What are your attitudes about religion? Is religion just a set of magical rituals that, if you keep repeating them without failure, will secure a place for you in heaven? Is religion just a set of dogmas and doctrines which God has dictated through the Church and which you have to believe in for God to love you? Are religious beliefs just like an assortment of food in a cafeteria and you only have to pick and choose what you want? Is your religion the only true religion and all others wrong? Is your religion just a series of commandments and laws which, if you break them, can result in God punishing you?

It is imperative, I believe, that we find answers to these questions. I also believe it is important that we also ask ourselves these questions: Do I only belong to my religion because it is the way I was raised? Do I only belong to my religion because I am afraid of going to Hell?

As Eastern Catholics I think that we have one additional question to answer: Am I an Eastern Catholic because I was baptized as an Eastern Catholic?

By the way, in raising these questions it is not my intention to suggest that religion is superfluous or to question the efficacy of belonging to an Eastern Catholic Church. On the contrary, I have personally chosen to be an Eastern Catholic because of the spirituality that I find it representing.

I truly believe that religion has a very important role in life. I believe, however, that at some point in life a person has to make an intelligent, personal choice to be a part of a religion and to faithfully and sincerely embrace that religion. When a person does that, the benefit of religion become more obvious and real.

In order to intelligently and voluntarily embrace a religion, however, I think a person must recognize and understand their attitudes about their religion. Belonging to a religion doesn’t guarantee anything! It truly doesn’t guarantee heaven.

Some may immediately ask, then why should I belong to a religion? If you ask yourself that question then you know that your attitude about religion may not be correct. Jesus came to tell us that the way we live, which is taught by our religion, is important for us.

If we intelligently embrace religion, life takes on, I believe, a new meaning and purpose. If we embrace our religion without thought of loosing heaven and gaining hell, life takes on a whole new meaning and purpose.

I truly believe that our religion can provide us with the help need to discover the meaning and purpose of life and   become all we were created to be.