Pope Francis And Atheism Are My Path Back To Catholicism | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Lifestyle

Pope Francis And Atheism Are My Path Back To Catholicism

Faith is still a touchy subject for me; I enjoy talking about it, but I don’t want to make myself feel “enslaved” to it once again.

27
Pope Francis And Atheism Are My Path Back To Catholicism
G.R.A.C.E. Music Ministry

On my mother’s birthday 19 years ago, I was baptized into the Catholic Church. For 15 years, I went to Catholic schools. In grade school, I went to Mass weekly and received all the sacraments of initiation. In high school, all students took mandatory theology classes (regardless of individual religious beliefs) and celebrated Mass monthly in our auditorium. My senior class gathered to celebrate our last Mass together; we graduated in that same Church a few days later.

Though I’m grateful for attending Catholic schools, I say with absolutely no regret that I’m happy to be out. In sophomore year, I was beginning to be burned out by years of theology classes. I realized that my personal beliefs on issues that the Catholic Church took a stake in did not align with it. I’m pro-choice, pro-death penalty, pro-gay marriage.

So once I grabbed my diploma after the graduation ceremony, I was done. Why have a religion if all I did was argue with it? No more uniforms, no more mandatory theology classes, no more having religion shoved down my throat.

I’m out. Peace.

Or so I thought I was.

I think it’s safe to say that I’m the only person on my floor who is in her first year of public education. I hear stories about public school and think that I can’t relate. I hear about how those that maintain a religion only do so because they are forced to by their parents. My parents don’t force me to be religious; I just happened to grow up around it. Unlike most of the people on my floor, I’ve never drunk, been drunk, or smoked (we’re all underage, by the way). My friends will tell you that I often declare that I don’t do those things because “I’m a child of God”. Yeah, it might be silly cop-out reason, but it’s true; the standard of my morals is created around a religious basis.

On occasion, my atheist suitemate comes into my room and asks me random questions about Catholicism. I answer her to the best of my knowledge, though sometimes she asks some strange questions.

“Does Jesus have a last name?”

I don’t know, but it’s definitely not Christ.

“Does Holy Water taste any different from regular water?”

I’ve never tasted Holy Water, but probably not.

“Were Jesus and Mary Magdalene a thing?”

"The Da Vinci Code" is not fact.

It’s fun answering those questions. Biblical stories and practices are my favorite things to talk about. I never enjoy talking about social issues and the Church’s stance on them.

But nowadays, the Church is more open due to its revolutionary new Pope, Francis. I adore the man; he is such a departure from the previous Popes, being more accepting of different forms of love and living a very modest lifestyle. He seems down to earth and approachable, and many people of many denominations (like my atheist roommate) have taken a liking to him. I follow him on Twitter and Instagram and love hearing what he says.

And that’s why I’ve been thinking about faith recently. I would have never thought that an atheist would be interested in hearing about my faith. I always thought that Church would remain stubborn with the changing times.

I have participated in a few ceremonies since then. Sometimes when I go home, I attend Mass at my local parish. On campus, I attended Mass at the Catholic Student Center a few months ago and am planning to celebrate Ash Wednesday there with my suitemate. I've prayed before a few meals. I want to go to confession again so that I can receive Eucharist as well.

Faith is still a touchy subject for me; I enjoy talking about it, but I don’t want to make myself feel “enslaved” to it once again. In the end, I can’t really say that I ever left the Church, but I can’t say that I’ve always cared either. However, it’s reassuring that the cross I’ve worn around my neck for over 10 years still means something in my life.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
girls with mascot
Personal Photo

College is tough, we all know. Here are 8 gifs you will 99% relate to if you are in college.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

7 Things College Has Taught Me

Other than knowledge and all those important things

67
7 Things College Has Taught Me
We Know Memes

So, college is the place where you're supposed to learn all of these amazing life skills.

Here are the top seven skills I have learned thus far.

Keep Reading...Show less
college

College is some of the greatest years of anyone's life. Its a time to be outrageous, different and free; a time to do everything you were afraid to do. Here are 38 things you will learn during your four (maybe, five or six) years in college!

1. As a freshman, one does get to be called “freshman” by upperclassmen when they walk to parties in a mob of people.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

6 Unrealistic Expectations Society Has For Young Adults

Don't let the thesaurus-inspired vocabularies in our résumés fool you. We're actually just big kids.

2706
boy in adult clothes

Well over four feet tall and 100 pounds in weight, many of us "young adults" of the world still consider ourselves children. Big, working, college-attending, beer-drinking children. We may live on our own, know how to cook noodles, and occasionally use a planner, but don't be fooled; the youthful tendencies that reside within us still make their way into our daily lives. From choosing to stay up until 3:00 a.m. playing video games on a school night to going out in 30 degree weather without a coat, we still make decisions that our parents and grandparents would shake their heads at in disappointment. So why are we expected to know exactly how to be a wise, professional, sensible adult? It's not that we're irresponsible (for the most part, anyway). It's that we are young, inexperienced, and still have the sought-after, enthusiastic mentality that we can do and be whatever we want, which has not yet been tarnished by the reality of the world. These are just a few of the unrealistic expectations that society has for young adults.

Keep Reading...Show less
pizza
Fandango

There are a lot of foods in this world, but there is only one dish that stands above the rest: Pizza. If you're close to me or at least know who I am, then you know that I'm totally obsessed with pizza. It's one of my favorite things to eat and I will NEVER turn down a slice, even if it doesn't have my favorite toppings. There isn't a day that goes by where I'm not thinking about pizza. I even sleep with a pizza pillow every night! There are many reasons why pizza stands above all other foods, and here are just a couple reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments