24 July 2019

Jessica Mesman on Good Lessons from Lapsed Catholics

"Whether I'm reading, watching a movie, listening to music, or looking at visual art, I've found I can usually spot artists who bear the stamp of the religious imagination, even if they aren't directly engaging with religion in their work. It goes like this: An old Patty Griffin song comes up in my music rotation, sparking a moment of recognition in me, and on a hunch I Google her and find out her dad was discerning to be a Benedictine monk before he married her mom.

"It could be that I, who have been so deeply formed by my Roman Catholic upbringing, am naturally drawn to work by those with a similar sensibility. The sensibility is there, even when the belief is not.

"What exactly is that sensibility? It's hard to define with precision. It's nothing so obvious as announcing, 'I was raised Catholic.”'Sometimes it's a subtle stylistic choice. Sometimes it's a way of seeing the world. . . ."

In a recent commentary, writer Jessica Mesman reflected on some of the lessons we can learn from lapsed Catholics.

To access her complete essay, please visit:

U.S. Catholic: Why lapsed Catholics can be our best teachers (June 2019)

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