Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Friends React: What People Really Think of Catholicism

When I tell people we are thinking of committing to Catholicism, I always get interesting reactions.  All of the reactions I understand, because I myself thought all of these things at one time or another.

Last night I went out with two of my dearest girlfriends and got a firm, "I have never met a single Catholic who really loved Jesus."

I have heard, "They worship Mary you know," and "Can you really worship there?" and "Catholics don't seem to really know what they believe."

All of these things I have felt at one time or another and some of them are certainly true some of the time with some of the Catholics I have met.  So I certainly understand them.  What I find interesting is that all of these complaints are, for me, melting away.

Catholics have been in a state of defensiveness - particularly over the child abuse tragedy.  All of these crimes were terrible and we hope that nothing like that ever happens again.  The cost to these people is too high.  Furthermore, another consequence of these crimes has been that the love of God, and the work done in service of Him by the Catholic church has been, at times, unnoticed and ignored in light of the scandal.

Without a strong faith and intellect, it would be hard to face the church's accusers.  My hope is that going forward, Catholics would remember what matters most about their faith: love.  That God sent his son into the world to take on our sins and save us.  I hope that they would be educated in all of the good that the Catholic church does, despite being made up of fallible human beings.


Übersetzt von Google:

Wenn ich Leute, die wir begehen den Katholizismus denken sage, bekomme ich immer interessante Reaktionen. Alle Reaktionen verstehe ich, weil ich mir dachte all diese Dinge auf einen Zeitpunkt oder ein anderes.

Gestern Abend ging ich mit zwei meiner liebsten Freundinnen und bekam einen festen, "Ich habe nie eine einzige Katholik, der wirklich liebte Jesus erfüllt."

Ich habe gehört, "Sie verehren Maria weißt du", und "Kannst du wirklich dort anbeten?" und "Katholiken scheinen nicht wirklich wissen, was sie glauben."

All diese Dinge habe ich an ein oder andere Mal gefühlt und einige von ihnen sind sicher richtig, einen Teil der Zeit mit einigen der Katholiken die ich getroffen habe. Also habe ich sicherlich verstehen. Was ich interessant finde ist, dass all diese Beschwerden, sind für mich dahinschmelzen.

Katholiken haben in einem Zustand der Defensive gewesen - vor allem über den Kindesmissbrauch Tragödie. All diese Verbrechen waren furchtbar und wir hoffen, dass es so etwas nie wieder passiert. Die Kosten für diese Menschen ist zu hoch. Darüber hinaus wurde eine weitere Folge dieser Verbrechen gewesen, dass die Liebe Gottes, und die Arbeit im Dienst der ihm von der katholischen Kirche getan hat, war, zu Zeiten, unbemerkt und ignoriert im Lichte des Skandals.

Ohne einen starken Glauben und Verstand, würde es schwer sein, die Kirche die Ankläger zu stellen. Meine Hoffnung ist, dass Vorwärtsgehen, würden Katholiken erinnern, was am wichtigsten ist über ihren Glauben: die Liebe. Dass Gott sandte seinen Sohn in die Welt, um auf unsere Sünden zu nehmen und uns retten. Ich hoffe, dass sie in all das Gute, das die katholische Kirche tut würde erzogen werden, obwohl sie sich aus fehlbaren Menschen gemacht.


 Traduit par google:

Lorsque je dis aux gens que nous envisageons d'avoir commis au catholicisme, je reçois toujours des réactions intéressantes. Toutes les réactions que je comprends, parce que je pensais moi-même toutes ces choses à un moment ou un autre.

Hier soir je suis sorti avec deux de mes plus chers amies et a obtenu un cabinet, «Je n'ai jamais rencontré un seul catholique qui en ont vraiment aimé Jésus."

J'ai entendu, «Ils adorent Mary vous le savez," et "Pouvez-vous vraiment adorer là-bas?" et «catholiques ne semblent pas vraiment savoir ce qu'ils croient."

