Hello, World!

Born in water and caught on fire. What is this, the little mermaid and Katniss Everdeen?  

Well, I’m not the best swimmer and I’m definitely not the girl from District 12. But maybe I can still relate.

As an infant, I was baptized into the Catholic Church through water. Through Confirmation, a sacrament of initiation, Catholics receive the Holy Spirit – the same one in the Bible which came down in tongues of flame on the apostles – to become full-fledged members in the Catholic faith.

Growing up Catholic means that I spent practically every Sunday of my life sitting in pews, picked up some Latin over the years (Kyrie eleison, anyone?), and counted decades of Hail Mary prayers with my fingers when I didn’t have Rosary beads with me. I admit that I have dozed off in homilies and dreaded going to church for a time in my life. I still stumble through some of the prayers since the implementation of the new English Roman Missal translation, so heads up to those who haven’t gone to Mass since November 2011. When people hand me flyers asking, “Are you saved?”, I’m not sure if they’re looking for a yes/no answer or a theological one. Oh, and not to mention the awkward moment when you reference books that are only in the Catholic bible during a discussion with Protestant friends (“Wait, the book of Judith? You mean Jude?”).  

My spiritual journey hasn’t been completely smooth sailing, but it has been the most worthwhile investment that I have made. I began taking my faith more seriously during my later high school years and have since then grappled with questions that I... probably still struggle with. Yet over the years, I have also discovered the beauty of having a universal church – that’s what the word “catholic” means! 

My goal for this blog is to NOT jump in all the angry debates and add to the hollering – we already have plenty of those CAPS-lock shouting matches in online comment sections. I would like to take a step back from talking about Catholicism as a political issue. And rest assured, it is not in my agenda to try to convert all you readers or shove Catholic theology down your throat. 

Rather, my aim for this blog is to share some of my thoughts on various issues that our society faces through a Catholic perspective and answer some questions that one might have about the Catholic faith. In this modern age, what does it mean to be religious or even spiritual, for that matter? Are Catholic teachings out of date? What’s the difference between Christian and Catholic and will we ever get along? Can the Mass get any more boring and why do Catholics bother to go? Will Catholics get lung cancer from inhaling too much smoke from burning incense? (Partially kidding on the last one, although I think I will go Google that now.) 

Oh and one other thing, growing up Catholic doesn’t mean you were deprived of the Disney channel, Pokemon, or the Power Rangers in your childhood. It just meant that in addition to them, you also had superheroes like St. Joan of Arc and St. Michael the Archangel. And as our St. Francis of Assisi would often address at the end of his sermons and letters,

Pax et Bonum.