Articles and reflections from a fallen-away, but now returned, Catholic.
Articles and reflections from a fallen-away, but now returned, Catholic.
What is a Prodigal Parishioner?
What is a prodigal parishioner?
Alas, there are many of us. Take myself, for example. I’m a cradle Catholic, but for reasons I may (or may not) reveal in future posts, I slowly drifted away from the Church, bit by bit, until one day I daftly thought to myself … I’m spiritual but not religious! (As if that’s even a thing. But anyway.)
I spent the next decade wandering. I believed in God, and loved Christ with all my soul (as much as I could, such the state my soul was in), but I didn’t think he was the Son of God. I mean, seriously. Isn’t that a bit stretching it in today’s post-modern world of science and technology. (Hmm … a world where a boy can say he’s a girl yet miracles from God can’t be believed? Whatever.)
So. I was wandering. Desperately. I studied as many faiths and philosophies as I could. I obtained a degree in Interfaith Theology. I went through yoga teacher training, shamanic training, and … well, all other sorts of dangerous practices. In the end, I was so empty and aching I just couldn’t stand it. All through this experience, I was antagonistic toward the Church and Christianity in general, and was not at all open to the possibility that the Trinity might actually be a real thing. Um, nope. Not for me. But I still loved God. And I still admired Jesus.
Finally I couldn’t stand it. I was too empty spiritually to tolerate my own inner beinghood. In deep meditation and prayer, I begged God to give me the Truth. To enlighten me. To grace me with the wisdom of Solomon.
And He did. I won’t tell you how, because I may write about that amazing experience later. But I will say that my resistance to Christ as the Son of God was so completely obliterated that it left me in shock. And awe. Much to my astonishment and initial dismay (which instantly turned to immense joy), I was back in the arms of Mother Church, with the mantle of our Blessed Lady enveloping me, in the full faith of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Prodigal Parishioner.
Yep. That’s me. I like to write, so maybe you’d like to read what I write. If not, that’s fine—after all, your journey is yours. I hope I can help you along your path, and I pray that your journey leads you exactly where God wills you to be. Ask Him for the Truth, for the wisdom of Solomon. Ask in all authenticity and faith, and check out what happens. You’ll be astonished.
Ask God for the Truth, for the wisdom of Solomon. Ask in all authenticity and faith, and check out what happens. You’ll be astonished. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matt 7:7).
In closing, just a bit about me. My name is Jenny duBay, and I’m an author, freelance writer for various Catholic publications, a domestic abuse survivor-turned-advocate, and founder of Create Soul Space (https://www.createsoulspace.net and http://www.createsoulspace.org). Yes, I have a degree in “Interfaith Theology,” such as it is. But thankfully I also have a degree in Catholic theology, having studied through Catholic Distance University and Holy Apostles College and Seminary. I’m currently engaged in graduate studies to obtain MA program in Pastoral Studies with a Concentration on Spiritual Direction, at Holy Apostles College and Seminary.
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“I am trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I am ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who ways he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. Let us not come with any patronising nonsense about Him being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)
