Presumptuous Danger

I was able to attend a wedding over the weekend.

It was the first catholic wedding I have ever attended. I don't really have a problem with Catholics. They're supposed to be on the same team anyway. I do have a problem with unnecessary practices though. And something about catholic churches just feels so weird to me. For example:


This is St. Joseph's Cathedral. It looks innocent from the outside.




Inside the cathedral are painted windows such as this.



There are also things like holy water in the cathedral.



Except there was no holy water to be found



Perhaps most famous we have the confessional room



The problem, as I realized the day before this wedding, is that I tend to cast judgment prematurely. I mistakenly assume that I this church is simply another church that is into organized religion. Which is something I hate. I mean look at this picture:

doesn't that just scream creepy? How can one find Jesus when those things are looking over them?

But this simply illustrated my problem. There are people that love Jesus with all of their heart that go to this church (despite the scary sculptures and the non existent holy water). There is genuine life change that happens in the walls of confession. Yet here I was making light of it all.

I felt humbled (again). I felt ashamed (again). I get so agitated when people underestimate me and my capability and yet here I was doing the same thing to the church. How inconsistent.

I started to think about what Jesus did about judgment. My conclusion became clear when I thought that time and time again, whether Jesus was gentle with non-believers, or honest with wannabe-believers, it's evident that Jesus' judgment is always rooted in love. He is compassionate for those who don't have a relationship with Him because it's important for people to know that God is more than just following rules. He's stern with those who have a relationship with Him because it's also important for people to know that following God is serious business. Yet in focus the entire time is the well being of the other person such that it would lead to reconciliation with God. I, on the other hand, make fun of silly things like catholic tradition simply to make myself feel better about how much I know about "true" Christianity and how clueless they are.

I have a lot to learn.






Oh and I found the holy water.