Becoming Catholic

Catholics pray to statues. Catholics worship the Virgin Mary. Catholics obey the Pope without question.
Catholics believe that you are saved through good works.
The world would be perfect, if it weren't for Catholics.

I was raised Dutch Reform. My mother hated Catholics but then she hated just about everyone, including me.

My father although raised Dutch Reform and was taught that art was evil happened to be very artistic. Born in the Netherlands he had joined the United States Army to become a citizen so he was shot by a German soldier. Before the war he had been a butcher but now, seriously wounded, he needed a new trade. The Army taught him art! He was thrilled when the army helped find him a job working for Mr. Hefner, a German Catholic who sent my dad around to fix the gold leaf on Catholic statues. My dad tithed to the Dutch Reform church and I was amazed when they accepted Catholic money.

Later my dad repaired icons at the Greek Orthodox Church and the Torah at a Jewish Temple.

By the time I was 16 I was tired of being told that I was a bad person, that God hated me. After I left home, I explored some other churches. The Catholic church was a mess. I didn't like the Lutheran Church. I liked the Methodist the best but never pursued it as I didn't know anyone who was Methodist.

Decades went by and suddenly I was an old lady. One Saturday I went to Russ's restaurant. It was so crowded they seated me with another single lady who had just come from Saturday evening Mass. She talked about how uplifted she felt by the praise and adoration. I was amazed. I thought church was all about "you are going to Hell." So I started watching EWTN and I couldn't stop. It probably took me about 6 months before I had to nerve to stop in at Sunday Mass at St. Patrick's. Boy Catholics sure do stand up and sit down a lot. Luckily for me, a young family with two little girls sat down next to me. I remember sitting in church as a child counting hats but ladies don't wear hats anymore so I entertained them, quietly and unobtrusively. They provided good cover for me not knowing when to stand.

As I was very ill, I stayed a while as did the elderly lady behind me. We began talking and became friends. All too soon, hers became the first Catholic funeral I ever attended. I went to my first Catholic doctor and after 20 years of my fruitless searching, he discovered my torn rotator cuffs and repaired them. He hooked me up to a family doctor who believed in treating the patient not the disease. I was finally recovering when wham bam, 20 years of worthless pills caught up to me, and my kidneys failed.

What to do? Where to go? Catholics came to the rescue. I learned that Catholics try real had to be nice and helpful and not in that bossy, I'm-better-than-you way that protestants are so good at. I went to an inquiry class at the Catholic Information Center and really liked  Fr. Tom. He was the smartest man I had ever met.

I joined the RCIA class that fall at the CIC which is run by the Paulist Priests. The Paulists were founded in America by Americans who wanted to preach in English. The Pope granted these rebellious ones permission to form their own order and  do just that.  RCIA does not stand for Roman Catholic Interested Adults but if you are an interested adult take Fr. Tom's Inquiry class and if you don't find anything objectionable sign up for Fr. John's RCIA class. I really liked Fr. John. He became a priest before Vatican II.  Fr. John has read the Bible cover-to-cover four times, once in French. He can give you the page number of the verses. He also knows all the versions ever written and can tell you the difference. And there was only one he didn't like, a sort of Hippie version that made less sense to me than King James's..

Oops It's RICA - Rites of Initiation --- of Consenting Adults?

They give you lots and lots to read but I took this class before my last eye operation and I couldn't see well enough to read LOL. So I had to listen really hard. I enjoyed Fr. John's readings. While I was in the hospital, my new Catholic friends moved me to a retirement home, Villa Maria, that I had previously selected.. Villa Maria used to be a Catholic home for wayward girls. Now it's a locally run secular home for wayward seniors. There are quite a few men, married couples and veterans here too.

Because I was abused as a child by a female family member who smiled nicely just before she attacked, I became very leery of any female who tried to be nice. As a teenager, when I finally got up the nerve to ask the school counselor for help, he laughed in my face, I learned not to trust authority. When I constantly complained to a Catholic co-worker about random female insults that I took personally, she said these women aren't being manipulate they are just dumb. Her words were such a help.  

