DC Metro Moms

Pope Benedict, From the Outside Looking In

I have been watching Pope Benedict's visit with great interest since he flew into town on Tuesday.  My interest had multiple levels. My immediate interest was on the security situation, since many of my colleagues were deeply involved in the operations... but to tell you the truth, my deepest interest is that of an outsider.  Not an outsider of a different faith, but of a different faith tradition.

You see, I'm a Lutheran.

If you have ever read my regular blog, you know that I talk about my faith from time to time, and you might even know how much it means to me.

The history of the Reformation is long and rather ugly, and it led to the schism between Rome and the "Protestants" and has forced apart Christians of many faith traditions.  The Reformation sparked wars of long duration and great violence on all fronts... nobody was clean.

Lost Catholic Mom Looking for Direction: Pope, Can you Help?

I found myself glued to the Pope's DC visit this morning while running on the treadmill. I even started to tear up a bit when I heard the familiar hymns. Maybe it was the number of people (46,000) who had flocked here or the perfect April day for the outdoor mass. Whatever it was I raced home to listen to the mass on NPR. The Pope is huge for Catholics, although the Catholic Church has been hit a bit in the past few years, the Pope still is such symbol of hope for me. My own hope of finding God in my changing life--now with young children. 

I was a child raised in the Catholic Church with parents who were noncommittal to the whole thing. They stopped taking me to church in 8th grade. By high school I missed it and found myself back, only going alone. I spent several years trying to decide what I believed and wanted to be a part of. During college, I was Confirmed Catholic and decided to make a go of it. My husband claims to be no religion, though raised in a fairly strict Catholic household agrees it's good for our kids to be raised Catholic and so we baptized them both in the Church.

But now I find myself lost again.