Toutes ces choses que j'ai ressenti à un moment ou un autre et certains d'entre eux sont certainement vrai de temps en temps avec certains des catholiques que j'ai rencontrés. Donc, je les comprends certainement. Ce que je trouve intéressant, c'est que toutes ces plaintes sont, pour moi, de fondre.

Les catholiques ont été dans un état de défensive - en particulier sur la tragédie la maltraitance des enfants. Tous ces crimes étaient terribles et nous espérons que rien de tel que se reproduise plus jamais. Le coût pour ces personnes est trop élevé. En outre, une autre conséquence de ces crimes a été que l'amour de Dieu, et le travail accompli au service de Lui par l'église catholique a été, à certains moments, à l'insu et ignoré à la lumière du scandale.

Sans une foi forte et de l'intellect, il serait difficile de faire face accusateurs de l'église. Mon espoir est que l'avenir, les catholiques se souvenir de ce qui importe le plus au sujet de leur foi: l'amour. Que Dieu a envoyé son Fils dans le monde à prendre sur nos péchés et nous sauver. J'espère qu'ils seraient éduqués dans tous le bien que l'église catholique fait, en dépit d'être composé de des êtres humains faillibles.

 


Monday, April 23, 2012

New Books I Love with Meaning

Okay, so there is this lovely speaker - Father Barron - who had a small temper tantrum on one of his video clips about how the Catholic faith is being dumbed down and presented to the next generation.  It made me laugh, he was pretty funny about the whole thing.  Go to youtube and search for "Father Barron, dumbed-down Catholicism" and you will find it. 

Highly entertaining, but also a little serious.  He mentions a book list that he bought for his neice that I have since tried to find.  Some of the books were so brainy, they don't actually exist at any of the booksellers I know, so I have kind of moved on from them and tried to just get going on the ones I can find.

Here so far is what has brought me closer and closer to Catholicism in a way I love!

Why Catholics are Right - I didn't love  this book, but it did get me started.  I saw it at the regular book store one day.  With its provocative title, I just had to read it and I am glad I did. 


Catholicism by Father Robert Barron - I did love this book.  Stop everything and read this book.  This book goes with a big set of DVDS that have been developed to visually present what the Catholic church is about.  I have ordered them too.  I have seen excerpts of them on youtube.com.  They look unbelievably good.  I can tell you, with the information contained in this book - I just know it will be fantastic.  I check at my front door every day for those...

I have also started Dante's Divine Comedy.  I am not going to lie to you.  I have had to dust off my brain for this one.  It requires a bit of study - the notes are included in the version I bought, but still.... 

I have also received Thomas Aquinas' Compendium of Theology - meant for regular people who want to understand a bit more about their faith.  Written all those years ago - it is supposed to be still a phenomenal work.

I will update you as I go....


Übersetzt von Google:

Okay, also gibt es dieses schöne Lautsprecher - Father Barron -, die einen kleinen Sitz auf einem seiner Videoclips darüber, wie der katholische Glaube wird nach unten und dumbed präsentiert die nächste Generation hatte. Es brachte mich zum Lachen, er war ziemlich lustig über die ganze Sache. Gehe auf Youtube und suchen Sie nach "Vater Barron, dumbed-down Katholizismus" und du wirst es finden.

Sehr unterhaltsam, aber auch ein wenig ernst. Er erwähnt ein Buch, Liste, die er für seine Nichte gekauft, die ich seit langem. Einige der Bücher waren so gescheit, sie nicht tatsächlich an einem der Buchhändler weiß ich, existieren, so dass ich auf solche von ihnen entfernt und versuchte, gerade loslegen auf die, die ich finden kann, haben.

Hier ist bisher, was mich näher und näher an den Katholizismus in gewisser Weise brachte ich liebe!

"Why Catholics are Right" - ich nicht liebe dieses Buch, aber es hat get me started. Ich sah es auf dem regulären Buchhandel einen Tag. Mit dem provokanten Titel, musste ich einfach, es zu lesen und ich bin froh, dass ich tat.

