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To the extent that parents in a mixed-faith marriage are joined at the heart, and to the extent that that the love of their parents, in cooperation with the love of God, brought these children into existence, why can't we talk about God to them in terms of love?
Here's what I mean when I say I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Let me preface this, however, with a word about belief.
To the extent that atheism is in vogue right now (I wouldn't know how to measure that), the explanation may lie in a certain mental numbness that is a function of both speed and violence in our world.
My most formative religious experience took place at age 23 within the framework of
the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. This is a guided retreat of 30 days intended to help one understand how to discover God's will, and to be given the freedom to follow that will wherever it leads.
I'm not a woman, so I can't speak from personal experience. Nor have I lived "down through the ages," so that puts another limit on my experience.
I think of prayer as privileged conversations and communications with God. It is an opening up before God of what is on my mind and in my heart.
I remember saying, "Sorry" once on a tennis court when I unintentionally put the ball well out of reach of my opponent during a pre-game warm up, and he replied: "Okay, but how about your purpose of amendment?" He was putting an irreverent spin on a familiar phrase that Catholics associate with the practice of confession, the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You have to be sorry for your sins, of course, but you also have to incorporate into your confession a "firm purpose" to amend your ways in the future.
This is a particularly personal question for me since I'll turn 80 on May 25th.
Am I satisfied? Yes, but not completely. I doubt that I'll ever be (or should be) completely satisfied.
Am I grateful? Most assuredly so. I'm grateful for the gift of life, faith, family, friends, health, the opportunities I had to develop intellectually and spiritually. I'm grateful for so many opportunities to serve, especially service to others in need. I'm grateful for the gift of priesthood in the Jesuit order.
I believe that the good life--the really good life--is a live lived generously in the service of others. I fall short of that goal, but keep trying to move toward it (a goal without a goal line) and that motion forward is, in a sense, a measure of satisfaction.
Doubt does not disqualify one from the community of believers; it simply serves to certify a person's membership in the human race. All humans, including all believers, have doubts.
Christians do well from time to time to recall the man who said to Jesus (Mark 24:9), "Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief." This might be called the most Christian of all prayers. Jesus had just assured this man that his son, who was ill, would be alright if he, the father, just had faith. I have faith, I do believe, he replied, but I'm carrying with my faith a good measure of unbelief. I need help. As do we all.
Mother Teresa's experience was not what you would call classic atheism. She didn't deny the existence of God. It seems to me that her question, shared by many of us at different times, was not: does God exist? She struggled with a different question: does God exist right here with me at this time? It is an experience of darkness. It can be unimaginably frightening; it can lead to despair.
Doubt is an ongoing dimension of religious faith. Grace, another word for God's love, is stronger than the deepest doubt.
What Islam Really Says About Violence, Rights and Other Religions
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