A Day of Penance

Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales
Photo from Wikipilipinas
 
His Eminence, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales of the Archdiocese of Manila has declared August 26 as a “Day of Penance.” At first, I thought it’s related to the recent controversy regarding members of the Catholic hierarchy who were caught accepting money from gambling proceeds courtesy of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office even though the Church publicly condemns any form of gambling. Nut no, it’s intended to atone for “the sins committed against God’s majesty” when the Cultural Center of the Philippines allowed an art exhibit deemed offensive to Christendom. I haven’t seen it but the exhibit purportedly included an image of Jesus with a wooden penis glued on His face.

Losing My Religion

 
When people ask me for my religious affiliation, they become a little surprise when I tell them that I’m a Catholic. I don’t blame them. I don’t go to church. I don’t believe that Catholicism is the only true religion as the church teaches. I believe in reincarnation. I believe the bible is literature organized to sell Christianity rather than the word of God. Worst of all, I don’t believe in heaven or hell.

I went to a Catholic school in the Philippines for 8 years. When I was in high school, it was obligatory that we go to confession every first Thursday of the month to cleanse us of sins we weren’t aware of until the religion teacher told us.