"I am proud and happy to be a Catholic."

[Doan Quan]

Are you happy and proud to be a Catholic?

There are 2 phrases in the question above. I can not reply right away. Yes, I took sometimes last week to think and paused for moments to meditate on that.

Here is an experience I got last week.
At my school, the children are different in religion. Some of them are Buddhists, some are Muslims, some are Hindus, and maybe someone else I don't know. I guessed for they don't eat pork or beef. And I didn't care about that any at all. I keep my habit of making the sign of the Cross and saying prayer before meals. Some children looked at me with strange eyes.
- What are you doing?
- I'm saying my prayer before my lunch.
-Why do you need to do that?
- Well, how can I explain for you to understand? I just say Thank you to those who give me this lunch. Cause if no them, we have no lunch. You see. Our lunch is so tasty and yummy. I want to say Thank you. That's so.
- Can I do that?
- Of course.

Then, they paused a moment and said : "Thank you for giving me this food. Enjoy your lunch as much as us enjoy our lunch."

We smiled.
In the afternoon, a teacher came to me : "You know, I'm a Catholic also."

Telling this experience, I want to say that I'm happy to be a Catholic. I can not do the great things but sometimes, I feel relieved to learn that my family or my friends are out of danger through my prayers and reverse. Sometimes, I fall to be hopeless, but never I feel hopeless totally. There is someone invisible always by my side. Sometimes, how impotence I feel before the pain of the world. But, after watching the song above, I see that : Why not I light up my candle? Pray for the world to light up their candles. Hold them tight and light up the sky.

Now, I can not feel proud to be a Catholic, for there are still too many people suffering around me. Oh God, let me feel this pride when I'm in rest in your arms after a life of constantly giving.

Thank you for your sharing and listening to my sharing.
-----------------------------------------------------
I try to write in English but I think there are still many mistakes in my writing. Please feel free to correct them. It's very helpful to me