One of the things that makes the practice of Christian religion difficult is that there are so many interpretations of it.
To begin with, we apply our modern reference points to what the Bible, specifically the New Testament, says. so, we come up with these frequent stumbling block questions about women not being priests, women being silent “in the assembly” and covering their heads.
Our Church has a Catechism, but it does not have an official commentary on all of scripture, even the new testament.
There is a nearby parish where people speak loudly before Mass, and it is impossible to pray, even right there before the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle. If I sit towards the rear of the church, I always get an usher (on Sundays) who is talking almost non-stop during Mass.
If you’re a Catholic, you’d better have devotion to the Blessed Mother and say the Rosary every day. This is an example of some very narrowly defined aspects of Catholic spirituality. These are examples of things that we are supposed to do.
On the other hand, for example, 1 Co 14:1 says we should eagerly seek the spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophesy. But, I’ve never heard this prayed for during Mass, even in this era of the ‘new’ evangelization. And, we’re supposed to be ‘eager’ about this!
The “prayers of the faithful” at Mass have been very formalized, to the point of ritualization, in praying for the Pope, our local bishop, the priests, deacons, and consecrated religious. On EWTN, at Mass, the priests are always praying for ‘mother’ Angelica – as if there weren’t millions of others who needed prayers just as badly.
True religion, the writer James says, is taking care of widows and orphans. First, as someone who lost my father early in life, I rarely felt that anyone cared about me, certainly not the local church.
Another category of insult to practicing Catholic religion is duplicity. We had crucifixes in the house and went to Mass, but the household standard was my mom’s homestead, where they never prayed together on any occasion, including before meals.
It’s nice to hear of ‘strong’ Catholic families, but I don’t know of any, personally. We have Catholics fighting with Catholics over their backyard fences, a lot. When I went to Catholic high school, I was bullied by upperclassmen, and, being from a neighboring parish, I was never welcomed into that neighboring parish’s communal practices. There are many, many ways I feel like an outsider in my own parish.
There are people in the parish who act like they are more important and exist at a higher stratum – like parking in the handicapped spaces (even though they don’t have any plate or placard for parking there) to get the best parking spaces.
In September, I got kicked out of our bible study class by a ‘commissioned lay minister’ despite the fact that our parish’s mission statement says that “all are welcome.” More duplicity ( first and second corinthians, revisited).
