Sacred Sundays

All week we do for the world at large;
On Sundays we do for each other
The challenges that we've faced alone,
We discuss and look for symmetry.

Often our conversation turns to morals;
We understand each others positions.
We have a shared biblical vocabulary,
But very different action plans.

We were both brought up submersed
In the same version of the same religion.
Our shared values seem to be a product
Of the religion in which we were raised.

He was Jesuit and Franciscan trained;
I, by Dominican Sisters to seek the truth.
And we both had St. Joseph Sisters
In our most formative early years.

It is true that our earliest indoctrination
Bears fruit throughout our full lives.
Could we ever have found peace together
Without the same early training for our souls?

We were children of The Church,
Born to mothers who only bore us
To help the popes continue to build
Their armies of "Soldiers of Christ."

We have both turned away from our religion
Because of the abuses of their power,
But we know that we would not be the same
Without the grounding in our shared faith.

The gratitude we feel for those
Who taught us our religion
Will never be forgotten,
Though our sorrow remains.

Often there have been others
Offering us their own religions,
But we will never be completely
Free from our past spiritual home.