Being Catholic

Being Catholic is not easy,

Especially when it comes to talking about it,

Especially when we are called to cut through

The incense and the brocade vestments

To the inner mysteries:

Virgin birth, resurrection of the body, life after death—

Not to mention the trinity,

Not to mention Mother Angelica,

Not to mention the Borgia popes,

Not to mention the parishes where the priests keep concubines,

Not to mention how the style and structure of the church

Is struggling maintain the Holy Roman Empire.

Not to mention Torquemada,

Not to mention Galileo.

And,

Not to mention how th Eucharist, Holy Communion,

Is not, after all, cannibalism. 

Yep,

Being Catholic is not easy.

--June 23, 2013