Religious Background, Essay Example

I was born and have been raised in a Catholic faith. My family has always been highly religious and my maternal grandfather actually became anEucharist about thirty years ago. I don’t remember a single instance in which he failed to wake up forthe 8 o’clock morning mass. I also went to a Catholic school named St. Charles School in Staten Island, New York. I decided to maintain my close connection with the Catholic faith by choosing to continue my high school education at St. Peters Boys High School that my father also attended. In doing so, I only followed the family tradition of attending Catholic schools at both elementary and high school levels.

Like my maternal grandfather, my maternal grandmother was also a firm believer in God and religion. I would often wonder how she is always in cheerful mood and she would reply, “God taught me, James.” Thus, both my parents come from Catholic background and it is naturally the faith I am most knowledgeable about, also due to my own personal relationship with it. My religious mantra is GOD which stands for Guidance, Obedience, and Direction. I admit I might have lost some of the disciple towards religious obligations over time such as attending mass but my faith has only strengthened over time. As a young child, I would often celebrate religious festivals such as Christmas and Easter due to presents but now I understand the real purpose behind these festivals and as a result, have become more selfless. But I do remember that even as a child, most of my prayers to God were for others instead of about personal wishes. Now even my actions are motivated by the desire to make this world a better place.

Both my paternal and maternal grandparents have their origins in a small town in Ireland from where my last name ‘Keane’ comes from. My paternal and maternal grandparents came to the U.S. in search of better lives and decided to stay here and start families. As is common in many Catholic families, my father comes from a big family with eight brothers and sisters. Both of my parents were raised Catholic, thus, it was easy for them to raise their children in the same faith. Fortunately, time has only strengthened the role of religion in my family and my parents as well as my siblings continue to maintain strong relationship with the faith they grew up in.

We are the outcomes of our experiences and Catholic faith has played a major role in shaping who I am today. First of all, I am very conscious of the impact of my actions on others and one of the major purposes of my life is to make this world a better place, especially for the less fortunate. While I believe Bible is a great guidance for life, I also understand the importance of having an open mind and realize that times do not remain same and the values and the state of the society continues to change. As a result, religions have to evolve, too in order to better meet the needs of the society. In my opinion, essence is more important than the formal rules and Catholic faith is not about following strict rules only but more about understanding the essence of Christianity which among other things include love, care, forgiveness, justice, equality, and unity.

Some of the challenges facing the Catholic faith have been due to the fact that we Christians have become too fixated on rules and have forgotten what it really means to be a Christian. This is why I Pope Francis has been a breath of fresh air and greatly inspires me because he is trying to guide Catholics back to the basics. Pope Francis is exactly the kind of leader Christians need and when a Pope inspires even non-Christians, it reminds us of the real beauty of Christianity which has universal appeal. Thus, one of my priorities is to focus more on the real essence of Christianity rather than rules.

I believe it is important to understand other faiths, even different sects of Christianity because it helps us better understand our own faith. While devotion to my own religion doesn’t leave me with as much time as I would desire, I do read books on other religions and even hold conversations from followers of other faiths whenever I have the opportunity. These reading experiences and conversations have helped me enhance my perspectives and become a better communicator when interacting with people from different faith backgrounds.

I have a list of objectives I hope this course will help me achieve. First of all, I hope this course will help me further improve my understanding of the Catholic faith, especially its history. I also hope to learn more about other faiths and their history. When we learn about other faiths, we are in a better position to compare and contract Catholic faith with others. Similarly, we also come to know about the similarities between different faiths which can help us promote peace and unity among the residents of this small world. I also hope this course will force me to question my own beliefs and assumptions because our faith strengthens when we really understand what we believe in rather than blindly believing what we have been taught by our parents and other family members.