Q is for Questions

Often times our culture has painted "religious" persons as being brainwashed, uneducated and unable to think for themselves.  Religion and tradition are seen as outdated and insignificant to current times.  Even within Christianity, Protestant Christians often label themselves as "progressive", or "mainstream", advertising their pastors with several university degrees, and their new revelations relating to today's issues.  When we think of Catholic Christians we tend to immediately picture a little old lady kneeling and praying her rosary in the front row of the pews, sustained entirely by the faith that she learned from her parents and grandparents.  The truth is, this could not be further from the truth.

Although a simple faith is definitely a gift, it is not how most of today's young Catholics have come to know Jesus.  In public schools we are taught to question everything, God, science, our professors and even our parents.  Distaste for authority has led many sheep astray, but for many of us, asking questions is what has brought us home. 

Being a cradle catholic myself, I have often taken my religion for granted.  It was a part of me that I never actually tried to understand.  It was not until college when my faith was challenged however, that I began asking questions, and seeking answers.  With this came understanding, revelation, and prayer.  And with prayer, I found faith, God, and the Catholic Church.  

I also find that in most cases when somebody challenges the faith, he or she has not honestly researched the Church's teaching about it.  The Church is constantly being labeled by the media as old-fashioned about contraception, cruel about homosexuality, and politically incorrect about abortion.  Unfortunately, those who fight the Church on these issues are the ones with the least understanding on them.  If we all took the time to ask the right questions and seek out the proper resources, we would know that the Church stands for nothing other than Love in all of these issues. 

Asking questions might not stand out as the most feminine of all actions.   Nevertheless, I truly feel that it is by asking questions that women (and men) begin to seek the truth, and find a deeper understanding of who we are and who God wants us to be.  Our faith is so rich, so beautiful, and so deep, that we could spend our lifetime learning new things about it.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek...
...to be understood as to understand.