Cradle Catholic

Before I go on... let me give you a bit of my pedigree...

I come from a long line of Catholics. My parents came to Canada and when I was born I was baptized Catholic. I went to a Catholic elementary school. My mom took us to Church every Sunday, and we did extra devotions during Lent and Advent like the Stations of the Cross and the Rosary. We had an Advent Wreath at home. I celebrated all of the sacraments at the appropriate times.

When I went to UBC, I went to Church every Sunday, even if it was a 30 minute bus ride (one way). I got involved as a lector. When I moved off campus, I went to weekday Masses as well. I moved back to my home-town in the mid 1990s and was elected to Parish Council and took a lead on the Liturgy Committee. I was a lector. I attended the charismatic prayer group. I went to weekday Mass. I helped plan all the liturgical seasons and was heavily involved in the Triduum and Christmas celebrations.

I attended the Diocesan Lay Formation program, a 2 year program to educate the laity in the Catholic faith. It only whetted my appetite for more. In 2000, I studied in Edmonton for a Master of Divinity and four years later I became a Pastoral Associate in a parish in my home diocese. The Catholic Church was my life.

My Catholic pedigree is immaculate. I never strayed from the faith. In fact, I could never understand those people who only came at Christmas and Easter. I could not understand those people who left the Catholic Church to attend another denomination. I could not understand what made people stop going to Christianity entirely. I could not understand... until it happened to me.

Now I understand. I stand on the other side of the fence and I see it clearly. I walked away from a Church that I loved. I walked away because... we were no longer a match. I suppose that's the clearest way to put it. I still love scripture. I still love building bridges between scripture and our lives today. I still love the rich symbolism embodied in the Catholic faith. But there are far more things which... just don't fit anymore.

And so a new chapter begins...