You know how they say that the basis of society is the family, but lately in Western (read: USA) culture, family has been so corrupted and individualism is so revered that people believe the individual is the basis of society and family means any group of people (and sometimes animals) who identify as such.
Yesterday was the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker and also the first day of the Month of Mary. As I reflected on both, I experienced such peace and joy as I saw the Holy Family. An evangelical might say, "You're reflecting on Joseph and Mary, but where's Jesus? Why aren't you thinking about Jesus?" My response would be, "I am thinking about Jesus because where Mary and Joseph are there is Christ."
The Holy Family.
The basis of society: family.
When I was evangelical and something I noticed even moreso today is the very pagan, secular, humanistic focus on the individual. It's "me and Jesus."
They ignore the Holy Family.
They ignore large portions of the Body of Christ (namely Church Triumphant and Church Suffering).
They emphasize individualism and personal experiences.
They shun the word "religion" which is a more perfect term to describe the Christendom that Christ intended in favor of the word "relationship" which is very individualistic and focuses on self and God.
Even confession....in evangelicalism we simply had to say sorry to God in private prayer and it didn't have to be specific. Every night I would pray, "I'm sorry for my sins, but I never felt peace over it." Going to confession removes the individualism, the island unto myselfism because my priest is there. It puts me back into the family model after dealing with the self-centeredness of sin.
Do you ever find that you love your priest more after confession?
Do you ever notice a sense of warmth and love while waiting in the confession line with other brothers and sisters in Catholicism?
That is so profound to me. In evangelicalism there was scrutiny of the individual and whispers behind hands. You "scrubbed up" and presented yourself as sanctified. I used to think standing in line at confession would be an ugly and shameful thing, but Catholics have proven otherwise to me. The joy and familial welcoming, the smiles and handshakes reveal a familial goodness that is overwhelmingly beautiful. It isn't you vs me. It's us.
Everything they seem to accuse the Catholic Church of being pagan actually isn't paganism, but the Christianity that Christ established. And more and more I feel like the evangelicalism they've created is actually more and more pagan-like.