"Catholicism" von Pater Robert Barron - Ich habe dieses Buch lieben. Halt alles, und dieses Buch lesen. Dieses Buch geht mit einem großen Satz von DVDs, die entwickelt wurden, um visuell zu präsentieren, was die katholische Kirche geht. Ich habe sie bestellt auch. Ich habe Auszüge daraus sind auf youtube.com zu sehen. Sie sehen unglaublich gut. Ich kann Ihnen sagen, mit den Informationen in diesem Buch enthaltenen - ich weiß es wird fantastisch sein. Ich an meiner Haustür überprüfen jeden Tag für diejenigen, ...

Ich habe auch Dantes "Divine Comedy". Ich werde mich nicht anlügen. Ich habe den Staub von meinem Gehirn für diese ein. Es erfordert ein bisschen studieren - die Noten werden in der Version kaufte ich inbegriffen, aber immer noch ....



Ich habe auch Thomas von Aquin 'Kompendium der Theologie erhielt - bedeutete für normale Leute, die ein bisschen mehr über ihren Glauben verstehen wollen. Vor vielen Jahren geschrieben - es soll immer noch eine phänomenale Arbeit.

Ich werde Sie zu aktualisieren, wie ich gehen ....



Traduit par Google:

Bon, alors il ya ce haut-parleur belle - Père Barron - qui a eu une crise petite sur un de ses clips vidéo sur la façon dont la foi catholique est abêtis et présenté à la prochaine génération. Il m'a fait rire, il était assez drôle au sujet de la chose entière. Allez sur YouTube et la recherche de "Père Barron, dumbed-bas le catholicisme» et vous le trouverez.

Très divertissant, mais aussi un peu grave. Il mentionne une liste de livres qu'il a acheté pour sa nièce que j'ai depuis essayé de trouver. Certains de ces livres étaient si intelligent, ils n'existent pas réellement à l'un des libraires que je connais, donc je n'ai sorte de déplacé sur d'eux et a essayé de simplement y aller sur celles que je peux trouver.

Voici à ce jour est ce qui m'a amené de proche en proche au catholicisme en un sens, je t'aime!

"Why Catholics are Right" - je n'ai pas aimé ce livre, mais il ne me lancez pas. Je l'ai vu à la librairie régulière d'une journée. Avec son titre provocateur, j'ai juste eu à le lire et je suis heureux que j'ai fait.

"Catholicism" par le Père Robert Barron - Je n'ai aimer ce livre. Arrêtez tout et lisez ce livre. Ce livre est accompagné d'un grand ensemble de DVD qui ont été développés pour présenter visuellement ce que l'église catholique est d'environ. Je les ai commandé trop. J'ai vu des extraits de leur sur youtube.com. Ils ont l'air incroyablement bon. Je peux vous dire, avec les informations contenues dans ce livre - Je sais juste que ce sera fantastique. Je vérifie à ma porte d'entrée tous les jours pour ceux qui ...

J'ai également commencé à Divine Comédie de Dante. Je ne vais pas vous mentir. J'ai eu de dépoussiérer mon cerveau pour celui-ci. Il nécessite un peu d'études - les notes sont inclus dans la version que j'ai acheté, mais encore ....



J'ai également reçu "Compendium of Theology" par Thomas Aquinas - signifiait pour les gens ordinaires qui veulent comprendre un peu plus sur leur foi. Écrit toutes ces années il ya - il est censé être encore un travail phénoménal.

Je vais vous mettre à jour que je vais ....

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Converting to Catholicism: So what do our kids think?



Well, we've been Protestant for our adult lives and have been raising our children for the past decade in the Protestant environment.  Which is to say that we have been struggling with the point of church membership, watching dwindling numbers, reeling with congregations as our pastors have been fired for a lack of popularity, etc,....

Our children; however, while they would rather play with their friends on Sunday morning, have attended church with us when we go.  They have loved the Christian summer camp we go to and volunteer at (now they are campers in their own right), and have found a home at our local youth group.  It includes a fair share of video games, but their friends go with them on occasion and everyone seems to enjoy the "fun" of it all.

