, or Sears customers, and I hope that people around the world realize the dangers of poor working conditions and try to fix them.

Radical Forgiveness

After reading this blog, I though about all the little things that we, as human beings, tend to hold a grudge over. Often times we let such trivial things interfere and destroy our relationships, friendships, or even marriages. Pope John Paul II's ability to forgive someone, who almost killed him,is the quintessence of a good Christian. In the Bible, Jesus teaches us to forgive not just the little things people have committed against but also the big things. This story also relates to Immaculee Ilibagiza's story of how she forgave the individuals involved in the Rwanda Genocide. Even years after the Genocide, Immaculee was able to forgive one of the murderers that killed her family member. Jesus gives us the strength to forgive those we do not think we are capable of forgiving. In the last chapter of her book, Immaculee has a dream in which her brother says to her, "Now heal your heart. You must love, and you must forgive those who have trespassed against us." Forgiving others not only benefits the person who committed an act of transgression against you, but it also benefits you. Forgiveness helps heal us from whatever we cannot let go of.

How is the World Messy???

As Mr. Annan had quoted before, our world is "messy." There are many incidents that happen everyday and we react based on how we measure the tragedies that occur.  In human nature, we tend to look the other way with what we consider "minor" incidents such as burglary, or troubles in other countries. it is not until a major disaster such as a storm, or child soldiers, or murder. All troubles in life are important. There is no measure or scale to determined who suffered more. As Christians, God expects us to recognize the trouble of others and help in the best way that we can. We often hear about tragedies from the news. We, including me, sympathize for a short while then continue on with our lives. For example, with Kony 2012, many young people were excited to bring justice to the child soldier in Africa. Children were being drugged, abused, lied to, and taught horrible things. These innocent children were being brainwashed. Even I was excited to put posters up to help educate the public on the evil man behind these cruel doings. After the scandal, the enthusiasm and hop of saving the children went away. We never heard about child soldiers even until today, months later, but child soldiers are still a huge issue in Africa right now.  In order to ensure that we carry on God's work of justice, we must continue to explore these tragedies or injustices and educate other people on them.

Global Solidarity

 There are many issues surrounding different countries and their cultures. In many different countries, like Afghanistan, prostitution is a way for women to make their own money, because their rights are so limited. However, killing someone who desires to keep her self respect is unacceptable.  This case is pretty common anywhere. Many women have suffered abuse and are still suffering now. The struggle women face in the world are often overlooked by 'more important" matters; however, speaking out to bring justice to abused women is very important. Catholic Social Teaching shows us that solidarity means that we all look after each other. With solidarity, there is no social status/labels, gender discrimination, and no matter was too little to be dealt with. The world often response to natural disasters quicker and with more concern  than toward injustice. Our society becomes concerned with issues that everyone can sympathize with, and maybe they feel as though an injustice in the Middle East is less of a disaster than mother nature.

Resolution

Setting goals for the new year wlwyas help me to stay on track and keep organized. This year my New Year's Resolution includes:
-Reading my bible everyday= I try to read my bible as often as I can but at times I get too tired or I forget then I stop reading for weeks or months. This year I want to read the bible everyday.
- Bringing a friend to church= talking to someone about Jesus is a good way to witness, but actions speak louder than words. I hope to bring at least one friend to church this year.
- Pray more= Prayer is always a good way to give all my problems to Jesus. I hope to continue to pray everyday and gain a stronger relationship with the Lord.
- Witness= Alot of times, talking about Jesus to people who do not want to hear about him can be nerve wrecking and scary. I want to have enough strenth, bravery and confidence to be able to witness to those who don't know about Christ.
-Serve others= I am always so busy with school and other things that I hardly ever have time to stop and think about God or fast or spend time doing things that he would want me to do. This year I want to continue to involved in volunteer work like CSC and even outside of school.

