Today, Sunday, the Lord's Day, is my day of church attendance, peace, thinking holy thoughts, and just plain resting. If God can rest on the seventh day after the work of creating the universe, I can also rest one day per week. Sad to say, I only could begin this after I retired from nursing last June. So now I can particularly and purposely enjoy a day of blissful rest.
As a baby, I was baptized a Catholic Christian, what they call a "cradle Catholic." Now whether you're a Catholic Christian or not, you probably have your opinion of people who have been Catholic their whole lives. There are so many misconceptions, it is somewhat ludicrous. Now, I don't want to put anyone down, I don't doubt their sincerity, but I've been asked some un-intelligent questions over the years. 1) Does the pope eat babies? 2) Do you believe in Jesus? 3) Why don't you Catholics believe in the Bible? 4) It says in the Bible that you can't add anything, why did you Catholics add books to the Bible? 5) Does the Pope tell you how to vote? plus the general misconception that all Catholics drink hard liquor and most are alcoholics. The answers to #1 & #5, are 'no,' for the record.
2: Yes, I believe that Jesus is God, the second person of the Blessed Trinity of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit.
3 & 4: I attended a Catholic girls high school in Louisville, Holy Rosary Academy. Our religion teachers were priests. We studied the Bible our whole junior year. One really important thing about the Christian Bible: the Bible is the story of the formation of the Catholic Church; it was NOT handed down like God handed Moses the Ten Commandments. It was developed from divinely-inspired writers. The Catholic Church chose the New Testament books of the Bible from the writings of the time. The Catholic Church accepted the Old Testament books of the Bible to include all those the Jewish people used in the time before Jesus. During the so-called 'Reformation' when Martin Luther, a Catholic priest, wanted to reform the church but didn't have the patience to wait for it, certain of the 'protesters/Protestants' took several books away from the Bible because they didn't like their messages. The Catholic Church did not change the Bible.
One thing about the Catholic 'services' we call the Mass: my Catholic friends who converted from another religion or no religion say that they were so surprised, even shocked, to find out that the Mass is straight out of the Bible! In a 3-year cycle of Bible reading, in our Masses, all of the Bible will have been read. Many of us are in weekly Bible study groups.
I have enjoyed a slow and steady belief in and relationship with Jesus, the Saints and Angels my whole life with exception of two years when I was 18 to 20. I questioned just who this Jesus was. I thought it was too much that God would be human. I thought I might convert to be a Jew. But all the time I was questioning, I continued to go to church and the sacraments faithfully. I thought, "What if it turns out to be true that Jesus is God?" I prayed and came to believe, through the grace of God, that Jesus is indeed God, who loves us so much he died for us and rose from the dead for us.
I'm not mentioning this to try to convert anyone to be either a Christian or a Catholic Christian - that's up to you - I'm just offering my Sunday thoughts. The past year in the church was special, "The Year of Evangelization." What that means is that, first, we are supposed to examine our own beliefs. Second, we are supposed to do more than believe, we are supposed to ACT on those beliefs, in whatever way we feel God is leading us. Our ultimate act would be to lead others to the belief in Jesus, in effect, to be what he called his first Twelve Apostles to do, to be Fishers of Men!
What have I gained from this lifetime of 'Catholic-ness?' A life of JOY! I don't mean pleasure, I don't mean total, never-ending happiness, I mean The Joy I have knowing I'm doing my best with what God gave me, to try to do what I think Jesus wants me to be and do. And it's OK if I miss the mark sometimes, he knows I'll pick myself up and start again, with His help. I look forward to being with Him and my friends and family and those who are already there in heaven, to the JOY that never ends! That's all I can offer - JOY!
No comments:
Post a Comment