Monday, May 17, 2004
Your Local Church
My next RCIA question is, "What do you want from your local church?"
The easy answers spring to mind, like 'friendship' and 'knowledge,' 'unity' and 'prayers,' 'faith' and 'a home for my children.' Perhaps every Christian Church should provide these things. Our move from a Methodist Church where I was a member all my life to a Catholic Church where we know nearly no one is a major life change. We have children ranging in age from 5 to 21 and parents in their seventies. I look ahead and see marriages, births, deaths, first communions, confirmations, joys and hardships galore.
My older children, though still living at home, have not joined me (yet) in joining our new Catholic Church. My parents have not joined me. My friends have not joined me. I have a new home, a wonderful new home in the Catholic faith that's filling me with knowledge and joy... but if/when my children get married, where am I and they to go if not here? If my children have children, what church will they find or choose to raise them in if not mine? If, God forbid, my parents pass away how best will my brothers and sisters and I handle this in our differing faiths?
My new joy is also a new hardship.
What do I want from my new church home? I want a place to go where God seems nearer to me. Nearer than He is when the butterfly bush is blooming. Nearer than when my daughter lays her head on my shoulder. Nearer than He ever seemed to be at my old home church. I want a place to go to where I can pray about all those hardships listed above and all those hardships faced by others in the world who have touched me. I want a place to go to where you can feel the expectations God has for Man and, especially, for me.
The easy answers spring to mind, like 'friendship' and 'knowledge,' 'unity' and 'prayers,' 'faith' and 'a home for my children.' Perhaps every Christian Church should provide these things. Our move from a Methodist Church where I was a member all my life to a Catholic Church where we know nearly no one is a major life change. We have children ranging in age from 5 to 21 and parents in their seventies. I look ahead and see marriages, births, deaths, first communions, confirmations, joys and hardships galore.
My older children, though still living at home, have not joined me (yet) in joining our new Catholic Church. My parents have not joined me. My friends have not joined me. I have a new home, a wonderful new home in the Catholic faith that's filling me with knowledge and joy... but if/when my children get married, where am I and they to go if not here? If my children have children, what church will they find or choose to raise them in if not mine? If, God forbid, my parents pass away how best will my brothers and sisters and I handle this in our differing faiths?
My new joy is also a new hardship.
What do I want from my new church home? I want a place to go where God seems nearer to me. Nearer than He is when the butterfly bush is blooming. Nearer than when my daughter lays her head on my shoulder. Nearer than He ever seemed to be at my old home church. I want a place to go to where I can pray about all those hardships listed above and all those hardships faced by others in the world who have touched me. I want a place to go to where you can feel the expectations God has for Man and, especially, for me.
