LETTER: A flicker of hope
Religion is a funny thing. There’s an old saying, “There’s enough religion in the world to make people hate each other, but not enough to make them love each other.”
This popped into my head last Sunday as I sat in a crowded pew at Immaculate Conception Church in Washington. As you may know, there have been many changes going on in the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese. Church buildings closing. Parish consolidations, and yes, the sex abuse scandal. But, what I saw was amazing. I was sitting in a “crowded” pew. That usually doesn’t happen unless it’s Christmas or Easter. Yes, it was likely crowded because Mass schedules have changed. There are fewer Masses and the times many of us are used to attending Mass have changed as well. As a rule, people don’t like change and where religion is concerned, we are steeped in our habits and traditions. Ask any Catholic who has ever had to give up his or her end seat. And now, we’re being asked to either attend a different Mass that we’ve been going to for years and/or attend that Mass at a church that isn’t “our church.”
But what I saw was a community who came together to worship God, regardless of the brick and mortar location. And what I witnessed was life and love and laughter. I saw people I haven’t seen in ages. We reconnected in that brief hour and it was a joyful sight! I left church that Sunday with a lighter heart and a flicker of hope that one day, despite the changes, there WILL be enough religion to make us all love one another – regardless of where we worship and what time we worship.
Lynn Manning
Washington