As I mentioned last week, I'm overdue for a discussion on the good things about being Catholic. It's really easy for me and for other people, both inside and outside of the faith, to criticize it. Obviously, there must be something that keeps Catholics filling the Church coffers every week, and here are some of my own reasons:

• I love the reverence of being in Church. In other Protestant services I've been to, I'm always surprised by how quiet the church isn't prior to the beginning of the service. People mill about, talking to each other loudly and socializing. Maybe my church is just less social, but I like being able to come into the church, find my seat and do my praying or thinking in quiet. I like reaching for the Holy Water and genuflecting before I take my seat. I think it's kind of neat to kneel down on the kneeler and feel kind of by myself even with lots of other people around. I like having the option of lighting a prayer candle if I'm worried about somebody or something.
• Catholics are widely criticized for our use of statues, and rosaries, and "things" in general, but what's the harm? I personally find saying a rosary therapeutic sometimes -- like I'm doing something constructive with my worrying besides just stewing. Some people think that by praying to the Virgin Mary or to a specific saint is idolatry or false. I disagree. I think all prayers go to the same place in the end, and it doesn't matter whom you're directing your prayers towards.
• I love all the rituals and traditions. I like the symbolism of Holy Water, the opportunity to receive forgiveness or be given a clean slate from communion or confession. I like the reflex I have to make the sign of the cross before and after saying a prayer. When I went to church in college, we sat in chairs. I missed the kneelers and had to break my habit of automatically kneeling at certain points.
• I love that the religion is so old, and the traditions are so ingrained in its followers. I wish there were still masses said in Latin sometimes, or that women still had to wear head coverings.
• Strangely enough, I like being part of a faith that can be so misunderstood. Many Protestants think that Catholics don't use the Bible, or that our interpretation of it is way off. Some are shocked to find out that Catholics have the same set of readings that Protestants have every day. When my mom hears comments about how Catholics don't use a Bible she says: "What do they think we use, a TV Guide?"
• I love that Catholicism is accepting of other faiths, religions, and denominations. I really believe that we are tolerant.
• While I sometimes disagree with the Vatican's proclamations, I respect the Pope and his authority. Some religions criticize us for having a hierarchy in our religion, but I think it's important to have somebody to lead a faith, to give its followers some guidelines and direction.
• I sometimes take pride in being part of a religion that has been at some points a little persecuted. If Hitler had been around much longer, many more Catholics would have died. Priests were already starting to disappear, and contrary to what papal critics say about the inaction of the pope during WWII, there were many, many cases where nuns, priests, and bishops made enormous risks and sacrifices to help the Jews.
• A Catholic mass is going to be the same wherever you go. There's comfort in that.

So there's a brief overview. Sometimes I'm afraid that I like being Catholic for the sake of belonging to something, but I'm not too worried. Am I the only one who enjoys all the wacky things Catholics do?

CLAIRE

There are lots of serious things that I like about the Church, like confession, the ideals of helping your fellow man, the thoughts of rebirth, new life and forgiveness. I love the Pope, but honestly, a lot of it is because he's Polish (like me), lived an amazing life and blessed me when I was an infant and he made a tour through Chicago. I love that Catholics can participate in the church: my mom was an usher, my Dad is a lector and a Eucharistic minister, and my brother and I were altar servers (I was really good at doing the incense.)

This is probably going to come across as being really flip, but something I love is that the Church really CAN be dusty and old-fashioned. I realized it when I was in Italy. Every museum or church you go into, you see bits and pieces of the saints and examples of how the church can be, well, sort of cultish. In Assisi, I saw St. Francis' chains and in Siena I saw St. Catherine's head (which my mom bought postcards of.) In churches in Venice, churchgoers would dedicate little effigies of parts of the body in thanks for healing their different ailments.

There are different prayers for everything, different saints you can talk to for help. I know lots of modern Catholics who carry medals of St. Christopher for traveling. Lots of Catholics who pray to St. Jude for lost causes and St. Anthony for lost items. St. Clare, by the way, is the patron saint of television (really! It's because on her deathbed, she was too ill to go to church, so she saw a vision of Mass on her wall.) My Dad prays to his guardian angel on a regular basis.

A lot of people object to the kitchsy religious icons they sell in tchochke shops, like glow in the dark Virgin Marys, but I don't think it's that big a deal. After all, just as many people buy them for serious reasons as for jokey reasons. What's the difference? They're both pretty silly but at the same time, I think even people who buy these religious kitschy items have some sort of affection for what they're buying.

