Ramblings of a Recovering Trad

Perhaps at no time was the chasm between me and the conservative leaning Catholic community deeper than during the run-up to the 2008 election.  To listen to some people, Barack Obama was a demon who escaped Hell and if elected, would be the catalyst for the Apocalypse.  The hot mic moment when he was caught lamenting those clinging to guns and God might have sent his opponents into a tailspin, but he actually echoed the sentiments of many Catholics and Christians who believed that faith was more than fervently praying the Rosary in Latin and applying the discipline to one's self. The dreaded "social justice Catholics" of which I was a lifelong member, were something to be exorcised in the effort to have a "smaller, more pure Church." Now, while Jesus never said "go and sin some more" He was very clear that He didn't come to call the righteous.  "Those who are well do not need a physician, but those who are sick."  Also, there is nothing

Before I pick up where I left off, I feel compelled to mention that not everyone I encountered in the TLM community was a misogynist and/or hypocrite.  My closest friends were just like me: lapsed Catholics who reverted with a vengeance, as if by immersing ourselves in the Extraordinary Form we could somehow make appropriate reparations for our prior negligences.  I also remind the reader, as well as myself, that I am sinner who takes responsibility for every word I've said or written in criticism or judgment of how others live their lives and their faith.  I'm not ashamed to admit I was wrong, and I've been wrong many times, about a lot.  Faith that is not a journey from one place of understanding to another is not faith, it's opinion.   One of the most vile exchanges I had with one of the misogynists happened on Facebook.  I had reluctantly accepted this person's friend request.  I would soon come to regret it.  It was shortly after George Zimmerman murdered Trayv

The yearning to belong is something I can remember as far back as kindergarten.  I never felt normal, because according to the world's definition, I've never been.  And probably nowhere have I been more keenly aware that one thing (me) is not like the rest (them) than in my Church. That has never been more true than it is now.    If the presidency of Donald Trump and the ensuing pandemic have highlighted one thing, it's that the Catholic Church, like much of America, has its fair share of hypocrites.   I jokingly refer to my journey as one of cradle Catholic to trash to Trad to trash again.  It's irreverent for me to refer to myself, a child loved by God, as trash, but the truth is that there are those folks who'd rather kick me to the curb than make hard choices, face tough questions and have honest dialogue.  It's black or white, wrong or right, and absolutely nothing in between.   If I'm going to be honest, I must admit that I do prefer a more traditional