So when we started to go to the Catholic church, we expected - and got - a bit of a revolt.  Our oldest son and our youngest son have been the most ridiculous in the pew truthfully.  Pew behaviour is killing me.  I love going so much that I was trying to be as loving and lovely as possible - to make sure that they would love it too - but finally cracked under the strain of their whining.

I know that my fear that the boys might not like it was allowing them to hold me emotionally captive in a way.  No more!  This is the one hour of the week that I want.  I have simply said, "We go.  You sit.  You are expected to not be completely ridiculous - but I will understand if you want lots of cuddles on the bench because its going a bit long for kids used to being excused to go to Sunday school with their IPods in the teen lounge."

Our oldest finally said to me one morning, "Mom, this is by far the most  boring church that we have ever been too, but everything they say makes the most sense."  In a way isn't that the highest praise of all?  As long as they keep going until they are mature enough to appreciate liturgy and repetition...

Our middle son didn't seem too interested one way or another, but he did participate, and he did behave entirely for all the church service.  So when I asked him if he would consider becoming Catholic with us (he's at that age that we want to start including him in these kind of decisions...) I was concerned when he answered simply, "No."

My husband had an easy solution, "Will you convert for a dollar?"  Well he gave in for a whole dollar.  If only sharing the gospel was always that easy....

The baby of our family - well, he's cranky these days.  When asked if he is going to become Catholic with us he sighs and says, "Well...." Truthfully, he feels that he didn't get all of the video game time that the older boys did.  Also he can't understand one of our priests for whom English is a really a second language.  This really makes him crazy.

We just had a talk and he said, "are my brothers doing it?"  When I said that they were, he said, "Fine."  I'm not sure this is entirely enthusiastic but it's a start.  It's a start that I will laugh over with him in the future...

Übersetzt von Google:Nun, wir waren für unser Erwachsenenleben evangelischen und wurden für die Erziehung unserer Kinder im letzten Jahrzehnt in der protestantischen Umfeld. Welches ist zu sagen, dass wir mit dem Punkt der Kirchenmitglieder zu kämpfen, beobachten schwindenden Zahlen, taumelnd mit Gemeinden wie unsere Pastoren für einen Mangel an Popularität, etc, abgefeuert worden ....Unsere Kinder, aber während sie lieber mit ihren Freunden spielen würde, am Sonntagmorgen, haben Kirche bei uns besucht, wenn wir gehen. Sie haben die christlichen Sommerlager wir gehen und freiwillig an (jetzt sind sie Camper in ihrem eigenen Recht) liebte, und haben ein Zuhause gefunden bei unseren lokalen Jugendgruppe. Es beinhaltet einen fairen Anteil an Videospielen, aber ihre Freunde gehen mit ihnen gelegentlich und jeder scheint zu den "Spaß" von allem zu genießen.Wenn wir also an die katholische Kirche zu gehen begann, erwarteten wir - und bekam - ein bisschen wie ein Aufstand. Unser ältester Sohn und unser jüngster Sohn waren die lächerlichste in der Kirchenbank wahrheitsgemäß. Pew Verhalten bringt mich um. Ich liebe geht so sehr, dass ich versuchte, so liebevoll und schön wie möglich -, um sicherzustellen, dass sie es auch lieben - aber schließlich unter der Last ihrer weinerlichen geknackt.
 
Ich weiß, dass meine Angst, dass die Jungs vielleicht nicht gefällt wurde es ihnen ermöglicht, halte mich emotional gefangen in einer Art und Weise. Nicht mehr! Dies ist die eine Stunde der Woche, die ich will. Ich habe einfach gesagt: "Wir gehen, wenn man sitzt erwartet, dass sie nicht völlig lächerlich -.. Aber ich werde es verstehen, wenn Sie viele Streicheleinheiten auf der Bank, weil sein Gehen ein bisschen zu lang für Kinder gewöhnt, dass entschuldigt, um bis Sonntag gehen wollen Schule mit ihren iPods in der Teenie-Lounge. "
 
Unsere älteste schließlich sagte mir eines Morgens: "Mama, das ist bei weitem die langweiligste Kirche, die wir je gewesen auch, aber alles, was sie sagen, am meisten Sinn macht." In gewisser Weise ist nicht, dass das höchste Lob von allen? Solange sie los, bis sie reif genug, um Liturgie und Wiederholung zu schätzen sind immer ...
 