Have to admit I had two major problems with the Catholic Church but only remember one: their reverence for the Virgin Mary. If they only revered her because she was a mother, we were in trouble. But no, they revered her because she was obedient. Well I was raised Dutch Reform, I know how to be obedient although I love being mischievous. . And Jesus chose to die for MY sins and all I had to do was give them up to him. And then I would feel so good I'd want to do good works as an expression of my faith.

Well if I no longer feel as if I were a worthless piece of shit on your shoe most of the time, I don't have to avoid you. I don't have to hide. I don't have to attack first in order to protect myself from you..

Well now if I can just learn to talk better with my partially-paralyzed throat.

I was 13 when John Kennedy ran for president. I heard don't vote for Kennedy as Catholics are un-American. Now last night at a CIC class I read something that sure sounded Un-American from St. John Chrysostom who has a church on the west side at 40 National Ave NW, St. John Chrysostom's Russian Orthodox Church, . He said "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we posses are not ours but theirs. The demands of justice must be satisfied first of all; that which is already due in justice is not to be offered as a gift of charity."

 This flies in the face of the American ideal of self-achievement with what you were given while hurdling the obstacles as best you can without hurting others. A very difficult challenge.  Is he saying that poor people are worthless and can't contribute to society because they don't own property? Owning property shouldn't be the issue. Caring for one another is the issue and possession of property isn't an indicator of care. There will always be those willing to hurt others, some deliberately some unintentionally. Society's rules are to protect society not individuals. Is St. John C talking about society?

Christianity is about individuals not society. Don't know the exact quote but "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's". Christ didn't seem to care about changing society but worked within the society he was given.  So I think  St. John Chrysostom is really talking about individuals not society. As individuals we shouldn't believe that acquiring property in and of itself is the goal. It's a nice extra but it is an extra.   And I think American Society has held the lead in caring for others because our society is based on Christ's teachings even though we can't agree with our worship techniques we can agree on following his teachings.

The 1960's was all about changing society - and society has changed drastically since my childhood. We have lost our way. We fight, fight, fight all the time about everything. We laugh AT people instead of WITH people. We find fault. We find someone to blame instead of just fixing the problem. We kill babies. We have become incredibly selfish.

So I had to investigate this further and found this on the internet from Minnesota under Catholic Church. .

Role of Government
Because we are social beings, the state is natural to the
person. Therefore, the state has a positive moral function.
It is an instrument to promote human dignity, protect
human rights, and build the common good. Its purpose
is to assist citizens in fulfilling their responsibility to
others in society. Since, in a large and complex society
these responsibilities cannot adequately be carried out
on a one-to-one basis, common good. According to the principle of subsidiarity,
the functions of government should be performed at the
lowest level possible, as long as they can be performed
adequately. If they cannot, then a higher level of
government should intervene to provide help.

Boy do I disagree.

Any and all governments are incapable of morality. The State has no soul. It is the Church's responsibility to
teach the people morality and the people's responsibility to participate in their government.
The Nazi government in German was a legitimate government. It taught it's citizens morality. 
I must be missing something. Why would the church give up their moral teachings to the State?

Social Justice Doesn't Work

It doesn't take fate into account. This story explains:

When my grandmother was 4 years old she became deaf from measles. Her mother was horrified that she had to send her red-haired sweetie to the Illinois State Asylum for the blind, the deaf and the insane. So she made her other children live a dismal life all winter so that when their deaf sister came home to the summer, they could live it up - new clothes - great food - fun activities. My  granny would make up for what cruel fate had done to her baby.

Well her other children resented this action. My grandmother assumed their fun summers last all winter and was jealous of her siblings. Those feelings never changed. What about those other siblings. At the age of 16, one of the sisters became horribly and permanently crippled. At the age of 17, the only boy got kicked in the head by a mule. He never recovered. The eldest daughter married, had a daughter and widowed. Fate took care of that family.

Well I disagree with the Catholic Church on Social Justice. It doesn't work.

Patience.

The 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time to the rescue.

So poor people have a responsibility and can contribute.

I'm relieved the Catholic Church still agrees with me. LOL

From Article: essays

From Heading: Personal Background

From Website: MyGrandRapids.info

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Last modified: 08/05/11