Justifiably Irreverent

Okay, so anyone who knows me knows that when the Holy Spirit was giving out the gift of reverence well... I was in the mens room at that time. Really folks, we all have areas of growth. Here's the deal. Our faith is a little peculiar and down right funny at times. And having been in the seminary I was blessed to see a whole other side of the Church. And since we are a family, I feel it okay to poke fun at my family; the Church. Of course not everyone is okay with my position, but hey I won't judge them as being uptight. So this leads into the whole, I can pick on and poke fun of my family, but no one else can. The no one else is the non catholics and even the non practicing Catholics. Why? Because they aren't involved and aren't part of the family. And while it is okay for me to be critical of the Church and some of the goings on that have been well, going on, it is not okay, for those outside the family. Why? because often times they sound ignorant. Case in point. I attended a service at an Episcopal Church and the homily happened to be on Mary and some comment on the shrine in Orlando. And while I talk about Mary and wonder if she was hot, or refer to her as the BVM (Blessed Virgin Mary for those who didn't know), it is not acceptable for non Catholics to talk about Our Mamma. I do appreciate the BVM as I totally get who she is, what she has done, and all the theology that goes behind the Immaculate Conception dogma. And I believe it. But really, I can also imagine Mary, yelling (in a New York jewish accent): Jeeeesus, dinner's ready. Jeeesus, they don't have anymore wine. Here, here, do what my boy tells you. Jeeesus, you can't just let them run out of wine, do something for your mutha." And.. I digress. So after the sermon, the pastor and I engaged in dialogue. He asked my opinion on his sermon. I said it was tacky. And that it serves churches better if they just focus on themselves and not try to bad talk other denominations. So if I seem irreverent at times, remember that I'm justified because we family and we can talk, fight, poke fun at each other... but no one else can.