Who am I?

Hello and welcome! You might be wondering about my religious credentials.

I am a cradle Catholic, meaning that I was born into the Faith and raised a Catholic from birth.  As we travel along together, I'll write further about what keeps me holding on and what frustrates me, and I'd like to hear your thoughts as well.

About me . . .  I grew up in the 1960s and ‘70s as part of a large Roman Catholic,  French- Canadian family.  My grandfather, Wilfred, born in 1906, was the youngest of thirteen, and I had an uncle who was a Catholic priest. So you can see I come by my Catholicism honestly.

I have 16+ years of Catholic education behind me - elementary school, high school, college, and postgraduate school. I married a Catholic and raised my children in the Faith.

In more than 35 years at our parish, I taught religious education (CCD* - as it was known back then), was a member of the Adult Faith Formation (RCIA*) Team, and a regular Eucharistic minister. I served on the Parish Council and was a member of a number of parish committees.

More recently after being widowed and returning to live with my mother, I have been assisting at funerals and baptisms at my childhood parish. I also have a masters degree in Spiritual Direction from a local Catholic college. I have invested a large portion of my adult life into trying to understand and live the Faith.

All that said, I may be one of the few remaining practicing Catholics in my extended family.  I know that my children and other members of their generation do not consider themselves Catholic.  

Although most members of my family have drifted away from their Catholic faith, something still keeps me hanging on, not wanting to give up hope.  But I have reservations too. A “Catholic on the Edge” is where I try to work out that tension.

*CCD - shorthand for “religious education” for children and young people in the Catholic Church.

**RCIA - Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults - the process by which adults learn about the faith and become Catholic.