I Just Got Back From Catholic Mass...And It Felt Like A Republican Fundraiser.

[Patiod]

55. I've seen that in action

I've left the Church and become a Quaker. Having said that, my parents were very, very involved in their parish.

When my widowed dad, who I had been living with and taking care of died last year, the priests, (even the worst of the rightwingers) were wonderful. I have very little family, and they stepped up. I was sitting alone at Hospice all day for a week and a half (my husband was working days at the time), and so many men from my dad's church showed up and sat with me. Because of all the priests and deacons and the Bishop he was friends with, my dad probably got Last Rites at least four or five times. They made sure I was supported (I have a lot of good friends, but people assume you want to be with "family" at a time like this, and even your best friends don't always realize that family might not show up.)

After he died, all sorts of people came out of the woodwork to help - the deacon's wife helped me plan the funeral, the church secretary offered to take my dad's elderly dog (I still have the little guy), the church's Bereavement Committee showed up with food - they were great. People called to check up on me even though they knew I was a Heathen. (I should mention that my own Quaker Meeting sent a sizable group to the funeral, who all sat through the whole Mass, even with all that yapping that was going on!)

I suffused the whole funeral with Matthew 25 - the Gospel reading, "Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers" song - you name it. My dad was big on volunteering and service and an avid Democrat (all of which I mentioned in the eulogy), so it was definitely what he would have wanted.

So that's another component that the "just leave" contingent doesn't understand - the importance of community, and how good the church ("organized religion&quot can be about supporting those who are involved in their parish community.