Unser mittlerer Sohn schien nicht allzu interessiert eine oder andere Weise, aber er kam zu beteiligen, und er tat verhalten sich gänzlich für die ganze Gottesdienst. Also, wenn ich ihn fragte, ob er erwägen würde, katholisch zu werden mit uns (er ist in diesem Alter, dass wir beginnen, ihn in diese Art von Entscheidungen wollen ...) Ich war besorgt, wenn er nur antwortete: "Nein."
 
Mein Mann hatte eine einfache Lösung: "Willst du für einen Dollar zu konvertieren?" Nun gab er in einer ganzen Dollar. Wenn nur der Verkündigung des Evangeliums war immer so einfach ....
 
Das Baby von unserer Familie - na ja, er ist launisch in diesen Tagen. Gefragt, ob er geht, um sich mit uns seufzt er Katholik und sagt: "Na ja ...." Ehrlich gesagt, fühlt er, dass er nicht bekommen all des Videospiels Zeit, dass die älteren Jungen tat. Auch er kann nicht verstehen, einer unserer Priester, für die Englisch eine wirklich eine zweite Sprache. Das ist wirklich macht ihn verrückt.
 
Wir hatten gerade ein Gespräch und er sagte, "sind meine Brüder tun es?" Als ich sagte, dass sie waren, sagte er: "Gut." Ich bin mir nicht sicher, dies ist völlig begeistert, aber es ist ein Anfang. Es ist ein Anfang, dass ich lachen mit ihm in der Zukunft ...


Traduit par Google:Eh bien, nous avons été protestante pour notre vie d'adulte et ont été d'élever nos enfants pour la dernière décennie dans le milieu protestant. C'est-à-dire que nous avons été aux prises avec le point de membre de l'église, en regardant le nombre en baisse, titubant avec les congrégations que nos pasteurs ont été licenciés pour un manque de popularité, etc, ....Nos enfants, mais, alors qu'ils préfèrent jouer avec leurs amis le dimanche matin, ont assisté à l'église avec nous quand nous allons. Ils ont aimé le camp d'été nous allons à Christian et bénévoles au (maintenant ils sont les campeurs dans leur propre droit), et nous avons trouvé une maison à notre groupe de jeunes local. Il comprend une part équitable de jeux vidéo, mais leurs amis aller avec eux à l'occasion et tout le monde semble apprécier le "fun" de tout cela.Alors, quand nous avons commencé à aller à l'église catholique, nous nous attendions - et obtenu - un peu de révolte. Notre fils aîné et notre plus jeune fils ont été le plus ridicule dans le banc vérité. Comportement Pew me tue. J'adore aller à tel point que je tentais d'être aussi affectueux et charmant que possible - afin de s'assurer qu'ils l'aiment trop - mais finalement craqué sous la pression de leur pleurnicher.
 
Je sais que ma crainte que les garçons pourraient ne pas apprécier a été en leur permettant de me tenir émotionnellement en captivité dans un chemin. Plus Non! C'est l'heure celui de la semaine que je veux. J'ai simplement dit, «Nous allons vous asseoir Vous êtes censé ne pas être complètement ridicule -.. Mais je vais comprendre si vous voulez beaucoup de câlins sur le banc parce que sa va un peu long pour les enfants habitués à être excusé pour aller au dimanche l'école avec leur iPod dans le salon chez les adolescents. "
 
Notre plus ancien me dit enfin, un matin, «Maman, c'est de loin l'église la plus ennuyeuse que nous ayons jamais été aussi, mais tout ce qu'ils disent le plus de sens." D'une certaine manière n'est pas que les plus grands éloges de tous? Tant qu'ils continuent à aller jusqu'à ce qu'ils soient suffisamment mature pour apprécier la liturgie et la répétition ...
 
