The Catholic Connection
When I go home to Quincy, I get reconnected to a part of my life that has always been a central theme of my upbringing and family structure. That theme is Catholicism.
My family is predominantly Catholic, always has been, and will not stray from it as long as it is still around. I was raised Catholic, and the morals and values of Catholicism have been instilled in me and refuse to leave. Catholicism is one of the longstanding traditional religions of the world, and like all the others, has a great effect on those who practice it fervently. Since birth, I have been baptized, reconciled, and confirmed in the Church, and I was educated under the Catholic banner until adulthood. I am a Catholic through and through, and there is probably not a shred of me that could even think of converting to another religion. I was founded on Catholic ideals, and that is most likely how I will stay.
I haven't been an upstanding Catholic all the time. As I have become more worldly in my adulthood, I have gained an outsider's perspective as well as an insider's perspective on the Catholic Church. Once I found out that not everybody else in the world is Catholic (a fact that surprised me at first), I began to somewhat distance myself from the Church. Like any person who is religious, there have been times in my life where I have turned away from the Church, when I have doubted God, but I always end up going back. It could be the guilt, a proud Catholic tradition, that turns my sorrows and misgivings inwards on myself, convincing my subconscious that I must pray more to feel good about anything. I think it is the familiarity and the comfort I feel with the Catholic Church, though, that keeps me involved.
I know that I can always go back, no matter how long I've been gone, and I'll be able to fit right in. Nothing will have changed. And no matter where I am or what language the Mass is spoken in, I'll be able to fit right in.
The other thing that keeps me coming back to Church is my family. And, even though, being a Catholic can get a little sensational or downright crazy sometimes, it is my family's strong adherence to these traditional values that I so admire and try to emulate.
Growing up Catholic can be a little berserk and uncanny at times. It is a great lesson in dramatics. Some of the rituals and ceremonies are spectacular and could be rivaled only by other traditional religions, or sometimes sports...or reality TV shows.
Nonetheless, they are traditions, and followers must stick to them if they are to continue the religion. But some of the rules are really hard to follow and still enjoy yourself. Sticking close to any religions core values 100% can be very difficult. Every religion has different rules and traditions that make you feel very proud if you can stick to them, but also make you feel like an outcast if you can't. Either way they bring about a great deal of suffering on an individual. And Catholicism is no different. Suffering is learned at a very young age.
As soon as you're born, you are taught that you are a sinner, and that you must be cleansed if you are going to amount to anything in this world. That's before you even have a fully developed thought process. The Mass is an hour long, which is nothing to an adult, but to a kid, it is ages. And you have to kneel through a quarter of it. Then you get to the Canon rules of the Church, the ones that keep you from feeling like a normal human being. Rules like no swearing, no meat on Fridays, and no sex outside of marriage.
These rules can seem silly to an outsider, and for someone who is not of the religious persuasion, why a person would devote such time to a God they cannot see is preposterous. They might ask a question to a regularly-practicing Catholic like, "Why do you do this day-in and day-out, when there is so much else in the world to take part of?" And they might get the same answer as they would get from a long-distance runner if asked the same thing, "...Well, any more, I'm addicted to the pain."
The reason I am a Catholic may only be that I didn't know any other way from when I was brought up, but I'd like to think that there was good reason for that. And even though I can't take the pain at a constant streaming rate any more (I take it in doses), I have come to the belief that having a set of beliefs in place has been a good thing in my life. Having a religious base stone gives a person something to build from, it gives that person a solid foundation to stretch from and return to, if need be.
Being Catholic also gives you something to connect with when you meet others who have suffered like you have (an astounding number turn to comedy).
I believe the Catholic upbringing has helped to keep me a strong person. I believe it has kept me on the right moral path, it has taught me behaviors that I shall try to impregnate into my children. It has taught me how to treat others, and how to deal with being treated by others. More than anything, though, being brought up Catholic has helped me connect to other Catholics, and the greatest number of them I know is within my own family. My family has stuck to its roots like no other people I've known, and it seems like it would take a lot to break us apart. I think the unnofficial theme of "unity in Catholicism" has had a lot to do with that.
