It has been almost three years since I have decided to start a personal blog, and only just now am I making a public declaration of my faith in Christ on the internet. I was born and raised Catholic but it has not been until relatively recently that I have begun to reflect on what God has done for my family and I and what he continues to do for every one of us. It is also recently that I have begun to really wonder why I have been so hesitant to speak publicly about my faith and why I seemed to think it was necessary to separate my religious beliefs from my personal and professional interests.

One of the events detailed in the Gospel according to Mark is how Jesus tells Peter that he will deny him later when the authorities and crowds begin to ask and accuse him of associating with himself. Peter replies that he would never do any such thing, but we don’t have to read much further to see that as always. Jesus was correct. I am no theologian, so I will spare everyone a long-winded interpretation of the scripture, but what I really want to convey is that I feel that I have been tested and failed (will most likely continue as well) many times in my own life just as Peter was.

It is no secret that modern western culture has a not so high opinion of Christianity, and that those who are considered to be “religious” can also be assumed to be ignorant or uneducated. Christianity seems to have become the safe topic of many jokes and it is openly accepted, some would say encouraged, to disparage the Church of Christ and his followers. This is really not surprising and one can find many examples laid out by Jesus himself saying that this will always be the case. I am blessed to not live in a country that openly commits genocide against Christians and it is a damn shame that there are countries today who do so against any group of people. But just because we are not being pulled from our homes and executed in the streets does not mean we are safe and sound.

As I mentioned earlier, I was born and raised in a Catholic family and spent the first 18 years of my life going to church every Sunday, and being involved with my parish as well. After leaving my home town and going off to college it only took about two years for me to sort of “lose interest” in my faith and stop going to church entirely. During this time, I always retained my Catholic upbringing as a part of me, but never was it something I was eager to share with others.

In the world of young professionals, it can be seen as odd or even “lame” to be labeled as a Christian, at least that was how I felt at the time. A fear of being marked as some kind of strange fundamentalist or boring prude was honestly (and still can be) a fear of mine. So, whenever the topic of religion or Christianity would come up, I would never openly deny or denounce God but I was never really in a hurry to back him up either. I was afraid of my own standing with other humans being lowered due to my association with Jesus, hmm where have we heard this before?

By the Grace of God, my wife and I returned to the church about three years into our marriage, and my life is surely better for it. My faith journey has and will definitely continue to be a long winding road and I am now reaching the point where I no longer feel the need to separate it from other aspects of my life. I will now conclude this post with the referenced scripture.

Mark 14:66-72 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition Peter Denies Jesus

66 And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the maids of the high priest came; 67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him, and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway. 69 And the maid saw him, and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 But again he denied it. And after a little while again the bystanders said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.” 71 But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” 72 And immediately the cock crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.