Why do you suppose this is?

[Gnarwhal]

I was taking inventory on myself today and was thinking about how I felt much more active and pious a couple years ago when I lived in my hometown. Then I started comparing more broadly at the Catholic community there to the community here where I'm living now on Long Island. Long story short, my hometown has a fraction of the Catholics and only two parishes but there seems to be a higher ratio of devoted Catholics compared to here where stats "say" 60% of Long Islanders are Catholic and there are parishes every few blocks but there's a much lower concentration of devotion.

For myself I felt like I had a stronger faith back home, and I try to figure out why. Was it because I just had a stronger support system with my family and longtime friends there? Cause none of them were Catholic, though they were totally supportive of my conversion and never gave me any grief about it. Or by moving here am I just taking the wider availability of Catholic life for granted?

I wonder about these things because I'm planning to move my family back to my hometown within the next six months if a few things go right, but my wife expressed concern in the past that Catholic life there wouldn't be what it is here with a large menu of things to participate in throughout the week. It's true, my hometown doesn't quite have the quantity but I'd say the quality is definitely there. In a broader sense I thought that, even still, it might be good for her faith as well since I felt like mine had developed stronger by living in a more "hostile" (read: irreligious) town. Only 15% of the population are Catholics, most of the religious people there are evangelical protestant of some sort but I don't know many—any, really—who are hostile to Catholics. But being a university town you also have a lot of people who claim no religion.

Do you think that kind of environment just naturally breeds a stronger faith because it feels like a bit more of a fight to hold on to what you have? You gotta work for it because it, it doesn't just fall into your lap like it kind of does here on Long Island. That's my suspicion but I don't know if the logic checks out.

 

[Michie]

I was taking inventory on myself today and was thinking about how I felt much more active and pious a couple years ago when I lived in my hometown. Then I started comparing more broadly at the Catholic community there to the community here where I'm living now on Long Island. Long story short, my hometown has a fraction of the Catholics and only two parishes but there seems to be a higher ratio of devoted Catholics compared to here where stats "say" 60% of Long Islanders are Catholic and there are parishes every few blocks but there's a much lower concentration of devotion.

For myself I felt like I had a stronger faith back home, and I try to figure out why. Was it because I just had a stronger support system with my family and longtime friends there? Cause none of them were Catholic, though they were totally supportive of my conversion and never gave me any grief about it. Or by moving here am I just taking the wider availability of Catholic life for granted?

I wonder about these things because I'm planning to move my family back to my hometown within the next six months if a few things go right, but my wife expressed concern in the past that Catholic life there wouldn't be what it is here with a large menu of things to participate in throughout the week. It's true, my hometown doesn't quite have the quantity but I'd say the quality is definitely there. In a broader sense I thought that, even still, it might be good for her faith as well since I felt like mine had developed stronger by living in a more "hostile" (read: irreligious) town. Only 15% of the population are Catholics, most of the religious people there are evangelical protestant of some sort but I don't know many—any, really—who are hostile to Catholics. But being a university town you also have a lot of people who claim no religion.

Do you think that kind of environment just naturally breeds a stronger faith because it feels like a bit more of a fight to hold on to what you have? You gotta work for it because it, it doesn't just fall into your lap like it kind of does here on Long Island. That's my suspicion but I don't know if the logic checks out.

I don’t know. We all have ups and downs in our faith journeys. Overall you were just happier in your hometown which can affect everything. Where you are now, you are less content which also can affect everything. Having all the options you do sounds great to me but I realize in that part of the country there are a lot of cultural Catholics as well. CA, not so much. My opinion is it’s just your overall happiness affecting the way you are feeling at the moment.

 

[narnia59]

I was taking inventory on myself today and was thinking about how I felt much more active and pious a couple years ago when I lived in my hometown. Then I started comparing more broadly at the Catholic community there to the community here where I'm living now on Long Island. Long story short, my hometown has a fraction of the Catholics and only two parishes but there seems to be a higher ratio of devoted Catholics compared to here where stats "say" 60% of Long Islanders are Catholic and there are parishes every few blocks but there's a much lower concentration of devotion.

