Hunger of Memory

Rodriguez describes his parents’ worship practices, from a Catholic church back in Mexico to an Irish-American Catholic parish in America. Since he attended a Catholic school, Rodriguez was isolated from “non-Catholics” and rarely interacted with them. President John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic president, was idolized in Rodriguez’s community. Rodriguez remembers how the first English-speaking guest to his family’s home was the local priest of an English-speaking church. His parents tried to pass as American, and served him meatloaf. His visit brought great pride. At college, Rodriguez would think of himself as a Catholic in a non-Catholic world.

There was a heavy concentration on sin at school, while at home, faith was reserved for bedtime prayers and tales involving angels and demons. At school, education was taught as a social activity, and the students would read the bible together and analyze it.

Rodriguez notes that only the Catholic Church treated his parents as intelligent, critical thinkers. Political parties, entertainment companies, and their employers all condescended to them.

Rodriguez was fascinated by liturgy, felt at home in the church, and became an altar boy at age twelve. When he got to high school, he felt a schism between how his parents worshipped and how he did.