I've been raised as a Catholic all my life. My faith is an integral part of who I am and my worldview is based off of the doctrine and teachings that formed the landscape of my childhood during the formative years of my life. I attempt to live each day of my life following the teachings of Jesus and serving my God in any way possible.
But...I'm also a millennial.
People my age just aren't as religious or devout as they were when my parents or grandparents were growing up. While my church is still open, the school closed years ago, and the CCD program is dwindling and scrambling. It doesn't seem to be a large part of people's lives anymore. I've shocked more than just a few of the people I've met in college when I interject into their atheist ramblings to say "Well actually, I'm a Catholic, a practicing Catholic."
Some of my closest friends do not follow a religion or believe in God. But I love them and they love me and they respect my dedication to my faith and that's all I can ask for. When I mention my faith, it's not to convert or to preach, but to explain who I am and how I think and what I believe.
Sometimes it's hard to be religious in this society. Not that I find it overly difficult to live a life for God, but that people try to make it difficult for me. I'll answer questions about my faith to the best of my ability all day long, but I refused to be questioned. Especially when, as I've stated, I'm not attempting to convert anyone. I'm just trying to live my life the only way I know how, and not hurting anyone in the process. I pray to God to give me the strength to always defend His name, praying that He can show me how to marry being a Millennial to being a Christian, and so far, as with everything else, He has come through for me.
And of course, this isn't to say that I agree with everything that the church says, or that radical Christians say.
Because again, I'm a millennial. And I'm a liberal, and a feminist, and I'm sure there are other labels that could be stuck on me as well.
I support gay marriage and the LGBTQ+ community. Who am I to tell someone that their love is not the same as mine?
While I may be pro-life personally, I'm pro-choice politically. Who am I to tell another woman what to do with her body?
Sex before marriage is OK in my book, as long as you love that person, even if you may not love them in the future. Who am I to dictate how a person feels, what the fluidity of love must be confined to?
I don't condemn sex workers (and hey, neither did Jesus); I condemn how others treat them. Who am I to tell them they can only put food on their table a certain way?
Birth control is not the work of the devil, and in fact has other health benefits for those who take it besides preventing pregnancy. Who am I to involve myself in another person's health decisions?
I don't think people who aren't Christian are going to Hell, and I don't tell them that their beliefs are wrong. Who am I to pass judgment on someone?
Who am I to dictate what another person should or should not do? I am no one.
But God is the great I Am.
The most important rule I've ever read in the Bible has nothing to do with homosexuality or abortion or divorce or mixed fabrics or any other crazy thing people dig up to prove one side or the other.
The most important rule is the last Commandment Jesus gave to us before He was crucified, to love one another as He had loved us.
That's the rule I live my life by. That's how I serve God. That's what I will teach my children.
When I was little, my family would say a bedtime prayer before my brother and I went to bed. I forget most of it now, but one line has always stuck with me. We asked God to help us grow to become "good, kind, strong, loving people."
No matter what my political and personal views are on different matters, I still pray to be a good, kind, strong, loving person.
Who am I to deliver judgement?
No one.