For myself I felt like I had a stronger faith back home, and I try to figure out why. Was it because I just had a stronger support system with my family and longtime friends there? Cause none of them were Catholic, though they were totally supportive of my conversion and never gave me any grief about it. Or by moving here am I just taking the wider availability of Catholic life for granted?

I wonder about these things because I'm planning to move my family back to my hometown within the next six months if a few things go right, but my wife expressed concern in the past that Catholic life there wouldn't be what it is here with a large menu of things to participate in throughout the week. It's true, my hometown doesn't quite have the quantity but I'd say the quality is definitely there. In a broader sense I thought that, even still, it might be good for her faith as well since I felt like mine had developed stronger by living in a more "hostile" (read: irreligious) town. Only 15% of the population are Catholics, most of the religious people there are evangelical protestant of some sort but I don't know many—any, really—who are hostile to Catholics. But being a university town you also have a lot of people who claim no religion.

Do you think that kind of environment just naturally breeds a stronger faith because it feels like a bit more of a fight to hold on to what you have? You gotta work for it because it, it doesn't just fall into your lap like it kind of does here on Long Island. That's my suspicion but I don't know if the logic checks out.

The overall happiness factor has to be considered. But I don't think there's any doubt historically that the strongest faith occurs when there's opposition to it. We have to weigh the price and be committed to pay that price; we can't just muddle through and become complacent as easily.

 

[narnia59]

And tell your wife that yeah, I guess we'll have to help start some good programs

 

[Gnarwhal]

I don’t know. We all have ups and downs in our faith journeys. Overall you were just happier in your hometown which can affect everything. Where you are now, you are less content which also can affect everything. Having all the options you do sounds great to me but I realize in that part of the country there are a lot of cultural Catholics as well. CA, not so much. My opinion is it’s just your overall happiness affecting the way you are feeling at the moment.

Yeah I suppose that's most of it.

I am experiencing a similar thing, except that I have returned to my birth state (Ohio), after having lived in 'the Bible Belt' for very many years.

Faith is lived out very differently in different parts of the country. That has been my experience.
The difference is real.

I am thinking perhaps "iron sharpens iron"? ...

In Oklahoma, more Protestants than Catholics, but many Catholics there did really seem to be "on fire" for God.
In Ohio, more Catholics than Protestants, but much harder to "see" the "fire".

I think living in the presence of many Protestants could tend to make the minority Catholics "stronger".
And then, in general, I think to be living in a very Christian area tends to make BOTH Catholics and Protestants stronger.

The happiness issue could also be a factor, especially if one is happier to be living in, near, around more noticeably committed Christians.

For me, living in Ohio has thus far been mostly a wilderness experience ...
(maybe Long Island is that way for you, too? ...)
but sometimes God does take us into the wilderness for a time, to teach us some things ...

Interesting, my friend lives in Ohio. I wonder if he'd agree that it's sort of a wilderness experience. I know Eric Sammons is in the Cincinnati area and he seems happy with Catholic life there. As it were, anyway.

And tell your wife that yeah, I guess we'll have to help start some good programs

It's true. I actually made a list of some ideas I have, stuff I eventually want to propose to the priest once we've settled into a routine there. I might wait for the next priest to rotate in cause I'm little unsure about this current one. He seems to have regressed the parish from what the priest who confirmed me had built up.

 

[mourningdove~]

Interesting, my friend lives in Ohio. I wonder if he'd agree that it's sort of a wilderness experience. I know Eric Sammons is in the Cincinnati area and he seems happy with Catholic life there. As it were, anyway.

Only just my experience I was sharing.

Happy for your friends. Hope you find your happy place, too.
God bless.