Notre second fils ne semblait pas trop intéressé d'une façon ou d'une autre, mais il ne participe, et il l'a fait se comportent tout à fait pour tout le service de l'église. Alors, quand je lui ai demandé s'il accepterait de devenir catholique avec nous (il est à cet âge que nous voulons commencer à lui, y compris dans ce genre de décisions ...) J'étais inquiet quand il a simplement répondu: "Non"
 
Mon mari avait une solution facile, «Voulez-vous convertir pour un dollar?" Eh bien, il a donné dans son ensemble pour un dollar. Si seulement le partage de l'Évangile a toujours été aussi simple que ça ....
 
Le bébé de notre famille - et bien, il est grincheux ces jours-ci. Lorsqu'on lui demande s'il va devenir catholique avec nous, il soupire et dit: «Eh bien ...." A vrai dire, il sent qu'il n'a pas eu tout le temps du jeu vidéo que les garçons les plus âgés ont fait. Aussi, il ne peut pas comprendre l'un de nos prêtres pour qui l'anglais est vraiment une langue seconde. Ce qui fait vraiment fou.
 
Nous avons juste eu une conversation et il m'a dit, "sont mes frères de le faire?" Quand j'ai dit qu'ils étaient, dit-il, «Fine». Je ne suis pas sûr que ce soit entièrement enthousiaste, mais c'est un début. C'est un début que je vais rire avec lui dans le futur ...

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Other Discovered Treasures: Catholics Reaching the World with Technology

Well, I promised that I would share some of the treasures that I have discovered in the Catholic Church.  By treasures I mean anything really - but in this instance - I mean resources for the seeker, lapsed believer, Protestant believer, etc,..

My list is growing day by day, but let me just start with a personal favorite, and it's a bit nerdy, but feeds something in me and my family every single day:  Daily Bible readings from the Catholic Church.  From the home page, you click on "bible," then "today's readings," then there are two great ways to enjoy this site.  First, read the readings.  They aren't long, they are the same for everyone the whole world over (back to what I love about the Catholic church...) and they are always encouraging.  Second, click on "Daily Reflections - video," on the right hand side of the page.

When you click on this lovely little tab, up pops your personal priest with the daily mini-homily.  I have yet to see one that is longer than 3 minutes.  Most of them are about 2 minutes and 20 seconds.  That's it!  Encouragement in a nutshell.

Now, I use this as a mother.  My husband and I have tried for years to read scripture with our children and while we have had some success, it is always a bit of a battle.  The video component here, as nerdy as it is (and it is nerdy...) really draws my boys' attention.  Quite honestly, these little clips have been refreshing and lovely.  It changes the mood in our home and has made a difference in our relationships - particularly between our boys.  If that isn't a modern day miracle, I don't know what is.

Enjoy!


Friday, April 20, 2012

Things That Have Kept Me From Catholicism Until Now...

I am going to take a pause in my effusive ramblings about how much we love the Catholic church to share some of what has kept me/us from its door until lately.

I'll start with this picture for you.  Our family did a house exchange to France last summer - which I highly recommend.  Of course, we had to take in the sites and, having taken a number of art history classes in university, we hit some memorable buildings - many of them beautiful cathedrals.  We were in Marseille and Paris - and took in the beautiful Notre Dames (if you can pluralize french in such a way!) in both cities, and a number of beautiful abbeys and cathedrals that are less known in the surrounding areas.

What struck me as sad was that every cathedral we were in was unlocked but empty.  Not empty of visitors: people swarmed over these places like ants.  It was just that with the world coming through the front door, there was no presence of the church (its people) inside the buildings.  In particular, after one very long day of traipsing through the city with small children in tow, we went down to the old port in Marseille and entered the stunning Marseille Cathedral - or Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure that watches over the shipping path of that part of the city.  Part of me longed for a friendly face.  Someone just to say hello, and pat the children on the head like so many French do.

