Catholic Confessions about Community

This weekend marked the end of Jonathan's Faith Formation class and the first time he received communion.  This has been a two year process in which he and I shared this year of schooling together.  Being a teacher at church grew me.  Being more a part of my church community was both exhilerating and disappointing.  While I bonded with my class of eleven students and appreciated the dedication and hard work of my assistant, frankly, some parents disappointed me.  The same faces I saw weekly became blurred at church on Sunday.  I thought by pouring into my church community, relationships would develop and I'd have a better connectedness to my church.  Not so much. Teaching hasn't really changed anything.  But it has changed everything.  Sort of.

The Catholic Church is what it has always been.  Good or bad, depending on who you talk to I guess.  It's interesting to me when I hear the words of our pastor about the importance of coming to mass not because we feel like we have to, but to celebrate with our community and give thanks to our God. But week after week it seems many still come to church to mark it off their to do list.   It seems I've heard him talk on several occasions why NOT to do this.  Yet, the people hurry in, sit down, barely greet each other, shake hands at peace, wait in line for the Eucharist and hurry out to beat the crowd in the parking lot.  Every single week without fail. And this community I thought I'd find if I stepped forward to teach our youth?  I didn't.

But I did find my place and a newfound appreciation for Catholicism.  I found a priest who speaks words I need to hear every single time.  I found a new value in  having my kids celebrate mass with me (as hard or as distracting as it may be at times) because didn't Jesus say,  

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."--Matthew 19:14

I found that I could stop blaming the church for "what was missing."  The church has had it all along, but something inside me was disconnected and searching elsewhere for it.  After my year in the classroom, despite not blossoming friendships like I may have wished for in the onset,  I found my place in the church I belong to.  I found my voice.  I found a desire to lead more like Jesus did by being His hands and feet, by seeing people as people and loving on them because that is what He asks me to do.

And some of the parents factor at Faith Formation classes?  They are no different than some of the parents I work with at the public school. They are no different than some of the parents I know. They are emotionally or physically checked out to doing their most important calling in life.  Raising children and teaching them life lessons  is exhausting and can be burdensome; some are selfish, some feel like they are not cut out to do it, some are scared to mess their kids up.  But the fact of the matter is, if they truly rely on our God, they can do anything. And they will be blessed ten fold by this.

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.--Philippians 4:13

Children are a blessing from the Lord--  

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.--Psalm 127:3  

and while jobs are important and bills have to be paid. . .it pains me to see parents relying on teachers to do what needs to start at home first and foremost.  And while an education is vitally important. . .a firm, solid faith-filled home base is even more so.  Part of teaching this to my own kids will be to pursue it at church because it's what we are called to do.Community doesn't just happen by itself--we have to be willing participants.  I am ready and willing now.

This year, I received an email monthly from a mom's book club that gathers there at church on Wednesday mornings, and I never went once.  Child care was my excuse, but the truth is I didn't feel comfortable. . .I didn't know anyone.  I still don't but I'm making this group a priority next year because I've found my place in the church and want to encourage other people to find theirs. Community might not start off as comfortable but you have to desire it, pursue it, and make it happen.