JE#7
I was raised in a deeply Catholic region in Jalisco Mexico, however my family's relationship to Catholicism varies. I grew up with a entrenched belief that I needed to attend mass every Sunday in our local parroquia and that the reigning Catholic deity in my hometown La Virgen de San Juan was to be revered and honored on her own Holiday in August. This short quote on her via my hometown's Wikipedia article might provide some context:
"It is best known as the home of a small image of the Virgin Mary called Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos or in Nahuatl Cihuapilli, which means “Great Lady.” Since the first major miracle ascribed to her in 1632, she has been venerated especially for cases involving mortal danger. The miracles ascribed to her have made the basilica in which she is found a major tourist attraction, which has shaped the town’s history to this day."
My hometown of San Juan de los Lagos is one of the largest religious pilgrimage sites in Mexico. San Juan is second in pilgrimage to Mexico's City's image of the Virgen de Guadalupe and receives millions of pilgrims every single year. Thus, I grew up in a city of constant devout and dedicated visitors whose Catholicism had made them walk, bike, drive, fly hundreds of miles just to catch a glimpse and ask for a miracle from the image of the virgen. How do I, a San Juan de los Lagos native find my own religion then? I followed all of the Catholic sacraments and attended mass and cathecism for years, attended a strict all girls, Catholic private school until 4th grade; on paper I was groomed to become just a devout as those who visited my hometown every day. What really changed my religious beliefs was my immigration to the United States when i was 10 years old. It allowed me distance from the city, and it was then that I began to see how limiting and contradicting Catholicism was to the person i was becoming.My non practicing Catholicism has not created a border within my family, my mother who was always very critical of the Catholic church as a divorced woman, understood my decision, yet she still urges me to pray and believe. Nowadays, I refer to myself as a cultural Catholic, because there are many traditions, customs and cultural rites that although Catholic, are a part of home. Going back to San Juan I cannot ignore the pilgrims, I cannot ignore that my hometown's economy depends on a religious image. I'm well aware that living in the U.S. allows me the freedom to question these beliefs, and that if my family and hometown community knew of my views they would ostracize me. But perhaps the best part of my story is the contradiction of this distance, looking on San Juan from the U.S. and missing it dearly while still choosing to remain far away.
My hometown of San Juan de los Lagos is one of the largest religious pilgrimage sites in Mexico. San Juan is second in pilgrimage to Mexico's City's image of the Virgen de Guadalupe and receives millions of pilgrims every single year. Thus, I grew up in a city of constant devout and dedicated visitors whose Catholicism had made them walk, bike, drive, fly hundreds of miles just to catch a glimpse and ask for a miracle from the image of the virgen. How do I, a San Juan de los Lagos native find my own religion then? I followed all of the Catholic sacraments and attended mass and cathecism for years, attended a strict all girls, Catholic private school until 4th grade; on paper I was groomed to become just a devout as those who visited my hometown every day. What really changed my religious beliefs was my immigration to the United States when i was 10 years old. It allowed me distance from the city, and it was then that I began to see how limiting and contradicting Catholicism was to the person i was becoming.My non practicing Catholicism has not created a border within my family, my mother who was always very critical of the Catholic church as a divorced woman, understood my decision, yet she still urges me to pray and believe. Nowadays, I refer to myself as a cultural Catholic, because there are many traditions, customs and cultural rites that although Catholic, are a part of home. Going back to San Juan I cannot ignore the pilgrims, I cannot ignore that my hometown's economy depends on a religious image. I'm well aware that living in the U.S. allows me the freedom to question these beliefs, and that if my family and hometown community knew of my views they would ostracize me. But perhaps the best part of my story is the contradiction of this distance, looking on San Juan from the U.S. and missing it dearly while still choosing to remain far away.
No comments:
Post a Comment