Liam, our
seven-year-old, is all about being Catholic. Having recently received his First
Communion, he is coming off a school year where discussion of the sacraments
and Catholicism were front and center most of the time.
Interestingly,
Liam often uses “Catholic” the way many people use the word “Christian,” as a
way to describe a person acting in a compassionate way. The first time I
noticed it was a couple of weeks ago, when he and I were walking to his little
league game. About a half block from the field, we encountered a little girl
who was crying because she couldn’t find her mom. I asked the girl a few
questions and then helped her locate her mother, who had just run to the car to
grab her sunglasses. When we were out of earshot of the little girl, Liam
turned to me.
“Wow,
Mom, that was really Catholic of you,” he said. “That girl stopped crying when
she saw her mom. You helped her to stop crying.”
I
thanked Liam, and wondered if I should address the fact that what I did really
wasn’t specifically Catholic, or even Christian. It was just the right thing to
do — the thing that almost any adult, regardless of their faith, or lack of
faith, would do in a similar circumstance.
But
I didn’t say anything. While helping the girl wasn’t specifically a Catholic
action, it was in its own small way, in keeping with Catholic values. I decided
I had plenty of opportunity to correct Liam for the many other things he says
that really are wrong (most to his little sister or older brother) and I should
to let this one go.
But
in the next few weeks, I noticed “Catholic: The Adjective” cropping up quite a
bit in Liam’s day-to-day speech.
“Jamie,
thanks for sharing your chips with me. That’s very Catholic of you.”
“That
cartoon has people fighting. It doesn’t seem very Catholic.”
“Mrs.
Doerr smiles all the time. She is really Catholic.”
Every
time I hear Liam saying something like this, it’s jarring. On one hand, I feel
that Liam is exactly right. TV shows with violence aren’t in keeping with
Catholic values, but sharing and smiling are. If Liam could grow up associating
being a Catholic with how people should be acting in their day-to-day life,
Catholicism will have done its job. Without understanding what he’s saying,
Liam is right to assert that to be Catholic should be synonymous with being
very good. Being a good Catholic so much bigger than just noting the rules that
make Catholicism different than other Christian religions. Too often, when I
hear someone described as “very Catholic” or “a good Catholic” it relates to
only one thing— the many children in the family. If we truly look at the
teachings of the Catholic church, however — teachings on poverty and social
justice along with Humane Vitae — we find that being “very Catholic” can look a
lot of different ways, but all of them will somehow involve reaching out to
others.
The
thing I don’t want for Liam, though, is for him to grow up thinking that
Catholics have cornered the market on the truth. While right now, due to his
Catholic school and Catholic extended family, he has very limited experience
with non-Catholics, we are working on broadening his horizons. I went to a
funeral of a friend’s grandmother a few days ago, and left the order of worship
on the table.
“Christ
Episcopal Church,” he read, sounding out Episcopal syllable by syllable. He
paused. “Do people who are Episcopal believe in God?”
I
laughed, thinking of the service, where the only thing different than the
Catholic Mass seemed to be that we knelt to receive Communion. It was a good
opportunity to teach Liam about the many Christian faiths. This led to a
discussion about the many Orthodox Jews in our neighborhood and how, while they
do not believe Jesus is the messiah, they and we share the same belief in God.
That
night, when I was tucking Liam in bed, we said prayers together. He had a long
list — the school secretary who has cancer, his great uncles, his previous
foster sister, and Bill, who was finishing his eighth grade report cards that
night. After Liam finished and I kissed him goodnight, he smiled at me in the
darkness.
“I
love being Catholic,” he said. “Everything about it is right. Not that the
other religions are wrong. But I love being Catholic.”
I
closed the door, feeling that Liam put into words my own belief about
Catholicism. There’s a piece of the truth here. And saying there is truth here
does not diminish the truth that can be found in other religions. But this is
what I have. And like, Liam, this is what I love.