I have taught CCD for the last nine years. CCD stands for “Confraternity of Catholic Doctrine”. It’s where Catholic kids who go to public school get religion class and prepare for the sacraments of First Communion and Confirmation. My time as a catechist has patterned after the religious education of my two children— I’ve taught as they’ve gone through their own processes of getting confirmed.
I’ve led a charmed Catholic life. There are lots of stories in pop culture about rough, criminal, and/ or guilt-laden Catholic experiences. Mine have been a joy. Nuns on guitars, priests promoting social justice, and ministries that provide real help to real people. Tolerance, love, service.
This weekend has been like that— charmed. Yesterday, my little baby Caleb got confirmed by a bishop in the western suburbs. I did the second reading, an account of Pentecost, when the apostles stopped hiding, and went forth, speaking in every tongue, seeking to serve and be understood.
This was the church where I married their mother. We divorced years later in the courthouse nearby
Then today I went to Mass at my new parish, St. Sabina, and heard a homily by Cornell West, who spoke of justice.
I am Catholic, and remain.