28/365 Universal Church

Long ago I remember sitting in a high school theology class and the teacher, a convert from the Lutheran Church, said that the most wonderful part about Catholicism, for her, was the universality. How she could go into a church in Paris, or in Seattle, or Mexico City, and it would be the same. Yes, in the language of the people, but the same. She would know what was going on. She could find out ahead of time the readings for the week. Nothing was based on the whim of a preacher deciding what to preach that Sunday. Sameness.

And I thought that was a nice idea. Somewhere in the world, at all times, mass is going on, and it's my denomination's version of it. It is still a nice idea. I just don't think it's so true for me anymore.

I visit my in-laws in southern Illinois and when I attend mass there, I have many moments where my feet want to get up and walk out. More importantly, my heart already has walked out. So I simply do not attend anymore because it was getting to the point that it was detrimental to my faith life. Same with traveling. I used to make a point to find a church and attend mass while I was on the road. But not anymore. I'm so much more likely to leave rolling my eyes and thinking what a waste of time that was instead of being inspired.

Why is this? I think I've found my little corner of Catholicism here in South St. Louis (and in a monastery in Western Missouri) and the universality of Catholicism is important to me not because of the sameness but because the world is a big place. In a big place there can be much diversity. I am part of the church--I am the Church--and knowing that, I can find my way.

This causes me great difficulty sometimes when it comes to ecumenism. I have a hard time saying that I fit into the Catholic Church but others do not. This makes RCIA a difficult place to serve, but a good place nonetheless.