The belief of a higher power has always existed in my mind,
I’ve just never indulged in the same practices that my parents tried
accustoming me to as a kid and also now as an adult. Catholicism involves believing
in an all-knowing and all-powerful god who is viewed as the creator of humans,
animals, plants, and Earth among many more things. Believing and practicing the
many sacred creeds that go along with being an active member of the Catholic
community didn’t correlate swiftly with the personal views and morals that I
believe to be important.
My mother endlessly tried persuading me that
Catholicism is the religion I ought to believe in due to the fact that my
entire family followed the same religious path and for the many miraculous
encounters that she has experienced throughout her lifetime. For example, my
mom has the utmost faith in a divine figure of the Catholic religion named the
Holy Virgin of Guadalupe. She claims to be certain that the Virgin Mary has
helped her overcome all her past endeavors as a child and now as a mother of
four as well. An intimate case in which she sought the help of the divine
figure was when she was at the brink of undergoing an abortion procedure due to
complications throughout the process of her pregnancy. Coincidentally, the
incident that drove my mother to the hospital and get a check up on the status
of her child took place at a Catholic church, also known as the House of God.
After receiving news that the possibility of her baby boy being born were
extremely slim, the doctor recommended an abortion to spare my mom the agony of
seeing her creation drop out of her vagina at any point in time when using the
restroom. Upon hearing this tragic news, my mother began attending church much
more frequently, clinging onto the shear hope of my brother being born safely
and healthy. Miraculously, 5 months later my mother gave birth to an eight and
a half pound baby looking as healthy and happy as any other child.
My mom
doesn’t believe that her views as a Catholic will ever change, in fact, she
feels as if though her connection with these divine entities has grown stronger
than ever. Every twelve of December my mother demonstrates her respect and
gratitude towards the Virgin Mary by taking part in a ceremonial gathering of
Catholic believers in order to celebrate the divine birth of Jesus Christ. Some
of the many items brought to the feast are candles to represent the birthday of
Jesus Christ, elegant flowers to offer the Virgin Mary for enduring the burden
of having the child of the almighty God, and delicious treats and plates for
everybody to enjoy. The maternal and caring image that the Holy Virgin of
Guadalupe represents is one that my mother tries to mimic by they way she
attempts of nurturing her kids. She states that she vows to continue being the
same Catholic believer that she has been ever since she was a little girl. The Virgin Mary has never neglected or
rejected any of my mother’s pleads for guidance or help so my mom’s loyalty to
her shall never decease. Even though most of my family members are committed
and active Catholics, I can’t help but question the authenticity of these
miraculous events that have occurred in my mom’s life. To this day, I haven’t
found myself in a situation in which I prayed for guidance or a miracle to
happen when I felt I was out of options. Who knows, maybe I might find myself
in need of help from a higher power sooner than I might expect.
I can completely relate to being exposed to the Catholic religion as a child and if anything the constant exposure made me less of a believer as well. My grandmother is similar to your mother in the fact that they truly believe in another entity that has created the world and everything in it. The story of your baby brother is quite amazing. Do you think that a divine force intervened and helped your mother give birth to your brother or do you think it was simply a case of the right place at the right time? It's also quite interesting her tradition of giving gratitude to the virgin mary the most I have heard fellow members of my church giving gratitude is in the form of the prayer Hail Mary.
ReplyDeleteI really like the voice in your writing. I was also exposed to Catholicism early in my life and later rejected it. I would be very interested to know what both of your experiences and thoughts are on Catholicism. What factors made you reject it more and more? From when I was really little, I loved Mass a lot. I especially liked singing. It was also one time in the day in which it was completely appropriate to be filled with awe and enthusiasm. I still believe that religious experiences can induce great pleasure and satisfaction in your life. However, I ended up turning away from organized religion because of how it's used to do harm in the world. Later on, I read a lot about the agnostic and atheist perspective and decided that Atheism had the best evidence of any other group I had investigated or dabbled in. Now, I'm decidedly atheistic but also spiritual in my own ways. I'm heavily tied to rituals but I don't believe in anything supernatural.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you brought up that your mom claims that the Virgin Mary has helped her overcome obstacles in the past because my mom believes in that too. My mom always says to leave things in the hand of the higher power. I also noticed that you have your doubts about that faith and I can relate to that too, but also I have that in the back of my mind, like you said, that I might need some help from that higher power.
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