As a Spanish Filipina, one of the most complex elements of life is faith. Faith is not just the Catholic Church. Faith, for me, incorporates relationships, love, and family. My faith is the beating heart of my life. From what gives life, I believe, is my faith in Something larger than the human mind’s comprehension, and therefore, is considered sacred.

My relationship to catholicism is complicated by all the human conditions that I have been raised with: immigration, translation, ethnic shame, and ignorance. But it is a strong relationship. I know no other kinds of relationships other than strong ones. Despite all the destructive and narrow aspects of the human leadership I have experienced in the Church, I nonetheless, still believe in the power of Something larger and I believe in the spirituality of progress and growth.

As a peminist ([Filipina-American feminism or Pinayism]the “f” sound is not found in Filipino dialect and was enforced by the Spanish’s conquest and King Phillip – note the “PH” sound in Phillip), there is an often disruptive relationship between peminism and catholicism. The Philippines is largely Catholic, something like 90% of the Philippines identifies catholic, and there is no divorce either.

If you are Christian, you may be observing Holy Thursday today. This marks the beginning of the holiest time of the year in the Catholic Church. It is a time of solemnity, sacrifice, deep prayer, and observance. It gives way to Easter Sunday, the fireworks of all Holidays for the Catholic. (In addition, I can have movie popcorn again make it at home during Grey’s Anatomy. This sounds trivial, but you have no idea.)

So, for those of you who identify with the Catholic Church and concern over its well-being, here is a link. It’s a survey asking for any Catholic, under the age of 40 to answer questions pertaining to the future of the church and your personal experience. I had much to say, surprise, surprise.

But, I believe in supporting any kind of initiative that tries to gather opinion from the young. I believe that, despite what my experience tells me, the leadership, or at least some of the leadership, cares about what I, a young Catholic woman, thinks. This effort stems from someone in the the D.C area, surprise, surprise, and I encourage all who observe these holy days of the year, to contribute your thoughts to this survey.

In English:

http://www.emergingmodels.org/survey/catholic_diocesan.htm

En Espanol:

http://www.emergingmodels.org/survey/catholic_diocesanSP.htm