Fed Up With Being a Rat In a Liturgical Lab
THE JOURNEY OF A CATHOLIC-IN-EXILE
Tolkien’s The Hobbit or There and Back Again is the quintessential quest story. Familiar places are left and returned to, new and variable phenomena are observed and considered. Yet always, on the way home, there is further realization of certain truths and consequences.
This, then, is the tale of a dutiful Catholic who left the Church to go on a great journey, only to return to his place. As with Bilbo Baggins, there will be fellow travelers who will try to lead the way to the Mountain. We will also encounter a dark forest, wherein the only hope is to get back onto the one true path, and of course there is the inevitable confrontation with the Dragon and the return Home.
Following the Leaders
I shall always remember the particular Mass that finally drove us out of the Church. My wife and I were neither malcontents nor complainers. I was, relatively speaking, a good Catholic: I was very involved in teaching CCD, attended daily Mass whenever possible, observed yearly retreats at a Trappist Monastery, worked at soup kitchens, etc. My wife was Chairman of our parish Family Life Commission, a member of the Parish Council, and she created a child care program in the parish.
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A move to New Mexico would eventually lead us into the Catholic Church, thanks to very devout Christian Navajos and to the relentless leading of the Holy Spirit.
The pastor said the Holy Ghost would sometimes override his prepared sermon. Something extraordinary coming from that pulpit had hit me.
Early in my life I boasted: "The Catholic Church will never get me, because I'm too smart" (to get caught). Now look at me: I live and breathe the Catholic faith.