This post at Amy Welborn’s blog and the comments, and links, are making my head spin, as I am just beginning to read more about this, but I’m taking note here because I’ll want my teen to read all of this at some point. (Especially the comments about holiness, about the crosses we are called to bear and the current trend to de-emphasize this call, learning from the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, reading the writings of the saints, etc.)

My interest is simply that we belong to a Charismatic Catholic group, but I am still unsure as to why we are here. Certainly I see the Fruits of the Holy Spirit in our friends, and that is the primary reason we joined — I see much good in the daily sharing and encouragement to live truly Christian lives, in the help extended to those less fortunate, the focus on prayer and Scripture reading, etc. But I get discouraged when the people we talk to seem to take Catholicism for granted. One member, for instance, told our discussion group that Christ’s Presence in the Eucharist, and hence in our bodies after we receive Him in Holy Communion, is only “good for 30 minutes” and after that, “He’s gone”! I had to blink twice and catch my breath when she said that. A friend who’s considering converting to the Catholic Church was with us! I am ashamed to admit, I did not say anything save for a weak “Really?” with an incredulous look on my face, hoping I’d conveyed enough of my sense of disbelief, for fear of confrontation and looking like a know-it-all. I have not figured out how to approach this person to correct her misconception (apparently passed on by a dear, devout aunt!). I DON’T know that I’m really the person to correct her. But more and more I am bothered by the fact that many people around us don’t know much about the Catholic faith, and worse, don’t seem to have any genuine interest in learning more. That we have been badly catechized in our youth is apparent (yes, including yours truly), yet why do we seem to be one of the few who are distressed by this? How scary that is for our youth! Yes, yes, yes, I know that God calls all of us in His time, in His way, and sometimes the best thing to do is trust and pray. But I feel that we should be doing more in the here and now….

I believe that as Catholics we ARE called to evangelize. It is our duty. But I wonder, how do we evangelize, when our own understanding of the Faith is shallow and superficial? What is worse, availing ourselves of the Sacraments without a true understanding of why these Sacraments were given to us, or dismissing the Sacraments as “merely rituals” and therefore unnecessary to our lives as Christians?

Religious Illiteracy: Ignorance a Growing Problem