Since the HHS Mandate was foisted upon us, I’ve been told many times that I can be a Christian all I want…as long as I keep it to myself and limit it to worship inside the church building. But is that what it means to be Christian? Yes, worship on Sunday (or daily for those who go to Daily Mass) is part of being Christian. But can we reduce Christianity to that one hour on Sunday (or seven hours a week for the Daily Mass attendee)?

For me being Catholic Christian is what I am at the very heart of my being. Catholicism shapes my thoughts and desires and I seek to live my faith through every moment I am alive; even when I fall short of that goal, the goal remains. Saying that I’m free to worship in the church building on Sunday but not free to live according to the teachings of Christ and His Church is absurd. The whole point of attending Mass and receiving grace in the Sacrament of the Eucharist is to be enabled to bring the light of Christ out from within the gathering and into the world where darkness reigns, for Christ to act upon me and make me into a new creation, to fill me with new life. A participation in His Divine Life. But what I’m hearing from various people is that I should keep that light within the sanctuary, that it has no place out in public where — horrors! — someone might see it!

I don’t demand that others be Catholic Christian. I don’t demand that they talk about atheism in the privacy of their homes but never around me. I listen to atheists preach at me nearly every day of my life. They witness to me, they evangelize me, they try to convert me. I fully expect them to come to my neighborhood, knocking on doors and inviting folks to the local atheist potluck supper and tent meeting any day now. And will I tell them to keep their un-worship to themselves? No! I won’t!

Truth is, I ‘d like to see what kind of party they throw. I might even take a covered dish.