First Contact – Part 12 – Catholicism

My earliest memories related to Catholicism were of a Catholic school just a block and a half up the street from our house in Louisville, KY. It was named Most Blessed Sacrament, but my friends and I used to jokingly call it Most Blasted Sacrament. It seems kind of silly now, but as a child it was a real hoot.

I do not recollect ever attending a Catholic service or even going inside a Catholic Church building as a child. The first time I remember being inside a Catholic Church was to attend a wedding. It was in 1979, just a short time after graduating from college. My friends Richard and Denise were getting married. My wife Kathy and I had graduated from high school with them in 1973. Kathy and I did not wed until 1982. Richard and I actually attended school together from the first grade all the way through college. We lived just a couple of blocks from each other.

I had become interested in photography in high school and began buying more professional level cameras and lenses while I was in college. Richard knew of my interest, so asked me to be the photographer at his wedding. I had never shot a wedding before, but he was aware of that and still wanted me to do it. But he had a twist. He also wanted me to be his best man. At first I thought that would not work. However, given that I could put the camera on a tripod and set the timer for the pictures I needed to be in, I agreed to do it. All worked out fine. However, I do remember getting a bit annoyed by having to kneel so much during the ceremony.

Yes, that’s me third from left with the fro and mustache. Cool dude, huh?

Being mostly associated with Protestants growing up, I was skeptical of some of the beliefs of the Catholic Church such as infant baptism, holy water, transubstantiation, Mary worship, and so forth. But I eventually came to realize that when it comes to the supernatural, there is really nothing more bizarre or unbelievable than another thing. If God truly exists and he is omnipotent, ruling by fiat, then he can choose to deal with man anyway he wants. He can ask us to worship him in any way he wants, and he can ask us to believe anything he wants us to believe. Basically, anything goes. It then boils down to what we individually decide is the proper way to determine what his desires for us are.

After moving to Alabama, I came to realize that some of my friends at work were Catholic. I attended a few services to see what it was all about. The most memorable visit to a Catholic Church was to attend a performance of the musical “Jesus Christ, Superstar”. A friend from work was performing the role of Jesus, and he did a great job. Interestingly, the man who played Judas Iscariot was probably the best singer of the bunch. But somehow it just didn’t seem right for the bad guy to be that good.

A few days ago I listened to a one hour speech by a man that had been a Presbyterian pastor, but gradually came to realize that the teachings of the Catholic Church that he had thought were anti-Biblical were actually Biblical. At the end of this journey of discovery, he resigned his position of pastor at the Presbyterian Church and of teacher at a college and joined the Catholic Church. Here’s a link to that speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW-qX6DgcPw

First Contact – Part 11 – Greek Orthodoxy

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, my son Andrew was a curious sort, especially in his teen years. But I guess many teens are curious. That is typically the time in a person’s life where beliefs and values are being formed. You know, finding out who you really are and all that.

At Andrew’s high school there was a Bible teacher that also taught classes in Hebrew and Greek. Andrew took both. He also found out that the teacher liked Greek Orthodoxy. When he discovered there was a Greek Orthodox Church about 70 miles away in Huntsville, he wanted to attend. The church was actually pretty close to where my father lived. So, on weekends when we visited Dad, my wife and I would take Andrew to the church on Sunday morning. Kathy and I tried attending the services, but their style of worship just didn’t appeal to us. So, we started going shopping at a nearby Sam’s Club while Andrew was at church services.

After services, parishioners would gather in a meeting hall and share food and drink. There was a small store there where items of interest to Greek Orthodox Church members were sold. Andrew loved finding interesting things to purchase there.

Over time a married couple at the church befriended Andrew and began looking forward to his visits. One year Andrew decided he wanted to go celebrate Pascha (Easter) at the Greek Orthodox Church. This celebration started on Good Friday and ran through Sunday. On Saturday evening the services ran from 11 pm until 2 am at which time there was a great feast. The married couple was gracious enough to allow Andrew to spend two nights at their house so he could participate in everything. Finally, he drove back home on Sunday afternoon.

I met several members of the church when I attended services and when I would pick Andrew up at the meeting hall. All seemed very kind and gracious.

To me, Greek Orthodox services seem very similar to Catholic services in that they tend to more formal than the protestant evangelical church services. There are differences in beliefs, but I am not knowledgeable enough to speak to those differences.