My Life: April 2006 Archives

Only one in five Catholics attends Mass. One guy comments, "I don't think you're going to die and go to heaven and hear, 'Frank, you didn't go to church for 15 years.'" Hmmm: Why not? If you can't spend regular time listening to the Gospel being preached, worshipping and meeting together, and participating in the Eucharist, what makes you think you have enough of a relationship with the Lord for Him to receive you into heaven? That's a little like not spending time with your wife for 15 years and expecting to have much of a marriage left.

Another said he "avoids the heavy-handed pronouncements from the pulpit that he says turn off today's Catholics." Not that I'm saying this is right, but when was the last time you heard a "heavy-handed pronouncement" from the pulpit? (I suspect he is speaking metaphorically, i.e., pronouncements from the Church itself, not necessary in the parish on Sunday.)

I have a personal prayer request to ask of you.

I was laid off — together with 45% of the company — two months ago, and I have been looking for a job ever since. I have had 14 years' of experience doing what I do (embedded software development engineer) in my industry (telecommunications), which unfortunately tends to narrow my scope. There aren't many job opportunities in the telecom industry in this area, and I've gotten virtually no bites from the rest of the embedded world, probably because of my narrow range of experience. If this continues in this vein I will have to either relocate (which I am strongly averse to doing) or change careers (which not only will be hard to figure out how to do, but will likely bring in much less money, which I may or may not be able to live off of with my lifestyle). I have heard some frightening stories from my industry; one of my peers was reduced to working at Lowe's because he couldn't find a job.

So, pray for a job, pray for peace, pray for discernment. And who knows, maybe the Lord is calling me to the religious life. That's something I have to consider. Where, I have no clue.