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  • #896
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I was raised in New Orleans, and I credit my dear Grandmother for showing me what true Christianity is. In addition to helping every stranger she met, she took me all around the city, on the bus-!- to visit different beautiful Catholic churches. She had deep reverence and respect for priests. Her sister was a nun. I went to Ursuline Academy for High School, mainly because there were riots over busing in the public schools at that time. I am very fortunate to have gone there. I fell away from the church for 25 years, made mistakes, but came back about 8 years ago. I have been very happy and a faithful Catholic since. I have a 9 year old daughter in 4th grade, Catholic elementary school. I work with the Mentally Ill. It is demanding but rewarding at times.
    We have 2 crazy dogs. :roll

    #3334

    Welcome Gardenia.

    It sounds like you have had heavy Catholic influence in your upbringing. What led you away from the Church and what ultimately brought you back? <img decoding=” title=”Smile” />

    #3339
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    You asked what caused me to leave the Church and how I came back. That’s a good question. I left for several reasons. One, because many of my friends, although nice people, had also drifted away. The reason for some of us drifting away, I believe, is that during the seventies, there was much confusion and dissent coming from the Church itself. For example, one of the nuns whom we loved at Ursuline quit the order to get married. That was a shock. Another nun told us that we didn’t have to read the Bible because it was written by a bunch of men and wasn’t the final authority. That was confusing. In Religion class, we spent a long time listening to the album, Jesus Christ Superstar, instead of learning our faith. We even had a class on methods of birth control. Priests didn’t wear their collars, felt banners were hung on the altar…However, there was also much good there, which is inherent to our faith and cannot be hidden. There was an atmosphere of peace and forgiveness, which none of us ever forgot. Most of my friends eventually made it back into the Church, especially when they married and had children. I think things improved in the 80’s and 90’s, because I had a friend who graduated from Ursuline 13 years after I did, and she said that they had returned to more dignified ways. She was devout, and never did leave the church.

    But the seventies were just a confusing time, what with sorting out Vatican II. I remember kneeling at the altar to receive communion on the tongue with my grandmother, and then things changed and we all stood up. The songs changed too, and not for the better. My parents never went to church, for a variety of reasons. My mother had decided to become an alcoholic/agnostic, and my Dad just didn’t go, because they were using birth control and couldn’t go to communion. At college (LSU), church was very “uncool”, and I felt that I’d never fit in, so I tried to fit in by doing what other people did. I made alot of mistakes. I thank God that I never had an abortion. Some of my friends did, and they are in such pain to this day.

    I really came back when I had a baby. That opened my eyes to Jesus, because he came into the world as a baby too. My husband was not Christian (we are not married now), but I felt strongly drawn to go back. She was baptized and has received all of the sacraments, although he didn’t approve at first. Also, I had the memory of my Grandmother, who had been Christ on earth to me. I had read C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books as a child, and the allegories stayed with me all my life and eventually led me home. Finally, I went to St. Richard’s Church in Jackson, MS, where I live now, and went to confession. I met Monsignor Noel Foley, now deceased, who welcomed me back with open arms, and was an icon of Christ to me. All of the priests at St. Richard, are anointed in an extraordinary way. The presence of the Holy Spirit can be felt palpably when one walks into the church. There is also a retired Irish priest named Monsignor Glynn, who says mass every day at 6:30 am, visits the parents who drop the kids off at school, and sees the kids in the cafeteria and brings them little prayer cards. My daughter, age 9, adores him and sees him as a living saint, which he is. I am tremendously grateful to our priests, and I know how hard it is for them in these troubling times. I was even a bit suspicious of Msgr. Glynn at first, until I began to know him. These are priests that you can go to with anything. I am so sorry that they have suffered insults and abuse because of the horrible actions of a few. I also believe that many of the child and adolescent abuse problems were spawned in the 70’s, because of dissenting teaching and culture in the seminaries. Anyway, I am back now, and very proud and grateful for my faith. The difficulties that the church has gone through have only made me more determined to uphold our 2000 year old faith.

    Sincerely, G <img decoding=” title=”Smile” />

    #3340

    Wow, what a story and a good history lesson too! <img decoding=” title=”Smile” />

    [quote:y0g7xjsb]The difficulties that the church has gone through have only made me more determined to uphold our 2000 year old faith.[/quote:y0g7xjsb]
    I think this is a wonderful quote. Of all the scandals, bad people in powerful positions, etc. the Church sure has weathered a lot and is still standing.

    I appreciate you sharing your story with us. I truly think it is a blessing to hear/read the stories of other real life Catholics. <img decoding=” title=”Smile” />

    #3344
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    We hope you will be an active contributor!

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