News flash! The world does not understand our Catholic faith. They don’t understand our devotion to the Eucharist, praying the Rosary, veneration of Mary, celibate priests, chastity until marriage or any number of sacred traditions. They struggle with our acceptance of male-only clergy, the idea of a pope and the “stubbornness” of our Church to not adapt to modern trends.
They are confused when we are patriotic Americans yet also provide compassionate care for anyone coming to our country for any reason. We really mess with their heads when we advocate for babies in the womb yet oppose capital punishment for the murderer, hoping for redemption at the final hour.
We describe our “domestic church” and believe that parents are the best and first teachers, and they have no idea why we don’t hand children off to the state for all education. We can also support schools and teachers, both in the public and parochial systems, and advocate for their best working environments.
We can believe that we are “wonderfully and fearfully made” and “knitted together in our mothers’ wombs” but provide courage and support to those who don’t fit into old-school norms. We love our friends but can also love our enemies. We can turn the other cheek and occasionally chuck a few tables in righteous anger. It is not either/or for us Catholics, but both/and. They don’t understand us. At all.
We believe that a baby is a baby from the moment of conception and can grieve the loss of even one so small yet pray with grandma when she is nearing her death and experiencing agony and realize that both are lives worth living to the full. They seriously don’t get us.
We believe that suffering is not all bad and can be used for good. So weird.
This November, we have the Issue 1 dilemma to face. Do we stick to our “D” or “R” and vote because “we won’t go back” or “our bodies, our choice,” or do we do the absurd, countercultural thing and vote Catholic? They don’t understand how a women’s advocate could not vote for a “women’s freedom” issue. I tell them – it’s just a Catholic thing!
Kathleen Q. Lutter, MD, is an OB/GYN and a member of Sunbury St. John Neumann Church.