Being Catholic

I am starting this blog in an effort to try to be a better Catholic. Not just on Sundays but every day of the week. We live in a world where there is constant distraction, sometimes I think intentional distraction, away from God. We work, shop, run kids around, clean the house, rake the yard, watch TV, and then collapse into bed at night to just in time to wake up and do it all again the next day.
Pretty soon I find myself in Church on Sunday, feeling a closeness with God that I had completely overlooked the entire week. This blog will be my effort to try to focus my thoughts on Catholic ideas and teachings on more than just Sunday.

I am not a theologian or anywhere near a Catholic scholar. I am a Catholic lay person who wants to know more about my Catholic faith and grow it. I have found that I am at times frustrated by the current state of our Catholic church. It sometimes feels to me as if Catholics have forgotten how to be Catholic. When I think of going into a Catholic church, I think of going into a place of reverence, a place of respect. After all the Catholic church is the only church I can enter and actually physically be in the real and true presence of Jesus Christ.

There was a time in the Church that people seemed to know that. That when you went up to the alter to receive the communion, you would fall on your knees in awe of being in the true presence of God. That an alter server would carefully place a paten under your chin as you received the body of Christ by mouth. By mouth because as a Catholic you felt unworthy to touch the hem of His robe, let alone handle the body of Christ. And the tray under you chin because of the slight possibility that any fragment of the real and true body and blood of Christ should fall to the floor.

That is the kind of Catholic I want to be. One that is always aware of the sacrifice that Jesus made for me, for my wife, for my kids and for everyone. I find it difficult sometimes during Mass to focus my attention on Christ. Even going up to take Holy Communion seems so casual, we are encouraged to take by the hand, and move as quickly as possible, and what if I wanted to fall to my knees? to display awe and reverence as I receive Holy Communion? Our Churches are not set up for that. I would hold up the line, someone may trip over me, people would think, "look at that weirdo kneeling to receive communion!"

I am not writing this to stand on my pulpit and look on people or the church in judgement. I am sharing this because I want more from my Catholic faith. I want to be challenged to be a better Catholic and sometimes it seems like we are deliberately not challenged to be better Catholics. So my purpose in writing this is solely to challenge myself and my family to be better Catholics. To be Catholic every day. I will try to pick topics, on family, modesty, and every day Catholic life. Maybe someday someone might even read them.