Inside was a tomb.  Silent and empty.  It struck me as an empty place.  I had no idea whether or not services were still performed there, or if the church was in a sad state of decline.  It felt more like the latter as I wandered around looking at the beautiful sculptures and the architecture of the place.

When we were at Notre Dame de la Guarde in Marseilles, this one stands on the hill and overlooks the city and the Mediterranean, again, inside the church itself there was no "greeter" for lack of a better word.  There was a bustling store - off to the side of the church.  A store?  Selling "stuff" for the masses.  It was a bit repugnant truthfully.  I like to buy my stuff as much as the next person - and maybe wouldn't have even noticed it if there had just been a body there to say hello to.  A warm smile to convey the message that this building holds more than just memories.  In fairness, here we found a very friendly poster inviting people to the Catholic church, but it wasn't clear what you were invited to - other than a website that I don't think people were exactly writing down...  It was slightly heartening that someone was trying to do something to engage the hundreds of people that came through the door, but it was maybe just a small part of what could make a huge impact.

Notre Dame in Paris was by far the worst.  Obviously, as a work of art - it is stunning.  As a work of God's church, it seemed desecrated to me.  You finish your line up only to find out how to pay to get on top of the building.  Okay fine, I could put up with that.  Then you walk past banks of machines that will turn a Euro coin into some sort of medal as a keepsake.  They are the size of vending machines and just as tacky.  God needs vending machines to keep His church alive?

No.  Far from it.  God needs His people to testify to others about the life they have found inside those walls.  Again, a friendly face.  If I hadn't discovered almost by chance all of the life in the Catholic church, I would still - based on my impressions of those places - believe that the Catholic church was in decline.  That it didn't have enough priests to even say hello to the world on its doorstep.  It felt like if there was a priest or a sister or a deacon around somewhere, they were likely in hiding, watching the clock until at last they could lock up God's treasure house to keep it safe from those wandering around outside.


Thursday, April 19, 2012

Discovering Treasures in the Catholic Church

As I was saying yesterday, over the Lent, we were going to our local Catholic parish for services.  I told my nephew's mom this.  She's Catholic (understatement...), so I naturally found a number of resources for someone in my shoes lying around her house.  I won't say that she offered them to me without me asking.  Catholics don't seem to be all that keen to initiate sharing their faith, but they are occasionally more than happy to share small clues when they sense that you are interested.  The culture of the Catholic faith is VERY different than the Protestant church that I am used to - but more on that later.

Anyway, she had lying around the house some issues of the our local BC Catholic newspaper.  In this season we are in, where Catholicism is beckoning to us, I naturally snatched these up with as much pleading as I could and with her kind agreement, took them home to be devoured line by line.  I realize that many Catholic lifers likely scan this weekly paper with an eye to finding the columns they like best, leaving the rest to be relegated to the recycling bin.

I couldn't leave so much as a sentence of this paper alone.  It has all sorts of gems in it.  First and foremost it sums up the Pope's weekly address.  Now, you will have to forgive me if I get information wrong.  I just put down basically what I think is happening - because I am in on a learning curve.  I am happy to be corrected.  This is a weekly newspaper, and each week that I have seen seems to have a bit on Pope Benedict that I love.

There are actually many parts of it that I love - each leading off down some life-giving artery of the Catholic body to the next vital organ.  Whether its the words of Pope Benedict, a homily, a bit on a local parish, a link to international news, I find myself slowly unearthing the breadth and depth of the Catholic church.

I haven't quite brought myself to phone up and order a subscription to the paper yet.  Why?  Well, the resources that one paper alone have led to are rich and diverse in their own right.  I can't turn right or left without digging up treasures in multiple places on the internet, in the library, or through friends as I talk about my finds. 

I have to say, while I originally I loved that any church building of the Catholic church in any country in any part of the world would be home to any Catholic or much welcomed visitor, it also deeply appeals to me that the intellectual muscle of the faith is being built and made available to anyone with an internet connection, or a library card.  Unbelievable ideas coming from not just one church building, but thousands of buildings and all their people the whole world over.

