Even after living in the Bible Belt for over a decade I am always surprised about the misconceptions of non-Catholics of Catholic beliefs. Granted there is about 500 years of rumors developing and confusion becomes a blaze that spreads quickly on dry grass.
Growing up I always knew that I would go to college and major in Theology, even though I never really knew what I would do with that degree. I wanted to know everything about my faith and was tired of my religion class teachers giving me wishy-washy answers that did not clarify anything. I grew up with a strong example of the faith from my parents, who made sure we learned our Hail Marys and Our Fathers like all good Catholic boys and girls. At some point I became interested in the meaning behind the traditions and rituals that had developed in the Church and from that, my fascination with relics. All the tradition we have in the Church there is a meaning behind it, ranging from the types of vestments the priest wears during the Mass (and outside the Mass as well) to the simple act of crossing ourselves before prayer. As I entered my young adult life I had studied beyond what was required for class to feed the hunger I had to know more about my faith. My parents even started asking me questions of something or other concerning the faith (even a few upperclassmen too).
I could not see myself studying anything else. But now I have a degree in Theology - what to do? Why, teach it of course! The RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) program at my church was a good way to get my feelers out to see if I would make a half-way decent teacher. And thus a journey of discovery began.
Remember I'm in the Bible Belt, so a lot of out inquirers are from very Protestant backgrounds, many of which still hold the Catholic Church in contempt. There are things that I always thought simple and basic to understand that many of the Inquirers have a hard time wrapping their heads around it. Many of them do not understand at first that being Catholic is a lifestyle and joining the Catholic Church is not like moving to a new house up the street. Oh no, it's more along the lines of becoming a citizen of a different country whose culture is similar but different in so many ways. It's out of the comfort zone of many people and it scares them, sometimes it can be too much.
For those who the change is too much for, they sometimes lash out at us who teach them. This reaction, however, is not limited to people in the RCIA program. I am in no means saying that this is a one way street. Catholics also have some misconjectures when is comes to their Protestant brethren.
The goal in life is to find the truth, no matter what our situation in life is we have to find it. For as they say Christ is the Way, the Life and the Truth.
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