White Smoke!

Hello ladies and gentlemen. As many of you already know, Pope Benedict stepped down from his position as Pope. On March 13 76 year old Jorge Bergoglio was elected to fill this role. He has since taken the name as Pope Francis. Pope Francis was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is the first Jesuit Pope, first from the Americas, and first from the southern hemisphere. Pope Francis is known for his humility. One example of his humility is how he wants to live in the Vatican guest house instead of the papal residence that has been used for hundreds of years. He greatly concerns for the poor and wants to build friendships of people from all races and beliefs throughout the world. Pope Francis was elected on the fifth ballot of the conclave. I believe this newly elected Pope will do great for our religion as a whole. I cannot wait to see how he performs.

Have a good day and thanks for reading--the Mad Hatter

The Importance of the Eucharist

Hello ladies and gentlemen. This blog I am going to write about the importance of Eucharist. Eucharist is Christ Himself. This is one of the most important parts of our religion. The Second Vatican Council reminds us the the Eucharist is the center of our faith. Jesus is truly present in the Sacraments. Jesus offers His life to us through Eucharist. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith. By receiving Eucharist, we unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate for eternal life. The Eucharist We should always receive the Body of Christ is the most reverent manner.

Jesus is present in the Eucharist in unique ways we cannot fully comprehend. Jesus is present in His body and blood, His soul and His divinity. All of Christ is present in the Eucharist, God and man. Through transubstantiation, the common bread and wine is transformed into Jesus’ body and blood. We should know that this is a major part of our faith and it is very important to know exactly what is happening at this point in mass.

Have a good day and thanks for reading--the Mad Hatter

Catholic-->Universal

Hello ladies and gentlemen. Today we will finally be talking about a topic. Today's topic will relate to the "Catholic" part of One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. Catholic means universal. This is a very important definition to know and understand if your are a Catholic. Most teens, including myself, may not accept everybody, or may think some people are wrong and bad because they do this. As a Catholic Church our Church is universal-meaning that it is the whole world. Catholicism is everywhere. In every part of the globe. One thing teens may struggle on is do Catholics let anyone just come into their religion and get converted even if they were something completely opposite or did something really terrible. The answer to the question is yes. As seen in the early history of the Church, after the death of Jesus the Apostle must make a decision on whether or not non Jews can become Catholics. The first convert to Catholicism happens to be an Ethiopian man, and he is a eunuch. This first act of letting someone into the Church exercises the authority the Church has. If anyone in today's world felt the grace of God one day and decided they wanted to become Catholics, then by gosh they could do it. Catholicism welcomes everyone into their religion if they accept Jesus and all that he teaches.

Have a good day and thanks for reading--the Mad Hatter

Getting Started!

Hello ladies and gentlemen. This is my very first time blogging and I am fairly new to it. I am both nervous and excited. This blog will focus on Catholicism. Catholicism is a subsection of Christianity-the biggest religion in the world. I will be focusing on connecting to the youths of Catholicism. I will be explaining how the average Catholic teen thinks about the religion and what they do or do not know. I will also be trying to inform and educate those teens that may not know or understand their religion. Some people may think that most Catholic teens don't care about their religion, that they don't follow the rules or pray enough. Now this may be true about some teens but may be completely inaccurate about others. I will be implementing different attitudes in my blog. Sometimes I might try to be funny, and other times I may want to discuss a serious topic. Our main topic for this blog is: One, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. These are the four marks of the Church. We recite this in our creed every mass. Most teens may not be experts on this subject, but they are some of the most important thing to know and understand as a member of the Church--especially as a young member. I feel like if our Catholic teens don't get educated about their religion now, then they may never be educated. We have a chance, to touch the hearts of the youth and fill their head with the knowledge of God. I will say more about this topic and perhaps talk about other topics.


Have a great day and thanks for reading-----the Mad Hatter