Three of us decided to eat deli sandwiches for dinner a few nights ago, and we went to a local market together. The deli crew had begun to clean up for the evening, but they agreed to our orders and we were very grateful. A few minutes later, with sandwiches, drinks, and chips in hand, we stepped up to the checkout counter.
The checkout guy noticed the softball jersey that my granddaughter was wearing and started up a conversation, quickly learning that she was on the traveling team. Evidently his niece was also on a traveling team, or had been recently, and he had spent a lot of time at her practice and games. Up until now I hadn’t paid too much attention to the conversation, but then he mentioned that his niece played for a local Catholic high school. We were familiar with the school and in fact we know and like the team chaplain very much, so we mentioned him by name hoping to stimulate the conversation further. His response was a surprise, because he charged into a short monolog about how he “used to be Catholic” but was now “a born again Christian”, that he “was no longer guilty”, and that we “shouldn’t feel guilty either”. Needless to say, we passed on the paper or plastic options and chose to hand carry our food to the car.
I’ll admit that I’ve only been Catholic for a few years, but I don’t feel guilty. Why are Catholics supposed to feel guilty? What are Catholics supposed to feel guilty about? As a new Catholic am I supposed to feel guilty about something, or do I get a pass on the guilt options?
The checkout guy noticed the softball jersey that my granddaughter was wearing and started up a conversation, quickly learning that she was on the traveling team. Evidently his niece was also on a traveling team, or had been recently, and he had spent a lot of time at her practice and games. Up until now I hadn’t paid too much attention to the conversation, but then he mentioned that his niece played for a local Catholic high school. We were familiar with the school and in fact we know and like the team chaplain very much, so we mentioned him by name hoping to stimulate the conversation further. His response was a surprise, because he charged into a short monolog about how he “used to be Catholic” but was now “a born again Christian”, that he “was no longer guilty”, and that we “shouldn’t feel guilty either”. Needless to say, we passed on the paper or plastic options and chose to hand carry our food to the car.
I’ll admit that I’ve only been Catholic for a few years, but I don’t feel guilty. Why are Catholics supposed to feel guilty? What are Catholics supposed to feel guilty about? As a new Catholic am I supposed to feel guilty about something, or do I get a pass on the guilt options?
No comments:
Post a Comment