I guess what I'm saying is that while all this stuff seems so archaic, I like that there is always a bit of the church that you can put in your pocket (literally or not.) The different patron saints, the different prayers, the icons and reliquaries. It sort of reminds you of how old the church really is, makes you think of what's holy and what's not, and basically, it just makes the religion really interesting.

Hey, Mary. Speaking of the sacraments (which I mentioned in the first paragraph, but what the hell), have you gone through all of yours? What do you remember about them?

MARY

I liked what you said about noticing things about Catholicism when you travel. When I was in high school, my Spanish class got to go to Spain, which is of course, about as Catholic as Italy. It just kind of happened that most of us on the trip were Catholic, so every time we went to a church or cathedral, all of us Catholics went nuts buying religious paraphernalia for our parents...fancy rosaries with beads made of crushed rose petals, and holy water, and things like that. It was amazing to walk into those incredible cathedrals and feel some ownership of them. And wouldn't you agree that Catholic religious art trumps all other art (at least in Europe)?

So, the sacraments. I made it through baptism, reconciliation, and communion. Still awaiting confirmation and marriage, which is as far as I'm likely to get - I ever make it to marriage. I could always learn how to anoint the sick, though.

But my memories are fond. I was a very pious little second grader. I had a little shrine set up in my room that I regularly prayed in front of. This is the period when I wanted to be a nun, and when there were all those Virgin Mary sightings in Lourdes and Yugoslavia, and I was convinced that if I was holy enough, she would appear to me. I used to pray for it.

Where did I go astray?

As for Reconciliation (aka Confession) I just remember being very nervous and concerned that I'd say all the little prayers wrong, or that my sins would be so enormous that I'd be cast away (lord knows what kinds of sins a second grader could commit) from the Church. I remember one girl came out of the confessional (a green light signaled you could go in) and said that when the priest blessed her, putting his hand on her head caused a static shock. I don't really remember much of mine, or what my penance was. Probably one Hail Mary and three Our Fathers or something.

First Communion was much cooler. We made our own felt banners that we hung on the pews where our families sat. Us CCD kids had to meet up with the Catholic school kids for this too. I just remember being excited for the after church party, and all the gifts, especially getting my first rosary. I was also excited about the pretty white dress and veil. How good and pure I was then. And how disappointed I was when I finally got to taste the paper like Communion host.

Oh, and sorry to burst your alter girl bubble (hey, when did your church start allowing girl alter servers? Was it a big deal there too when it happened?), but I'm so glad I never went to a church with incense. I had to go to a Greek Orthodox service once for a religion class, and the incense was overpowering.

Allergically yours,
B.V.M

CLAIRE Well, my church always allowed altar server girls in my memory (meaning that I was too young, or just not paying attention, when they first let the girl go in.) Sometimes I loved being an altar server. I loved the robe and belt and cross necklace, lighting the candles, carrying the big cross, ringing the bells and generally having responsibilities during the mass. Sometimes I couldn't stand having to go there early, though, that could be a pain. One time, I was serving with a girl and two of the servers carried these big candle sconces. It was the end of the mass and we were going back down the aisle for the processional. I looked down for a second and when I looked back up, her head was on fire. Actually, her bangs had caught ablaze in the candle. My mom ran up (why her and not somebody else, I don't know) to pat out the flames, and it was just really funny looking because she (my mom) was wearing a big fur coat at the time.) The last sacrament I had was Confirmation, and that was eighth grade. I remember going through all the procedures and classes for First Communion and Reconciliation, but honestly, I don't remember that much about Confirmation. I went to a very small Catholic grade school, and confirmation was in about seventh or eighth grade, and by that time, we were too cool for religious school. All I remember really was how important it was to pick out a neat name. Not your usual "Catherine" or "Elizabeth" or (sorry) "Mary." We picked confirmation names like "Blaise," "Germaine," "Dominic." Mine? Gabriel. Mine was 'cool' because it was a.) not a saint's name; an angel's name b.) a boy's name. Yep. That's me. Claire Buren Gabriel Zulkey. Peace be with you.

So Mary. What's a Catholic to think about this whole war thing?

C.B.G.Z.

MARY

Oh, lord, the war. Let me do some research and get back to you on that. Next week.

I have a confession: while I was snowbound in Colorado, I drank two cups of hot chocolate with marshmallows before I realized I was eating chocolate. And I ate one chocolate/mint Andes. Time to pray for forgiveness.