Blog 1

 My mom, Rocio Herrera, is Roman Catholic but it was not until she moved to the United States that she empowered life by her religion. In Mexico, my mom lived with my grandmother who had only carried on traditional practices of Catholicism; this meaning that my mom had been baptized and went to Sunday school for her confirmation, but her practice of the religion did not go any further than that. It was because there was not much religious following done by her own mother that my mom felt there was no need to pursue it either. It was when she decided to move to the United States that she decided to strengthen her religiosity.

In present, my mom believes religion is a part of who she is. For my mom, religion is the belief in the mutual love that exists between her and the divine higher power; “your life is in the hands of God.” When further questioned about what it means for her religion to be passed down to her children, my mom answered that it is important for faith to be displaced on to future generations because it should be a part of one's identity. This blurs the line between identification and religion and questions the directionality between whether religion builds a person or the person builds upon religion and perceives life through their religiosity. Though the Native American religion is far different than those of the Roman Catholics', there is a recurrent theme of whether there really is a difference with ordinary religion and extraordinary religion because one always seems to be leading the other.

Nowadays, my mom attends church and prays regularly. Her portrayal of religion goes beyond the superficiality of being baptized and attending Sunday school. Yearly, she, family and the rest of the Roman Catholic community come together in church to celebrate Ash Wednesday. She describes that as the day when all Roman Catholics have a priest draw a cross on their foreheads. From that day until Easter, each person is supposed to fast. When I asked further questions about what Ash Wednesday means to her, she became embarrassed and admitted that she did not know what Ash Wednesday is in terms of how it is related to God. However, she told me that it was more of a traditional thing above it all. It is a day when the Catholic community comes together for the purpose of honoring what is right among those who are active participants of Catholicism. Then when I asked her about why she prays she said, “it gives me spiritual tranquility and makes me feel like a better person.” In the Roman Catholic perspective, religion has become a unifying experience communally and spiritually lifting individually.

The turning point in my mom's life for her to become more religious was when she decided to come to the United States. Living in Mexico my mom was too busy working and helping her mom out. It became a daily routine that began at such a young age for my mother but when she came to United States to pursue her “American Dream” she accepted religion into her life in order to feel more secure about herself; She was able to secure her identity, culture and community (creed, codes and cultuses). My mom's beliefs and practices have changed over time because it took one life-changing event to give her a push to become the proud Roman Catholic she is today. The “American Dream”allowed her to establish her religious theology and flourish it as she continues to live and work in the states.