It’s not easy being green — or being Catholic
Kermit the Frog has a song called It’s Not Easy Being Green. It might be easier to be something else, maybe red, he sadly muses.
By the song’s end, Kermit comes to terms with his difference. His greenness isn’t going to change. After this breakthrough, he articulates all of the advantages of his color.
It’s not easy being Catholic either. We are green, different. Our beliefs don’t conform to those of the society that surrounds us.
We don’t often explicitly acknowledge this. We think of ourselves as just ordinary folks, a fallacy since our differences are large.
We finally became mainstream in 1960 with the election of JFK and now we’re on the outside again. It was less than 50 years of the good life.
But popular psychological wisdom tells us that the first step towards solving a problem is acknowledging it Catholics need to step forth and acknowledge their greenness. It’s not hard to find convincing illustrations for those who are still doubtful.
In an ideal Catholic world, the bishops of New Jersey would not need to write us a letter defining marriage as needing both a man and a woman — not just any couple — as they did earlier this month.
Parents would not have to do in-depth research on movie reviews before letting kids see any film other than a cartoon. We could assume something wildly inappropriate for children would be the exception, not the norm.
Afternoon TV talk shows wouldn’t bleep out almost every other word because of the profanity of their guests.
We would not have to screen video games carefully for extreme violence and inappropriate sexuality.
We would waste a lot less time arguing with our children and grandchildren about how it doesn’t matter what other kids are doing.
Popular culture has become violent, sexualized and far removed from the teachings of Jesus.
We can’t build an impermeable shield against this alien world. Exposure is inevitable. Worse, we can easily become inured to the coarseness.
But we need to own up to our greenness, our differences, and accept that this greenness makes life hard sometimes, an unusual experience for many.
Life is comfortable, physically pleasant for most 21st century Americans. We are not used to inconvenience.
Want chicken for dinner? No need to chase the old rooster around the yard, catch it, kill it, bleed it, pluck it, gut it, clean it, cook it and then, finally, serve it. Zoom into the supermarket for a package of cutlets — precooked, even — and warm them up in the oven.
Many Catholic ideas are inconvenient. Give away your riches. Put others before yourself. Use natural family planning. We’re all about delayed gratification.
Just like Kermit, we need to acknowledge the difficulties inherent in being who we are and work through them.
We’re green, bright green. But not green and gloomy, says the wisdom of St. Teresa of Avila, or even green and isolated, since we are called to engage the world.
Let’s own up to our color. Be honest with our children about who we are while appreciative of their love for life just the way it is now, the only way they’ve ever known it.
Let’s support each other and be forgiving of others who seem to be doing things poorly. It’s difficult to live in a world where you need to mount an investigation every time a kid wants to see a movie, where teens are invited to coed sleepovers.
Stick together, model our beliefs cheerfully, pray hard and lobby our elected officials to see things our way.
On St. Patrick’s Day, wear a shamrock proudly no matter what your ethnicity. To be Catholic is to be green. Kermit has plenty of company.
Caroline Calogero can be reached at ccalogero@comcast.net.
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law