The Adventures of Catholic Woman

There are times I feel like I am a character in a comic book when it comes to my faith. Like Superman, who is considered the representative of all the positive ideals of America, I feel that people see me like that with regards to my faith – that I am Catholic Woman, fearlessly swooping in and taking care of their Catholic needs until there's a happy ending. That would be fine except for the following:

1. I don't have any superpowers.

2. I don't have a costume.

3. I'm not the positive embodiment of being Catholic.

To explain where my idea of “Catholic Woman” came from: a good number of my everyday friends and acquaintances are not Catholic, so I am called upon to answer questions about Catholicism. Most of these questions are along the lines of “Why do Catholics do/believe (fill in the blank)?” and I'll happily answer those as best I can. In the course of answering the question, there is an assumption that I agree with everything the Church says, when in reality I don't. So the question I face next becomes, “Well if you disagree with it, why are you still Catholic?”

I am still a Catholic – partly out of cultural identity, but also out of a true belief that despite my odds with the Church I still feel that this is where I belong. I believe I can make the Church stronger due to my disagreements than by leaving. However, from what I've gathered from others, is that if I identify as a Catholic, then I must (in their opinions) agree with everything.

Spare me the cape and tights, and while I'd like the superpowers I don't think they'll be coming anytime soon. I'm not “Catholic Woman” fearlessly flying into the ecumenical problems of the world and offering up the “right” Catholic answer to those in need. The beauty of the Catholic Church is that it is universal; there is no one embodiment. We are many, we are wide-ranging in looks and temperaments. Our faith, however it may come and whatever its strengths, is greater than any superhero ever could be.

Sarah Albertini-Bond fully confesses to not being a superhero but thinks superpowers would be cool and is not sure she could pull off a cape.

An Imperfect But Interesting Path To God

Years ago one of my uncles made a video in which he asked people whether my grandfather should be be considered for sainthood. The only person on the video who said that my grandfather shouldn't be a saint was my father -- my grandfather's youngest child. It wasn't that my father didn't love his father, but I think my father wanted to remember his father in his own way, rather than have his father be an inspiration for all time. That project never progressed beyond the video, but it has led me to reflect on the difference between saints and souls this weekend.

Saints are difficult to love. For the most part, the meaning of saints' lives has become intertwined with the statues that represent them -- beautiful but cold to the touch. Although the saints were once alive, full of passions that made them wonderfully human, our collective memory of them has unfairly stripped them of their human behavior. Souls, on the other hand, are our family and friends, the person you know intimately and the person you've never met. As they were in life, in death we still think of them with foibles and idiosyncrasies. Their eternal state is a representation to the lives they lived -- close to God but never quite reaching Him. However, death does not rob those that we pray for on All Souls' Day of their very interesting qualities as it does with saints.

In today's gospel reading we're reminded that Jesus says “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me...” In that line is the core of faith -- that no matter what wandering path we take, so long as we make our way to Jesus we will be accepted. No pulling, no guilt trip -- faith is voluntary and unconditionally accepting on both sides.

The path to God might be less direct if you're not a saint. On All Souls' Day I pray for the souls who are not yet quite with God but had, I hope, an interesting journey wandering around seeing what life had to offer before departing this earth. I don't know if my grandfather ever wanted to be a saint. I know I much prefer being a soul than a saint -- flawed, imperfect, interesting but still in the end with God.

Sarah Albertini-Bond lives in Virginia Beach, VA, with her husband and is very sure that no matter what, she'll never be considered for sainthood.