Mama Didn't Raise No Heathen!

As a young adult, I used to shun my Catholic upbringing; I strongly disliked going to Catholic school and Catholic church all of my life.  The nuns terrified me – they were pompous, mean penguins.  I detested the ugly, itchy plaid uniform skirts we had to wear and worst of all, the public school kids in my neighborhood hated my brother and I simply because – wait for it- we attended Catholic school; they chased us home every day and threatened to beat us up!  Like most good Catholics, by the time I entered my late 20’s, I was in therapy for all of my Catholic guilt issues.  What I disliked more than the nuns, the uniform and the daily threat of a beat down, were all of the Catholic church rituals we had to partake in – they were nonsense-cal as far as I was concerned.  Stand, sit, kneel.  Stand, sit, kneel…..

And let’s not forget going to confession in that tiny, claustrophobic booth.  I mean really, was saying 10 Our Father’s and 5 Hail Mary’s really going to save me from hell for stealing a Sweet n’ Sour sucker from the candy store?  As strong as my resentments were for all things Catholic, I harbored an equally strong resentment against my mother for insisting on raising us Catholic but not being Catholic herself. She never attended mass with my brother and I; she always sent the two of us by ourselves.  I wanted my mom there by my side, like all of the other families that came every Sunday for worship; I longed for her presence.  That was her mistake… As a result of my resentment, I vowed that when I had children of my own, I wouldn't send them off to church by themselves, but rather share in the worship experience with them.

Now that I’m all grown-up and raising my own family, I’m no longer a Catholic club card member. Christian, but not Catholic.  And I've relinquished all of my guilt and resentments of all things Catholic.  Moreover, I've gained a healthy perspective and a new found appreciation for what my mother did instill in my brother and I by insisting on raising us Catholic – she gave us a fundamental belief in God; a foundation that we could trust and a basis for worship.  Mama didn't raise no heathen!

Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if we indeed we share in His sufferings, in order that we may also share in His glory.  Romans 8:17

My oldest son, Joshua, asked if he could skip going to church today.  He explained that if he went to church today, he wouldn't be able to complete all of his chores and homework in time to catch the NFL game and a rare opportunity to play video games with a friend.  Skip church?  How did he determine that church/worship would be the “something” that he would have to give up in light of all that he had to do?  For a moment I had a Catholic-church-flashback.  I remembered my outlandish attempts to ditch going to mass on Sunday and I had to wonder, does Josh have that same angst about the church to which we belong?  Nah!  Josh loves our church and they love him; they've embraced us as family.  And Josh loves going to church with his family – serving together, worshiping together and fellow-shipping together.  Josh wanting to skip church was just him being a typical teenager and Josh wanting to “do” Josh.  You can bet your rosary beads that this mama ain't raising no heathens either!