I am off to find some of my personal favorites to share.

Blessings!



Wednesday, April 18, 2012

A Radical Turn In An Old Direction: Catholicism

It has been some time since I have blogged on all things church.  I think I have been struggling with this issue for so long.  Pastors being fired, husband who would rather jog than go, children playing video games in Sunday school (they play video games everywhere already - why here in this one hour too?), big churches where we don't connect, new pastors jostling to grab the job of their fired predecessor without asking, "what does this mean?"

For a long time now - we have had a secret interest, simply: Catholicism.  I found myself saying things like, "if only churches, protestant churches, were structured like the Catholic church" - assuming that I could never take that dive and attend a Catholic church.  After all, they pray to Mary - and that's just crazy right?

I now see that we (my husband and I) have been on a journey.  It seemed dark and forboding, worrying about churches and not knowing what God would do to help with these troubles.  Also, along the way, shafts of light: guiding questions coming to us from the most unusual places.

For example, years ago, friends of our had a son who went to a protestant theological college and in fairly short order converted to Catholicism.  They also followed suit as did his brother.  That struck us as interesting.  We did nothing other than chatter about it, but their choice stuck in our minds.

My nephew's mother is Catholic.  Ardently so.  We went to my nephew's catholic-something-or-other and liked it.  Alot.  That was when we learned we could go up for a blessing and not be turned away as un-Catholic.  We had also been to his christening and there was something so charming and beautiful about the church itself, its art work, the life of the building that held on to me over the years. 

Further back, years ago, I had to miss my first high-school dance.  I was so choked.  My dad had bought tickets (can you imagine?) to go see Pope John Paul II.  We weren't Catholic so I knew as soon as I told him that it was the night of my first ever high-school dance, dear old Dad would understand that I would be of course passing on the Pope festivities.  Oddly, he did not.  Nor did my I-just-want-you-to-be-happy mother.  That floored me. 

I ended up going with my dad and a friend of mine from school.  How she ended up agreeing to come, I still don't know.  Anyway, that night, Pope John Paul II took a stroll around and was laying hands and blessing pretty much everyone he came into contact with.  He reached over and touched my head.  Dad had gotten floor seats like it was a rock concert.  The use of the word rock now makes me smile.  From St. Peter, the rock, to his successor, who had kindly smiled at me.  I didn't know the importance of that small act then, but it matters a lot to me now. 

Reading impacts my life in many ways.  Mostly, I have a giant list of books that I want to get through, but occasionally, I will pick something up that grabs my attention.  In the past year, I was grabbed by the cover of a book: "Why Catholics are Right."  I was standing in a bookstore when I saw it.  With a cover like that, I couldn't buy it in front of anyone, so I borrowed it from the library.  I deeply enjoyed it.  Not that it was particularly well-written.  It was even a little bit overly defensive in tone, but it did smash apart some misconceptions I have had for years, and it certainly led me to seek more.

I read a second book.  The dear friend who recommended it to me, meant it to encourage me in my life in the protestant church.  The book is "Chasing Francis."  I loved it, but it only interested me more in the Catholic church. 

Further, we met a new family last fall.  With four children, I knew they would likely be Christian, and probably they would be Catholic.  They were, they are.  The mom I really connected with over - big surprise - reading.  Certainly not over her passion for jogging.  We differ slightly in our levels of discipline....

She and I talked a lot about books etc,... but what really struck both my husband and I was that when we went to the States for a hockey tournament, they went to mass on the Saturday night before our team dinner out.  It wasn't even their church and they just went like it was.  Turns out, that church, because it's Catholic is their church too.  My husband and I both liked that a lot.  We also liked that there was a service available for them.  Actually, there were lots of services available for them.  It's sort of the Catholic way in major centers.

That was a major key for us.  The universality of the church.  A Catholic church in France, or Mexico, or other provinces, is just as much as person's church as the one that they attend regularly at home. 

So we decided to go for the duration of Lent and see how we felt...