Circle of Protection

In his response to poverty, Mitt Romney said that he believes that the United can and must do better. He believes that when the economy is good the citizens are good. He said that a "healthy" economy will provide rescources for Americans to be successful. One rescource, in particular, includes jobs. Romney claims that he has a vision, a plan to get the economy on track for a healthier America. With this plan he claims that there would be 12 billion job opportunites. He claims that fewer people will be on farewell and that this will reduce budget deficit. He adds bys aying that this "delegate task" (his vision) is the government's responsibilty to be a safety net for needy people as it has been in the past. He finished by saying that he would make sure less is given to those who are more fortunate and more is given to those who are less fortunate.
 President Obama says that he believed poverty is a moral issue. He believes that he should be his "brothers and sisters' keeper." We wants those who have worked to get ahead but to also help those who are less fortunate. He wants to continue to have the less fortunate cictizens realize that the government has them covered with education, health care, retirement etc. President Obama says that he believes we cannot balance the budget on the less fortunate for massive tax cuts. He says that it "morally wrong." Finally President Obama says that he believes in an aeconomy that works for all Americans.
In comparison to the Catholic teaching, both candidates believe that helping the poor is the right thing to do. Both candidates also said that felt it is their or the government's responsibilty to care for their "brothers and sisters." Both candidates also refered to working with "faith based organizations."
Romney's strengths were that he believed that the government should continue to be a "safety net" for cictizens who are struggling. He also was strong in agreeing to work with faith- based organizations to help the needy. However, Romney is not able to relate to struggling people and not have the best plan for every American citizen and his plan might profit the upper class more than the other social statuses. Obama's strengths inlcude seeking God for advice on how to care for the struggling Americans as well as builiding an economy that works for all citizens of America not just the wealthy people and just the less fortunate people. But President Obama is weak on focusing on how to keep the economy healthy.

Project H.O.M.E.

Project H.O.M.E is an organization to elp house the homeless people of Philadelphia. This is a work of justice for the homeless, because we are getting one step closer to beating homlessness. Beginning in one major city and spreading the work, can house thousands of people in major cities and all around the United States. This is also an act of charity but more justice. Charity can be a donation, or some volunteer hours; but there is more justice in this work because your strengthing an entire city. Adults can become educated, they help provides jobs for the homeless people, the offer medical care, even without in surance, and the help fight addiction. Project H.O.M.E is different than most local homeless shelters in Philadelphia because the organization looks out for the people's well being, as opposed to just meeting their needs with a place to live. At, H..M.E. people with addictions can contact their "buddy" from the organization when they feel the need to. They treat people with severe mental illness and the look out for the veterans. In my opinion, the best opportunity offered in the organization is the care for our veterans. Many of our veterans have returned to nothing, when they come back to America. It's amazing that Project H.O.M.E takes the time to care for the veterans and their families directly. They have sacrificed so much for america and they deserve to be taken care of when they return home.

Forgiveness

In this article the author mentions two words, forgiveness and reconciliation. Two very similar words with signficant tiny differences. The article describes forgiveness as an act that " allows us to heal from harms done to us by moving forward and not allowing this pain to continue to control our lives." In other words when we forgive someone it allows us to let go of our anger, we do not have to forget but we do not dwell on the past. Forgiveness allows us to continue to live our lives without the burdens of the past. As Christians, Jesus tells us to forgive our neighboors 70*7 times. God forgives us and expects, with his help, for us to forgive others. God knows that it is not easy for us, as humans, to forgive even that one person who did the most damage to our lives; however, he expects us to try and he will do the rest. lthough it may be hard for us as humans to offer forgiveness but even in the Lord's prayer we say "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." With Go'd help we can forgive others. In my opinion, I think that we should forgive. Bin Ladin is dead, and while this event hurt our country, America is bouncing back and built another trade center. America is not a country to stay down, we will never forget what happened but we do not let it slow us down as a country. The best thing about forgiving someone else is that we can continue to live our lives and grow stronger and wiser.