Faith

I am a former lapsed catholic.

For a long time I found my inner voice constantly telling me that I did not need any formal church or building or affiliation to be a believer. I have always felt that in the wind or a sunset is where I truly saw God. It felt like being required to have my butt in a pew every single Sunday was an imposition on my life. Now don't worry, you are NOT about to read a preachy post about going to church. Where you spend your Sundays is your business. This is just about my own journey.


In my teen years I bounced from church to church. I tried the baptist church (which was fun) and evangelical. I tried several non-denominational Christian churches and they only ever felt like home for a short time. When we got married we chose a highly educated reverend who would marry us in a general Christian ceremony.

When we had the girls the idea of baptism struck me from time to time but why baptize them in a church that wasn't "our church." This is when the search began again. We looked around but nothing seemed to suit us as a family. The thought occurred to me to try on my old religion and see if it still fit. Slowly, over a matter of months it started to sink in. My non-catholic husband even started to feel at home in the tradition of the catholic church.

As an aside I will say that being a catholic in this day isn't always easy. There were horrific actions by member of my faith that should have been punished to the furthest extend of the law, rather than ignored. There are parts of my faith that I quietly disagree with. Then there are the looks you get when you say you can't attend a get together until after 6 on a Saturday because you have to go to mass. That's the moment when you get the "can't you just skip it look."

So it became obvious we needed to move on this whole "becoming a catholic family thing." Brian began to attend religious formation (RCIA) classes and I initiated the process of having a catholic wedding ceremony to make us official and a baptism for the girls. Within just a year we were married by the church (no we do not celebrate two anniversaries) and had our daughters baptized on the same day!

My catholic faith is something that I need to stay grounded in this crazy world. I teach, volunteer and organize at my church because when I am there I don't feel the crunch of regular life. Time moves slower when I working directly for God. The light shines brighter there. So if we can't make it to a party or a get together until 6:15 on a Saturday night just know that it is for a good reason.