How I was raised.
I’m going to be honest with you. Growing up my religion has been a very important part of my life. I was raised to belief in God by the Roman Catholic church. As a child my family went to church every Sunday to pray, confess our sins and be a little bit closer to God for that one hour a week. My Dad’s side of my family were all Catholics so for me going to church was normal and part of my life. I’ve been Baptised, had my First Communion and Confirmed within the Catholic church.
Some of my fondest memories are spending my Sunday afternoons at church then after at my Granny’s house. The whole family would congregate for the day, when I say the whole family I really mean everyone. My Granny and Granda had 8 kids and most them had a few children of their own too. There was always a feast, sometimes a late afternoon fry up or other times it would be a full Sunday roast with all the trimmings. It was one large dining table, normally around 10-15 people squeezed around. Plus a kids table or a few extra spaces at the breakfast bar set too. The kettle was on every 5 minutes and there was always a special buzz of activity, happiness and love. You can probably imagine why these are some of my happiest memories. It’s memories like those that epitomise my feelings and beliefs today.
My beliefs and religion
So I was raised a Catholic and I’m still a Catholic. Nothing will ever change my faith. I pray regularly and I pride myself on being a nice person. Simple as that. I’m also very lucky that my wife is a Roman Catholic, she has been raised with very similar morals and beliefs to myself. I never knew this when we started dating so it was in no way a choice of mine to fall in love with another Catholic. However, it has certainly made things a lot easier when deciding how to raise our children.
Being a Catholic for us is simple. For both myself and my wife we love God, we love each other and we love others. We try to make the world a better and happier place through our love and kindness. We’ll never advocate hate of another person based on religion, where they were born, skin colour or sexual orientation. We only advocate love, happiness and peace towards all people. This is how we have been raised growing up and this is how we will continue to raise our children. ‘Love thy neighbour’ or ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’. These are simple messages and for me the most basic messages to be decent human beings.
I’m sure many non believers also have these simple beliefs and morals but don’t believe in God. Either way, we aren’t here to judge or make anyone feel like they should believe how we believe. That’s not our choice to make. All I can do is be a nice human, treat all people equally and believe what I believe.
My religion
Alba’s christening
Religion and our life today
We don’t go to church as much as we probably should and I don’t talk to God as much as I should. In spite of this I still feel very close to God and my religion. I know that no matter how far I drift from God he will always accept me back with open arms. I wear a cross around my neck and have a cross tattoo on my arm that I got on my stag do in Krakow. These are constant reminders for me that my faith is so important and still a massive part of me.
We have baptised our first child Alba and will most likely baptise Arran too. By doing this we believe it gives them the best start in life and brings them closer to God. We will continue to raise our children to have the same beliefs as us. By this I don’t necessarily mean to grow up to be Catholics like us, although of course I’d rather they did choose that path. I mean to respect, love and not hate others. To be forgiving and caring without any judgement of other people’s choices or beliefs. They are still both far too young to understand religion, it’s often too complex for me to even understand. So all in good time we’ll explain the reasons why we believe, why we go to church and the reasons we celebrate Easter and Christmas. After that it’s down to them, we can only guide not influence.
My religion
Blessed
So I hope that’s given you a little more insight into my life and my beliefs. I’m a Roman Catholic who believes in God and all God’s works. I use to go to church every Sunday but more recently have stopped going as much. This doesn’t make me any less of a believer or any less religious, maybe just slightly more distant from God right now. Hopefully, I will find time and the willingness to get back to church very soon. I also like to have my own beliefs. They are simply to be a decent human and to love one another. I really hope this shines through in my personality.
Thanks for reading