In The Beginning ...

Don't you just love this painting of Archangel Michael with his foot on Satan's neck?
The saints and their stories in art and oral tradition are part of the joy of being Catholic

JMJ     I am a life-long Catholic, a lover of bad 50's sci-fi movies, great classic films, literature, scary stories and classical music, including classic rock.  I write another blog called ClassicBecky's Brain Food, dedicated to the great old movies of the Golden Age of Hollywood.  Of late, I feel the desire to write about my Faith Trek, " ... to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life, ... to boldly go where no man has gone before."  Yes, it says "man" ... language isn't perfect and never will be.  Sometimes the desire to make language politically correct can have unintentionally funny consequences.  A priest I knew told of an experience he had with a very liberal order of nuns.  He said Mass for them, and during the readings one of the Sisters made a significant change to Paul's gospel, 1 Corinthians:  "When I was a child, I spake as a child ... but when I became a woman I put away childish things."  Considering that Paul, who was speaking about himself, was a man, the priest told me that this must be the first example of a transgender situation in the Bible.  Gave me a good laugh ...

I'm not always to be found at Mass on Sunday -- often I am unable to make it, and sometimes I'm just lazy, for which I always feel guilty.  I'm not particularly social, like the women who participate in pancake breakfasts or festivals.  Those things are great, and I admire people who are able to create that kind of parish fellowship, but I'm not one of them.  My devotion is sort of like that of contemplative nuns -- I sure don't have the calling to live the extraordinary sacrificial life that they do, but I love that type of prayer and try to emulate it.  The rosary is my favorite meditation on the life of Christ, and I try to pray it regularly.  I have doubts and sorrows regarding the failings of the people of the Church, myself included, but no matter how hard it can be sometimes to be a faithful Catholic, I just can't get away from it.    I can't do without the Eucharist -- it's as simple as that.  When I don't receive Communion, I feel empty and alone.  No matter what happens with the human factor that causes such distress, I believe that Christ is present in every way in the Mass, which is after all the fundamental point of  being Catholic.

Writing about walking the faith is a good way for me to think through life and faith, and if you are interested, it might do the same thing for you.  Welcome to my little corner of the cyber-world.