3rd_John-Kish by Rick Kohut

Question #1: Fr. Charles quotes an early Church Father - “God became (hu)man, so that (hu)man(s) may be God.” What do you think this means?

I think that this means that humans can be inspired to be like God in the means of being holy and caring for all creation like how Jesus did when he became human. Once we do that and die eventually we may spend eternity with God and be close to him forever.

Question #2: Although God and grace are not explicitly shown in LOTR, it is said that these are present in the story like “light from an invisible lamp.” What do you think this means? How does this short observation capture the essence of how the Catholic Imagination views the world?

I think that this means that we cant see the source of the light which is God but we can see his affects all around us through his grace such as the sacraments and the priest. It shows catholic imagination in its purest form God and his works.

Question #3: It is said that unlike some Protestant Christian ways of seeing the world, Catholics view the world as “deprived but not depraved.”

Draw upon what you have learned about sin to explain both parts of this statement (you’ll likely need to also define these two words in your answer.

I think that this means that the world is deprived of God and wanting to be with him meaning that we lack it but it is still necessary like deprived from water or shelter. We are depraved in the world of sin which means that we are corrupt with sin like in our culture we like in a secular nation rather than a holy christain society.

Question #4: Fr. Charles concludes by noting that there isn’t religion nor are there Sacraments in LOTR and yet there is a strong sacramental view of the world. Give three examples from the story of LOTR (as we’ve learned it through the videos we’ve watched) of people, objects, or actions which are symbols which point to aspects of Catholicism.

The 1st example is the ring symbolizes original sin and sin itself on how it corrupts man. The 2nd example is Frodo representing Jesus in a way taking on the task of trying to destroy original sin and taking that burden for all mankind. The 3rd example is Gandalf, he represents the resurrection when he turns to Gandalf the grey to Gandalf the white after he defeats the monster.

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