When I was a child I lived on Guam. My very Early years in Church were spent in the Catholic Church with our housekeeper Carmen. She was Guamanian, and had Mom and Dad's permission to take me with her to her Daily Mass. I also went with her to Easter Sunrise Services, and To Christmas Midnight Mass. I was enthralled with the pomp and circumstance that went along with a very religious community. I remember the steep walk up a mountain, in the very early morning to a big cross on the top of a hill. Easter Procession? I wanted to be a catholic. Mom was raised as a very devote Methodist, and Dad was Born to a Catholic Father and a Fanatic Mother, so he did not go to church.
As We moved back to the States, I was enrolled with Phyllis in the First Methodist Church Sunday School in National City California. From that time on, I was a Methodist. I went to church every Sunday, and was confirmed in the Methodist Church when I was 16. I stayed with the Church in Oak Harbor until Reverend Scott left. When that happened, I was out of school, and working on Base, so I switched to the Base Chapel.
My best friend was Catholic, and I went to mass with her, then to Church to sing in the choir for the protestant service. I met and married a Southern Baptist. And then he promptly got me pregnant and then the Navy took him away and he met and married another woman. (yep while still married to me!) I Divorced him and went back to the Methodist Church.
I then met my 2nd Husband. A devout Roman Catholic. We married out of the church, because I was divorced, and could not become a catholic. We raised both of our Children in the Catholic Church, and they went all the way through Catechism, and up to confirmation when I left their father.
I got very busy trying to raise two teenagers, and support them on what I was making, while going back to college full time. After I got back from Nevada, in 2000, and found out my son was in jail, I thought about going back to church again, and was just about there when 9-11 hit. I was so affected by that and the fact that The Lord allowed men to destroy 3000 souls in his name!!! I can not come to grips with that. I have heard all the explanations, I just CAN NOT deal with it.
Last Week when the Pope was in the hospital, I watched CNN constantly to see when they announced his death. It did not happen the first day, and he was still alive when I had to turn off the TV Saturday and go to work. He died right after I got to work. I have watched all of the news casts, and I stayed up last night to watch the Funeral.
All of my roots came flooding back. The Pomp and the Music, and the Chants and the Ceremony and the humanity all were there. I sat there transfixed. I watched every single minute of the funeral, and I actually understood it. I took 2 years of Latin, in School, and it remained with me hidden under all of the slang and cuss words I use now. I remember the rosary, the Apostles Creed, the Lord's Prayer, both versions. I Loved the Music. I was fascinated with the faces of the young and the old mourners in Krakow , Poland. I empathized with the young woman holding her rosary clenched in her fist and holding it to her face with a tear running down her cheek.
All of the Glory of the Catholic Church is still there, Tarnished in some places by the scandals that have surfaced, and probably will surface again.
Pope John-Paul II did a remarkable life time of work bringing the eastern and the western (Orthodox and Roman) Catholics back together again, and has been very instrumental in the downfall of communism in major parts of the world. His body gave up but his mind remained sharp until the very end.
Now the Catholic Church has to choose a new Pope, and the task is not going to be an easy one. Do you choose one that will continue the work of John-Paul, or do you choose one that will take the church in a new direction. One that will bridge the gap between the old and the much needed new? Only time will tell.
there needs to be some changes. I have seen it go from a totally Latin Mass to a Folk Mass, Strangers shaking hands with strangers. I have seen Priests go from the long Cossack to jeans, and a collar. I have seen Sisters go from long Habits, to short skirts.
Now I think the time is coming that the Vatican will need to decide if the Priests can or should Marry. I think they should be given a choice...Celibacy or not. The Catholic Church is losing men into the priesthood, so either they need to allow them to choose or Allow Women as Priests. The Convents have lost novices. Last year there were NONE. This year there is ONE! Soon they will be all gone. Allowing women into the priesthood and allowing both sexes to Marry would or should bring more into the priesthood.
I do not know what the answer is. I do not know what my Future will be. I know that I believe in a Higher Power, I just am not sure what form that takes. It might be Christ, it might not be. I am still looking, and looking hard. I think though that I lean a Lot towards Catholicism, I wonder how far I will lean before I too fall?
Whatever your leanings, you have to admit that John Paul II was an incredible man. A Man who knew to the minute when He was going to see his Father. A man who looked around, closed his eyes said "Amen" and died.
the world gave him a fantastic send-off.
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