Why I Remain Catholic And Will Be Catholic Forever?

This blog has absolutely no intention whatsoever to belittle or disparage any religious belief other than mine because I fully respect religious freedom and will not tolerate religious bigotry. However, I deeply abhor those bigots who tend to put down other faiths just to elevate their new found belief's stature.  That's hypocrisy and crab mentality at its worst since it's like building a monument atop a foundation of skeletons or a white sepulchre.

My strong Catholic foundation can be traced to the fact that my father and uncles grew up under the care of a Catholic priest whom I fondly called "Lolo Pari" during my early childhood. Since my parents were financially incapable then to support my secondary education, my short stay in a

minor seminary did strengthen my faith.which was bolstered further my seven years of being another Catholic priest's factotum. Of course, this second Catholic priest helped me complete my secondary education. Thus, these two Catholic priests will forever be etched in my mind until the end of my life.

Looking back to the time prior to the advent of Ecumenism in the Catholic Church, our town has a quaint live and let live tradition. Our parish church is adjacent to the Aglipayan Church and there's complete harmony among us, town's people devoid of any animosity or fanaticism whatsoever. During Holy Week religious activities, then Catholics held processions during Holy Thurrsday and Good Friday. In our town, Catholics would start the procession first during Holy Thursday to be followed by the Aglipayans. During Good Friday, the Aglipayans would be the first with the Catholics last. As the people congregated prior to and after the procession, family members and friends of the two churches would mingle and banter with each other.

Although our family started and we, the children, grew up as Catholics, inevitably some of the family got converted to other religions which our parents. In my elementary grades period, my father and I were good friends of our town's Aglipayan parish priest. After classes, I oftentimes whiled away the time at the Aglipayan convent, reading magazines and books lying around or taking a nap. Even when I became a seminarian, I still found time to visit my Aglipayan priest-friend exchanging pleasantries. We both respected our religious dfferences and never attempted to proselytize each other. Of course, my sister and brother who joined other faiths tried to proselytize me directly/indirectly but they failed.  

Lately, many missionaries would visit our apartment and try to indoctrinate me and my wife. All such efforts were rebuffed especially my wife, who is more deeply religious than me as she's a faithful member of two church organizations in our former parish in Cubao where we lived for nineteen years before moving to Marikina City. With the strong influence of two Catholic priests in my life, no other religious sect or latest craze of so-called non-sectarian fellowships can ever persuade me to give up my Catholic faith.

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