Blog Post #9: Resilience

Could you ever see yourself sharing similar messages that your Letter Writer did? Why or why not? How would you share them? What were some new things that you learned from the Marian apparition projects presented in class (be specific)? How did you see resilience at work within the Marian apparition that you researched? Do you see yourself as being resilient? Why or why not?

I think I could see myself sharing the messages my letter writer did. His messages were to not judge each other and to not be defined by materialistic things. I believe that this message is very important because we should not discriminate against anyone because it is not fair. However, I would not be like the letter writers and write letters to people telling them to be fair. I would tell people to be fair only when it was necessary or if I witnessed someone being unfair. I feel that most people already know that we should not judge each other.

I had never heard of the Marian apparition before so it was all new to me. I learned that they were supernatural appearances by Mary. For example, Our Lady of Guadalupe was when Mary appeared to Juan Diego and had asked him to build a temple. I noticed that in most of the apparitions Mary had told the people she had visited to pray. Our Lady of Lourdes was when Mary appeared to a young girl and she had told her to pray and to say the rosary everyday. All of these apparitions were approved by the Catholic Church, most likely by the local bishop.

The Marian apparition I researched was Our Lady of Akita. In Japan, Mary had appeared to Sister Agnes and had told her to pray. Sister Agnes had demonstrated resilience for when a cross-shaped wound appeared on her hand, she knew that it was a sign and carried on with the pain. If I were her, I would have been scared and worried that something bad was happening. However, Agnes was strong and overcame her worries and fear. She was resilient and listened to Mary's messages because she knew that it was what she needed to do. This is a picture of the statue of Mary that cried after Mary gave Sr. Agnes her final message.

I feel that I am resilient, however, sometimes it takes time for me to overcome my obstacles. I try to be resilient at school and at home but it can be difficult sometimes. I also try to be a patient person since it is part of resilience but it is also challenging. Ever since I began high school I have been trying to be resilient with my parents. They want me to stay at Notre Dame but I want to transfer schools. It has been very difficult and hard for me and I try to be resilient and accept it but I cannot. Resilience is not an easy quality to have and it takes hard work and time in order to truly be resilient. I like this picture because it shows resilience since the plant was able to break through the concrete and continue growing.

Works Cited

Brown, Kristen. “Are You Resilient and Don't Even Know It?” Sweet Empowerment, 6 Apr. 2017, www.sweetempowerment.com/resilient-dont-even-know/.
Fongemie, Pauly. OUR LADY OF AKITA, www.catholictradition.org/Mary/akita.htm.