The Barefoot Catholic

I've been struggling with whether or not I wanted to compose this post, but since it is consuming my thoughts, I guess it has to come out.

I think in my introductory post on this blog, I shared that I am Roman Catholic.  If not, then now you know.  I went to Catholic school for 10 years, my aunt was a Missionary nun.  Really Catholic.

I love the rituals of the Catholic church, I love that I know when to sit, stand and kneel.  I love the scripture.  I love the music.  I don't love the politicization of my church.

I still regularly attend mass, because I find worshiping God in community with others to be a very spiritually uplifting experience.  I find many of the prayers of the mass beautiful and comforting.

In the last year, I started attending mass at a different parish, because the church I was attending had gotten too far away from the gospel, and too deep into politics.

I was really happy at first with my new church home.  But, for the last two weeks, the sermons have been dangerously close to political.

I've been thinking and thinking about why I am so upset about this, and I finally think I get the root of my distress.

Sometimes it feels like Jesus message is too hard to deliver, so the message becomes about a political position rather than the teachings of Jesus.

I'm a real fan of Pope Francis, and I think he is on target with his emphasis on serving the poor and forgotten.  When I read the gospels, that seems to be what Jesus was all about.

When I listen to a sermon that demonizes tolerance and chooses to focus on a singular political issue, that speaker is abdicating responsibility to challenge his affluent suburban population to give up some of their excess to make life easier for the less fortunate.

I know that I am guilty of having more than I need, just like many Americans.  I try to be generous, but I'm skeptical of many charitable organizations actually giving my money to the needy, so I try to be judicious in my giving.

I'm VERY comfortable with my tax dollars helping the less fortunate.  That is like a great big bonus for me, in that I can help the poor without having to do anything extra.

I hear many self-designated Christians speak very disparagingly about the poor.  I see and hear poor-shaming every day.  The Jesus I read in the gospel wouldn't do that.

I wish I could find a Catholic Church that was satisfied to preach on the gospel - to challenge me to "Love one another as I have loved you" and to "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" and to remind me "The measure you use is the measure you will be given".

Until then, I'll keep going to the church in the neighborhood, and pray for the American church to listen to Pope Francis.

That is the essence of "The Barefoot Catholic".  Because until we clothe and feed the least among us, we are all spiritually barefoot.