My story goes back 74 years when my parents and their six children attended All Saints Church in Taylorsville, Ky.
There was no Catholic elementary school in Taylorsville so we attended the public grade school and high school. We received our Catholic education at home, saying morning prayers and joining together as a family to say the rosary every night.
This is what is meant to be Catholic — living your faith at home with your family and praying together.
We were ingrained with our Catholic faith, which also meant always helping someone else. We believed that if we missed Mass on Sunday, we could die and go to hell on Tuesday.
This time of my childhood was during World War II. We lived in the country. A lady up the road had a cow that needed to be milked, and she needed help because her son had been drafted and left to serve in the war.
My dad told her not to worry about the cow; his son Tony (me) would be glad to help her. Every morning and evening, after finishing my own chores, I walked up the road and milked her cow until her son came home. This is what it meant to be Catholic — helping your neighbor in need.
At that time, All Saints Church in Taylorsville and St. Francis Xavier Church in Mt. Washington were missions of St. Michael Church in Fairfield, Ky. All Saints had Mass every Sunday morning, except the third Sunday of each month; that third Sunday was the only Sunday that St. Francis Xavier was able to have Mass.
Because there was no Mass at All Saints on this third Sunday, my family drove to early Mass at St. Michael. After Mass at Fairfield, I would ride with the priest to St. Francis Xavier in Mt. Washington, serve the Mass, and then the priest would drop me off in Taylorsville on his way back to Fairfield.
Two or three years ago, parishioners gathered at parishes throughout the archdiocese to consider the question, Why Catholic?
From my background and perspective, that answer is simple. Dad knocked on the door every Sunday and said to get up, get dressed and get in the car. We are all going to church. This is what it meant to be Catholic — making sure we made it to church despite distances and inconveniences.
Going to Mass, praying as a family, helping your neighbor — this is what it means to be Catholic then and now. I continue these practices and go to church every week.
Tony Shields is a parishioner of St. John Paul II Church.
In this column, “A View from the Pew,” writers are invited to share their personal experiences and observations as Catholics. We would love to hear about your “view from the pew.” Please send articles to Sal Della Bella, sdellabella@archlou.org, or 212 East College Street, PO Box 1073 Louisville, Ky., 40201, along with your name, parish, contact information and a digital photo, if possible. (For photos, a headshot is preferred.)
