the ultimate CL/BEC reflection

It dawned on me at Mass recently how deviant it must have been to be a Christian back in the day (like, uh, the days when Christ was alive).

Catholicism today is very boring. Dogma is cut-and-dried, and our clergy discourage mysticism. Maybe it's because I have a pagan boyfriend, but I find it unfair that I shouldn't believe in local folklore just because I'm Catholic. While I'd rather not have any direct experience with ghosts and monsters, it's certainly not a leap of faith to feel them hanging about.

But imagine the leaps we go through as Catholics. The first ones, in particular.

While fishing, Some Guy arrives and invites you to be a roadie on a world tour of preaching. Turns water into wine, makes crippled people walk, opens the sky on various occasions. Then he tells you he will die for everyone's sake. And for his despedida? He tells you he's turned the chow into his flesh and blood (your very own Sweeney Todd moment). And you'll be doing that same miracle until you meet again.

CR-RAZY! Ang the best dun, naniniwala ka! Bakit? Siguro kasi ang galing niya magpainom o magpakain ng sanlibong tao. O siguro hindi mo alam, pero basta. (Ganun naman talaga ang faith diba? Basta.) Pero grabe, kung ganyan ang mga kabarkada mo ngayon, hindi ka talaga palalabasin sa bahay ng mga magulang mo.

The point is, why doesn't the Church like magic and voodoo? Because God is supposed to be the sole source of all magic and voodoo. But duuuude. There's a serious lack of mind-blowing spiritual events around here (I mean, on-par with the water-into-wine bit) so it's not surprising that people think God's power has manifested itself in a wooden statue instead of a measly priest.