Forgive Me Father For I Have Sinned

As a kid growing up in the Catholic church, I had to take my First Communion and also Confirmation.  Us kids were excited to make our First Communion as it meant we could ‘partake’ in holy communion.  To most of us, we were just happy to do what that adults did.  Plus it involved eating that ‘bread’ and drinking that ‘wine’.   Bread and wine sounded not too bad.  But before we could be awarded with such a prize, we had to first go to confession.

Confession meant kneeling at the side of a small room inhabited by the father. (preacher).  We would tell him what we did wrong (sins) and he would forgive us on behalf of God.  Well the problem was, we barely knew right from wrong and had to go to pre-confession classes so the nuns could tell us what to say.  Beep!  Shouldn’t confession be a bit more private and personal than that?  A few of my friends confessed to stealing bread from the dinner table.  I confessed to lying even though I didn’t know of any recent lies I had told.  I also confessed that I had stolen dried milk and sugar from my parents.  Something kids enjoyed from time to time.  To me and my friends, confession was a joke.  We confessed what they wanted us to confess.  We were not penitent.  We were too young to understand what it really meant.  Which brings me to the reason for this post.

A friend of mine has a young daughter who is about to make her first communion.  Or is it confirmation?  They are basically the same to me.  Anyways, she told me that she’s attending confession and knowing her tender age,  (She’s not much older than my 6-year old)  I immediately remembered my first experience.  I am sure her daughter does not fully grasp the concept of confessing her sins.  Her kiddie sins.   Can you imagine that little girl going home after confession and changing her ways? Staying in her room reading her bible?  I can’t.  I didn’t.

So do you really think kids should go to confession?  Ignore the fact that confessions should be solely between a person and their God.  Remember that after God died on the cross, the way was opened for us to communicate directly with him and through and intermediary but we won’t go into that right now.  Should kids go to confession?  I think not, but then again

It’s just my take.

 

 

 

Related articles

• I went to confession. (sarahberardi.com)

 

My Friday Take – Is It A Catholic Thing?

I know there are some hard-core Catholics out there and because of this, I apologize if this post rubs you the wrong way.  I too was once a catholic and my family, especially my dear old granny, eats ,breathes and sleeps the Catholic religion.

Today, I read a disturbing article in which a cardinal, Roger Mahony, was relieved of his duties.  That wasn’t disturbing but apparently, he had a long and tainted career of protecting the integrity, (what integrity?) of the church.  He did this by protecting (aiding and abetting?) suspected pedophiles.  One such suspect, a Mexican priest, is alleged to have molested 26 boys in a 10-month span!  Mahony refused to turn over the list of the boys to police.  Other accusations involved priests drugging the kids.  These were the ‘men of God’ that the well-meaning Roger Mahony was protecting.  As long as the church came up smelling like roses, who cares if a few kids were harmed right?

Let me lay it down for you, I know some good non-pedophile practicing Catholic Christians and I don’t want to paint them all with the same brush.  What I do want to say is that I don’t think I would feel comfortable being a part of religion that has so much history of child sexual abuse.  I know all religions and faiths have bad people who kill, rape, etc. but I don’t know of any other religion that has such a rampant and well documented history of criminal behavior against children. It’s almost like an organized crime for goodness sake!  It’s like an embarrassment.  Scratch that, it is an embarrassment to well-meaning Catholic Christians.

I have a question though.  Why is the Catholic church plagued with so many allegations of child abuse world-wide?  I have been in discussions where some think that it is because they are not allowed to marry.  Well if this is true, shouldn’t they be out there molesting grown women?  How does a child take the place of a missing wife?  If I wasn’t allowed to marry, I think there are other legal and acceptable alternatives that I would engage in, not turn to little boys to fill my void.

And that’s it for my Friday’s take.  Remember, it’s my opinion.

Related articles

• Retired cardinal stripped of duties as child abuse files are released (guardian.co.uk)
• Retired Los Angeles cardinal punished over abuse revelations (religionnews.com)
• Los Angeles Catholic archdiocese releases priest abuse files (independent.ie)
• Cardinal Roger M Mahony removed from public life by LA Archbishop Gomez (irishcentral.com)

Church Clothes

Growing up in the St. Vincent, my choice of clothes was limited due to financial constraints.  That did not stop me from having what we called ‘church clothes’.  Church clothes were set aside to wear to church on Sundays.  It was just wrong to wear them on any other day.  (I guess this is where the term Sunday best came from).

My church clothes were not limited to just pants and shirts, they also included underwear, shoes and socks.  It was understood that everyone had his or her church clothes.  It was normal.  At least to me.

When I moved to Canada, I brought this custom with me and separated my regulars from my church clothes.  If I did not attend church, my clothes sat unworn.

It was with some reluctance that I first wore a pair of jeans to church.  Even though I blended in with every other non-church-clothes-wearing worshipper, I felt like an outcast.  Here I was dressed like a commoner in the presence of God! How disrespectful!  I grew up in Catholic household where even my grandmother tried to upstage those who were half her age by dressing to the nines.

Later, I changed churches and attended The Seventh Day Adventist Church and we wore our Sunday Saturday best at church.  Jackets and ties were common.  We dressed to impressed, I’m just not sure who.

I am now a member of a jeans and t-shirt wearing church.  Shorts and slippers are not uncommon.  You are even allowed to enjoy your favorite brew as you listen to the sermon.  There is a casual air of acceptance in this church.  Last week I even saw a woman wearing sweats with paint all over the backside.  That, I thought was pushing it a bit.

Talking about pushing it, some church members and non-members seem to get carried away by the lack of a dress code and go overboard with their choice of attire.  Last week, as I looked towards the screen to read the words of a song, the sight of a naked flesh caught my eye.  Instinctively, my eyes zeroed in on the distraction and it was a young woman wearing a back-exposing top.  I am a Christian but I’m also a man. A heterosexual man, so yes, I found it a bit distracting.

A church is made up of all kinds of struggling people.  It’s the reason we are there, right? right??  That and to praise God.  If I had a drinking problem, the last thing I would want to see is someone drinking in the place where I came to get help.  If I had a sexual problem, a church with female church members flashing legs and cleavages would not be in my best interest now, would it?

I know some of you women had that sexy dress or top that has hung in your closet for a long time because you gained some weight.  Now you have worked hard and lost a few pounds and understandably, you want to show off your new bod and wear the dress you haven’t worn in forever.  Props to you! Congrats!  But church is just not the place to wear it.  We are here for you and support you in your weight loss but can we get an hour or so to focus on God and not your body?