January 4th - My Religion

January 4th
I am grateful for my religion which is of the Catholic faith. I have learn so much from my religion and live my life trying to be the best I can be personally from the lessons I have learnt from either the bible, from the Gospel reading which are read in Church and the Homily, which is the sermon given by the Priest during mass at church.

I have been criticised by many people in the past when they realised I am Catholic. I sometimes got asked 'are you a bible basher?' or told 'you believe in a fairytale'. I understand that the whole 'bible bashing' thing is said jokingly sometimes, but at the same time I felt that people had a biased opinion of who I personally am. There are a minority of people who do base all their conversations on their Catholic view and even quote bible references (sometimes incorrectly) when possible. I, myself, am not like that at all. Even people thinking that I believe in a fairytale. They may think its a fairytale, but for me, there are lessons in this 'fairytale' that speak something joyous to me and make me a better person, and makes me feel good about life. Ok, defensive rant over!

I will selfishly say that my religion is for me, for my personal gain in life. It just happens to be that many others follow the religion too and are learning it for themselves too. I used my religion to make sense of the world around me, understand how to treat people with respect and dignity and help those who are down to pick themselves up. I don't necessarily have to preach the bible to you to help you, but the examples I have learnt from the bible and the Priest at church on Sundays, give me modern ideas on how to help people, give them useful and uplifting advice, to give people hope who are feeling hopeless; making sure not to give them false hope because that would just be pointless for both myself and the other person.

I have read and understood the good that Jesus did, those 2000 or whatever years ago, and look up to it and would like to imitate those examples to friends and even strangers. Just like how a amateur soccer player looks up to a soccer star and tries to develop the skills and techniques which that star player has through constant practice and training, and then brings those skills into a game.

I will honestly say, I have learnt how the Catholic faith can positively effect my life only recently. I had been absolutely confused and down right fearfully scared of God, Jesus and the faith, from so many teachings and lessons that have come from either priests or fellow Catholics. This is because in the past, things were either not explained to me properly or were used as a tactic to be a good and obedient boy to a grown up. I have understood this now and understanding the faith anew. I have also found a sense of community at a Parish which I have recently been attending frequently, and feel welcomed, as the Catholic religion has taught me.

Even thought my religion was a bit rocky and unclear for the last 25 years of so, I am grateful for the parts that were clear and made sense to me, either back then or now, and glad that I have this religion to follow.
Amen :)