When I was little I was given to understanding that God cannot be in animals, trees, people in mortal sin, and Protestants. Well, that is a lot of places off limits to God. God got squeezed into the little space of Catholics in the State of Grace, which was iffy for us Bronx Irish kids. We were prone to mortal sin. The best place to find God was in the host, the communion wafer, which bad Catholics and Protestants could not receive, but we could go look at the host "exposed" on the altar in a special Exposition piety. It was only years later that I realized what the host really meant. God is in bread, an ordinary everyday food, a staple of life. What the host meant is that God is in things of the world. I don't escape the world by going into a dark church to look at God. I go to look to remind me that God is in the world, everywhere in the world, even in Protestants. All is precious and holy. Where I might see or judge something a mess, God is present. The host is to remind me that when I go out of the church God is everywhere that I look and am. No escape. Plus, God is Love. Go hug a tree.
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As you go back to the sea, thanks for the insights.
ReplyDeleteI am an Irish Catholic but did not have a structured Catholic childhood---maybe not such a bad thing after all--I attended friends' churches and even participated in their weddings many years ago. No regrets at all.
DeleteIn the 50s if we went to Protestant churches we were bad Catholics. It was a sin.
ReplyDeleteLuckily no one ever mentioned this to me and if they had I would not have believed it----guess I hung out with other bad Catholics like me.
DeleteHuh. In the 90's, if I went to my neighbor's Catholic church, it was a sin. I did it anyway (once), and then I even married an Irish Catholic man. Many years later, I have "dual citizenship", which, to my delight, comes with access to God in the Catholic host *and* to God in whatever else God pleases.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised to find out that it's much lonelier to live in two countries than it was to live in just one. Many of my Protestant friends and family don't know what to make of me while some of my Catholic friends and teachers wait for me to complete my emigration. How good that God chooses to be even in this loneliness, with an especially bold, peaceful silence--the kind of silence that allows me to "keep my lantern lit" in reverent expectation, as opposed to fear.
Thanks for using your words to broaden my thoughts, Father Terry. My spirit is grateful.
Nice post, Michelle! You don't need to "emigrate" as it sounds like you already have arrived!
ReplyDeleteFr. Terry makes a huge point by saying, "God is love." Does God really care what label we wear to indicate our choice of religion? Is a devoted Protestant going to hell while a C&E Catholic floats up to Heaven? (For the sake of disclosure, I am an ever-failing-yet-still-committed Catholic and meditation devotee).
God is present for everyone, especially in those moments-between-moments. He is hoping we will watch and listen for him.
Hug a friend. And a priest!