Growing up Catholic

 

There's a good chance that many of us who grew up around the greater Detroit area had some kind of Catholic Church exposure or even upbringing. If you didn't, keep reading because you might know someone who has been on this journey. 

The experiences, I'm sure, are varied across the board. I've come to hear a consistent theme from a majority of people who, after being part of an evangelical church, disparage their Catholic experience. Only a small few have shared some experiences that were damaging, but for the most part, the involvement has been fairly innocuous. Yet somehow, as many of these individuals reflect back on their time in the Catholic Church, there is a vehement disdain. 

They give themselves new titles: "Comatose Catholic" or "Recovering Catholic" or "Cathaholic." They also feel this compulsion to take apart all Catholic theology and deem it completely heretical. I've heard many also say that, "Before I was a Christian, I was Catholic."

Every church has its problems. Every church can, at times, feel boring, uninteresting, and irrelevant. Much of that depends on us and our commitment level to our faith community. But unless there were encumbering abuses and outright danger, we should be careful not to completely disregard the potential of spiritual formation that took place. 

Whether you realize it or not, your Catholic experience has, in some way, shaped you. 

I've heard people say the following:

• They pray to Mary
• They don't encourage personal use of the Bible
• They have a different Bible
• They believe in transubstantiation in communion
• They believe in purgatory
• It's all about good works
• They confess to a priest and not directly to God
• They never told me about a personal relationship with God
• It's all about the same rhythms--when to stand, kneel, or sit

For these reasons and more, people who transition to an evangelical church point out that the Catholic Church is rife with issues and therefore, worthy of being villainized. There are certainly dogmatic issues with which protestants firmly disagree and those disagreements can be and are often discussed. I want to provide another perspective so as not to feel the need to participate in such regret.

I've come to know many people, including family members who have had nothing but positive experiences with their Catholic upbringing. One in particular never remembers hearing anything about praying to Mary or any other saints for that matter. 

She said they were never taught about Purgatory or even considered believing in it. She was constantly told to read her Bible. Yes, the "Catholic" Bible includes some other texts. These texts, however are not exclusive to Catholics. Jewish people used them as well. It wasn't until about 367 AD that canonization gave protestants 66 books of the Bible. You can read more about the Apocryphal books HERE.

While there may be an emphasis on good works, it was never taught to my family member that those works were somehow earning her way to Heaven or a ticket for salvation. Confession to a priest was encouraged but never as a replacement for personal prayer and confession to God. She felt she very much had a personal and deep faith in God.

The rhythms brought a sense of reverence and comfort knowing that she was part of a bigger, more global unified effort of piety. The sense of consistency helped with a focused faith and prayer life. While it might feel rote to some, it feels centering to others. Evangelical churches have their rhythms and liturgy as well.

While transubstantiation is a challenging doctrine in terms of physical presence of Christ in the Eucharist, what she continually came away with is that participating in the Lord's Supper is ever a unique and beautiful mystery. The focus was simply always on the remembrance. Additionally, her experience was one filled with community. After mass, many of the families including the priest would go out for pizza and talk about life together. They developed deep and meaningful friendships that have lasted into the present day.

Just because we step into a new experience of faith that we like and feels radically different from our previous experience, doesn't mean the previous experience didn't shape us; and therefore, requires a penalizing of that experience. It made us who we are. And, we are still being formed. Paul tells the Philippian church, 

And I am certain that God, 

who began the good work within you, 

will continue his work until it is finally finished 

on the day when Christ Jesus returns. 

I want to challenge those of us who grew up Catholic to be mindful of how that experience shaped us. When we are sitting in a small group or Life Journey meeting, let's think through how we talk about our past faith journey. Reflect on how God used the events of your past to form the person you are becoming.

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