Simple Yesterdays And Harder Todays

When Catholic Was Just Catholic

When I was a child about half the kids in our public school were Catholic.
We never knew there were conservative and liberal Catholics.
We wore shorts to our overcrowded Church full of tourists every summer.

My sister wrote grace for us.
“Thank you for this food. Thank you for everything nice. Amen.”
‘Nice’ ended our prayer before Amen because Kathleen was not thankful for bad things.
Well, what kind of prayer do you expect from a girl six or seven years old in the 1980’s?

We went to Mass on the weekends and catechism class. I still remember most of our teachers even though we had a new one every year, just like school. I will not bore you with the details. It was just how it was.
As we got older, we volunteered there, where most kids from school and Saint Mary’s Church did not.
We became Ushers, which switched names to Hospitality Ministers.
Then my twin and I became lectors.

Not too long after Conformation we were substitute Catechism teachers for third graders, in the “crying room” as it was called then.
They were short on space until they renovated the church. At age 17 we taught first graders.
I knew nothing of liberal and conservative Catholics. That would have to wait for college and another post.