Named after a Nun
Sean Walsh is one of the new writers for SQPN. In this article, he presents himself to you.
I was Catholic before I was ever born. My mother was in the convent, or Nunnery as we call it, for two years after high school. Then God came to her and said her destiny lay in another direction. I am sure he thanked her for wanting to serve in this capacity, but she was needed elsewhere. Her name was Sister Sean Patrick and upon leaving the Nunnery she promised the head Nun that if she ever had a son, she would name him Sean Patrick. I have yet to meet another man that can say that.
I went through 12 years of Catholic school in Philadelphia, PA. The first thing I ever learned in school was how to stand up straight, in a straight line with my mouth shut. I grew up in a strict Irish Catholic household. At the age of 40 I still get asked by my parents if I went to church on Sunday. I cannot drive pass a church in my car without making the sign of the cross.
I was married in the Catholic church and the marriage was annulled in the catholic church. I was laid off from my job and it was around this time when I thought God had abandoned me 8 years ago. I stopped going to church and searched for alternate religions to fill the void. It took a while to realize that God did not abandon me, but I abandoned him.
Then one day I discovered in the search engine of iTunes: SQPN. I spent more time listening to Father Roderick and all the other wonderful shows than going to church. It was a start. Where else other than SPQN can you be a Catholic, a science fiction geek and a computer nerd all at the same time? Slowly I started going back to church. I had found in SQPN a community of people that were Catholics, confused Catholics and non Catholics that had many questions. It was this community that filled the void in me that my church had lacked. I am thankful that I found them.
What a great time it is to be alive. The Internet, new media, Skype, podcasts and blogs. People all over the world can communicate instantly to one another and share their stories and opinions. We are no longer individual churches, parishes or archdioceses’. We are one community connected instantly to help share our experiences, knowledge and concerns.
Catholicism is a journey that we must continuously walk. I am not here to lead anyone on their journey. I am here to travel the journey of discovery in our faith with you. I hope to learn as much from my colleagues and readers as you can learn from me. I look forwarding to hearing from all of you in the future.