growing up catholic..

I had thought long and hard about this one not really knowing how to put my thoughts into words but here I go.
First of all, let me start by saying, "Happy Easter".
I won't be going to my brother's this year for Easter dinner because I am just getting over being sick. I don't want to pass any of my residual germs over to him and his family.
Even though there is a million little kids that come over to do their "annual Easter egg hunt" you would never know it. All the kids are corralled either outside or in the basement leaving the adults for a little grown up conversation. The kids have a blast being with their friends and cousins playing games and having fun.The Easter ritual of dressing up and going to Easter mass is over and done with in the morning. I think this is a good thing that as a family they all go to church.
I do not think I need to go into all that has been happening within the Catholic church in regards to all the nasty shenaningans regarding pervert priests. If there were ever a sin to be called a "black sin" this is the worst one. I also have a huge problem with the short sighted sexist patriarchal nonsense.
FYI Mary Magdalene was a woman of independent means. Her family was a wealthy merchant family. This blasphemous rumor of her being a prostitute was made up by Pope Gregory the great (or rather the misogynist) in the sixth century. He needed to defile her as a woman because during this time the valentinus christian sect were gaining strength. Valentinus Christians had women priests.
Another thing that aggravates me is this crap that women are told that they are not fit to be priests. The shortsighted reasoning of this is that women were not Jesus' apostles. This is untrue, Jesus had many female followers and disciples.
It was Mary Magdalene who found the resurrected Jesus. All the disciples were scared stiff and in hiding. She bravely told all the disciples of what she saw without fear and retribution from the soldiers. Doesn't that tell you something? hmmmm?
Oh yeah, another thing. Yes, I did read the "DaVinci Code". I thought it was brilliant work of fiction and because of that book I did my own research starting with the Gnostic gospels.

Regardless, this peice is NOT to "diss" the Catholic church. All organized religion has it's issues especially when men find themselves in power. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

If anything, I find myself embracing the Catholic church, but not for the reasons you might think.

The priests I have dealt with as a kid were wonderful caring priests. Alot of them did out reach programs for inner city kids to keep them on track. I met quite of few of them having to deal with grieving families and the priests having to do last rites when I worked in a nursing home as a teenager. They have to deal with alot of depressing crap at all hours.
Catholics have saints which other Christian groups do not recognize. Apart from religion this is more of a cultural thing. I remember going to Saint Anthony's and Saint Joseph's feast day in the north end. My father would look forward to all the wonderful pastries that the bakeries made especially for these events.
(Hey, I'm a saint too, remember!?) I keep my Saint Francis statue out to protect my pets. I wear my fisherman's cross with the shark just about everyday as a good luck charm.
I would joke and bond with my school chums about days in CCD classes wondering if the nuns were bald under their habits and if they were bald down there too. We would wonder and speculate of what hosts were really made of as well.
My ethnic background is a bit sketchy so I look at "being Catholic" as something concrete and tangible as far as a cultural bond thing for me. This includes: the good, the bad, the ugly and the funny shit too!