Working for the church I feel like I am constantly told how wrong I am to be Catholic. That Catholics hate homsexuals, disrespect a woman's right to choose what to do about their body, and worship saints and Mary. I am here to state that is all wrong for many reasons. First, all those assumptions are wrong. I love homosexuals and those who say I don't you can ask one of my friends from college if I truly hate him. Marriage is a sacrament that is held between a man and a woman and does not say that I hate homosexuals. Secondly, I have the highest respect for woman, but I have a higher respect for everyone's God given right to live. Almost everyone would agree that killing is the taking of another persons life. If you believe the previous statement, then not allowing a child to live his or her life is killing. Thirdly, I don't worship saints or Mary. I always love having the most holy people I know pray for me. When I pray to the saints I am asking for their prayers because those are the people that have the closest relationship to God. Now, that we have all the issues out of the way we can get into what it really means to be Catholic.
I get tired of people constantly telling me that I am Catholic because of all the issues. To be Catholic goes beyond all the issues that the Catholic Church addresses. Catholicism is based on the relationship between God and the person. What does this mean? Well this is how I look at it. I know that every Sunday when I go to mass that I will be one with God when I accept the Body of Christ. Once the host is consecrated in Mass it is the truly the body of Christ. By accepting the Body of Christ I truly experience and feel the love of Jesus Christ. The basis of the Catholic religion starts from that initial relationship with the Man of Jesus Christ. Knowing that Jesus gave his life not only for a few people, but for the eternal Salvation of every person on Earth. If we never recognize the great sacrifice that God made for all of us, then our faith has no basis. This sign of sacrifice is our ultimate example of love. God calls each of us to love every single person in our lives. No matter the things they have done or the way they live. Our ultimate call is to show everyone the love with Jesus Christ and it all starts with our own personal experience of that love.
To sum this up in a very short blog this is what it means. I must recognize that God and me walk hand and hand together through every part of my day. The most important part of my faith is that he is always present in everything that I do. God then calls each of us to follow his word and his guidance. This is where the so called "issues" come into our life. Those issues do not involve the hatred and the condemning of others, but call to show those people the love God calls us to.
Galatian 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