As they say, "the family that prays together, stays together".
My family is predominantly Catholic, always has been, and will not stray from it as long as it is still around. I was raised Catholic, and the morals and values of Catholicism have been instilled in me and refuse to leave. Catholicism is one of the longstanding traditional religions of the world, and like all the others, has a great effect on those who practice it fervently. Since birth, I have been baptized, reconciled, and confirmed in the Church, and I was educated under the Catholic banner until adulthood. I am a Catholic through and through, and there is probably not a shred of me that could even think of converting to another religion. I was founded on Catholic ideals, and that is most likely how I will stay.
I haven't been an upstanding Catholic all the time. As I have become more worldly in my adulthood, I have gained an outsider's perspective as well as an insider's perspective on the Catholic Church. Once I found out that not everybody else in the world is Catholic (a fact that surprised me at first), I began to somewhat distance myself from the Church. Like any person who is religious, there have been times in my life where I have turned away from the Church, when I have doubted God, but I always end up going back. It could be the guilt, a proud Catholic tradition, that turns my sorrows and misgivings inwards on myself, convincing my subconscious that I must pray more to feel good about anything. I think it is the familiarity and the comfort I feel with the Catholic Church, though, that keeps me involved.
I know that I can always go back, no matter how long I've been gone, and I'll be able to fit right in. Nothing will have changed. And no matter where I am or what language the Mass is spoken in, I'll be able to fit right in.
The other thing that keeps me coming back to Church is my family. And, even though, being a Catholic can get a little sensational or downright crazy sometimes, it is my family's strong adherence to these traditional values that I so admire and try to emulate.
Growing up Catholic can be a little berserk and uncanny at times. It is a great lesson in dramatics. Some of the rituals and ceremonies are spectacular and could be rivaled only by other traditional religions, or sometimes sports...or reality TV shows.
Nonetheless, they are traditions, and followers must stick to them if they are to continue the religion. But some of the rules are really hard to follow and still enjoy yourself. Sticking close to any religions core values 100% can be very difficult. Every religion has different rules and traditions that make you feel very proud if you can stick to them, but also make you feel like an outcast if you can't. Either way they bring about a great deal of suffering on an individual. And Catholicism is no different. Suffering is learned at a very young age.
As soon as you're born, you are taught that you are a sinner, and that you must be cleansed if you are going to amount to anything in this world. That's before you even have a fully developed thought process. The Mass is an hour long, which is nothing to an adult, but to a kid, it is ages. And you have to kneel through a quarter of it. Then you get to the Canon rules of the Church, the ones that keep you from feeling like a normal human being. Rules like no swearing, no meat on Fridays, and no sex outside of marriage.
These rules can seem silly to an outsider, and for someone who is not of the religious persuasion, why a person would devote such time to a God they cannot see is preposterous. They might ask a question to a regularly-practicing Catholic like, "Why do you do this day-in and day-out, when there is so much else in the world to take part of?" And they might get the same answer as they would get from a long-distance runner if asked the same thing, "...Well, any more, I'm addicted to the pain."
The reason I am a Catholic may only be that I didn't know any other way from when I was brought up, but I'd like to think that there was good reason for that. And even though I can't take the pain at a constant streaming rate any more (I take it in doses), I have come to the belief that having a set of beliefs in place has been a good thing in my life. Having a religious base stone gives a person something to build from, it gives that person a solid foundation to stretch from and return to, if need be.
Being Catholic also gives you something to connect with when you meet others who have suffered like you have (an astounding number turn to comedy).
I believe the Catholic upbringing has helped to keep me a strong person. I believe it has kept me on the right moral path, it has taught me behaviors that I shall try to impregnate into my children. It has taught me how to treat others, and how to deal with being treated by others. More than anything, though, being brought up Catholic has helped me connect to other Catholics, and the greatest number of them I know is within my own family. My family has stuck to its roots like no other people I've known, and it seems like it would take a lot to break us apart. I think the unnofficial theme of "unity in Catholicism" has had a lot to do with that.
As they say, "the family that prays together, stays together".
posted by Leland J. Fischer at 11:07 AM
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