Tuesday, May 06, 2008

The beauty and challenge of being Catholic

[Via Amy] The latest Speaking of Faith with interviews with nine lay Catholics. This was prepared in the lead-up to Pope Benedict's visit to the US. A few cuts that didn't make it into the final program are also available on the webpage. It's downloading to my iTunes right now and I look forward to listening to it.

This bit is awesome: a map of all the respondents (not just the nine whose selections were included), with a link to what they wrote in!

Some are "traditional", some "liberal", some "spiritual.", some young, some old. It's actually quite interesting and moving to hear such a wide segment of people speak of their faith, however confusingly and hesitatingly at times. What's interesting is that the overwhelming number of respondents say that they "practice daily." Here's a sample of folks who responded from my geographical vicinity:

Leah Mickens, from an extraordinary-form parish in Atlanta.

Peter Solet, from a family of atheists, a recent convernt, in Marshall NC.

Jeff Murray, an artist in Decatur GA, who likens being Catholic to being in love.

Jesse Benedict, of Buford GA, writes about how his Catholicism lead him away from the Church to being spiritual.

Sarah Sheldon
, of Rosewell GA, writes that Catholicism is not our final home, but a foretaste of what is to come. Beautiful!

Stacy Flood, of of Alpharetta GA. Has no problem with birth control or women priests, but finds something deep and compelling in the Eucharist.

Carol Balaun of Cleveland GA, who was in a convent, left, married a former priest and raised a family. She believes God is a Mother, that women should be priests, and that all Christians should be united, and that the next Pope should be a married lay person. (!)

Carl Dishneau of Jonesboro GA wishes that Catholics were less apathetic, and were committed to evangelization.

The interactive map section continues to get responses. So have at it!
What started out as a simple query for a few voices prompted us to tell our stories differently — on air and online. With the hundreds of responses we've received, we wanted to share all the stories of people talking about their Catholic faith. And why not give you greater context: geographically, demographically, visually, and aurally?

Our dynamic map continues to grow as people continue to respond. Read and listen to their stories, and see the developing make-up of the Catholic Church — from the U.S. to Chile to Northern Ireland — from a first-person perspective.

Particular themes started to develop as we read each person's response: stories of the Eucharist, conversion, hierarchichal struggles, and so on. Sort through the five broad topic areas and let us know what you think:

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What a fabulous summary and a culling of personal stories. We received so many responses that we're slowly updating them and adding to the mix. Thanks for the mention; it's greatly appreciated.