Interview on February 7, 2023 with Jocelyn, who is studying nursing, on the Central Mall at CSU Channel Islands in Camarillo.
Do you consider yourself religious?
Jocelyn: Yeah, I do. I go to church every Sunday. I’m Christian. I try to read the Bible with my boyfriend and my daughter. We try to follow His word with how we approach people and talk to people and interact with each other. My family considered themselves Catholic. With my dad, we would always go to church on Sundays, but the church we went to would take the kids out of the main service and we really would just play games so it wasn’t really me connecting with God. At some point my dad left and we were spending a lot of time with my mom and my mom didn’t really go to church. We never really talked about God.
Do you share your faith with other people?
Jocelyn: When the opportunity arises, I try to. When I’ve had co-workers talk about feeling anxious or depressed, I always bring up God: “Have you gone to church? Let me invite you to my church.” So I try to invite them or my classmates. Whenever I feel the opportunity is there, I start talking about God, even if it’s not someone bringing their problems to me.
If someone asked you who Jesus is, what would you say?
Jocelyn: I’d say that Jesus is Someone Who loves everyone and welcomes everyone, no matter how they are or who they are.
How did you start reading the Bible and find your current church?
Jocelyn: When I was at my community college, I was feeling a lot of anxiety and depression. I was taking a lot of units and I was spending most of my time at school. Literally all day every day. And one day I saw this little group out on the lawn in the middle of campus sitting in a huddle and reading something. I was interested, “Oh, what are they reading?” One day I stopped by as they were setting up and I was like, “What do you guys do here?” And they were like, “We read the Bible.” They were an InterVarsity club. They asked me to join and I was like, “Let’s do this!” I joined and a few weeks later they said they were having a spring break camp and they gave me a full scholarship. It was such an amazing experience where I really connected with God and I was like, “I think I’m Christian.” Then my brother-in-law invited me to his church, he’s Christian, and I loved it so much that I just kept going.
Do you believe that abortion is wrong?
Jocelyn: No, my church’s motto is “come as you are” and they’re very, very inclusive. Some Sundays we’ve talked about how the Bible doesn’t necessarily say, for example, that homosexuality is bad or that God doesn’t accept those types of people. People are just reading the Bible wrong. I’m not too educated about exactly what the Bible says, I just know that one of the first two commandments of the Bible is that God wants you to have relationships with people, to love people. That was one of His first or second commandments. Why would He tell us to love people and then contradict Himself and say, “don’t accept these people” or “don’t love these types of people”? He tells us to love them, so I think people are just reading between the lines of lines that aren’t really there.
Do you believe some actions are sins?
Jocelyn: I do think there are sins. I think that it’s not really our job to approve or disapprove. I think it’s our job to love them and tell them, “Oh, I’m praying for you.” If you know they’re doing something wrong, you can talk to them. Personally, I’m not sure what the Bible says about that stuff, but I just pray for them a lot and hope that something in their heart triggers a realization that they shouldn’t be doing it.
Do you believe in an afterlife?
Jocelyn: Yes, I do. From what we’ve talked about at church and from reading the Bible, if you believe in heaven, you have to believe in hell and if you believe in God, you have to believe in an enemy.
I didn’t know they built a university on the Channel Islands.
It got better reception to channel dead communists and socialists like Marx, Stalin, Alinsky and Hitler. They have Angela Davis, Soros, Bernie, Kamala and Joe on speed dial.
And, Fantasy Island and Gilligan’s Island were already occupied. Capiche?
Is “very, very inclusive” like welcoming NRA members, Matt Walsh, TLM attendees, chaste people (gay or straight) and pro-life Democrats?
Undoubtedly, yes. Everybody is welcome to come and read the Bible, of course.
Well, having grown up while at college with Inter Varsity, I am grieved to see they have slipped a notch or two in defence of historic Christianity. I am glad she had a good time at camp and loves going to church — that is most refreshing to hear– and I am glad for her. And in her simple way she is a faithful person who seeks to obey the commandment to love others, again, in her simple way. It would be nice to hear she is learning what the Bible has to say “about that stuff” so she can articulate a better Christian perspective on the world and its ways.
Keep on with the your Bible reading. I am assuming that you are baptized.
You will be a great nurse with your compassion and acceptance.
I would encourage also to get in touch with the Church of your youth.
What does she think of-“LGBTQ+ad infinitum pride? Would she draw the line there, since Proverbs 16:18 speaks of pride coming before a fall?
What is the point of California Catholic Daily doing these interviews? All the comments are mockery and I am sure they will continue to be. I would be in favor of discontinuing this feature. It is a waste of my screen time.
“It is a waste of my screen time” Then don’t read these threads. Others find them informative but very often disheartening. It is important to know the mindset of today’s students in order to gauge how well the Church is doing in its mission, and to know how to offer prayer for the younger generation.
It blows my mind that people don’t even understand how Bible studies work.
Anybody can walk in and be welcome.
BankRuptcY –Mutual Group-suing its own client
From March So.Cross News, p.2:
Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, bishop of the Diocese of San Diego, issued the following letter on Feb. 9 to pastors:
The letter said that a filing for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy would be made solely by the diocese and would not include the parishes and Catholic schools, whose assets are held in their own individual corporations.
To protect themselves from future lawsuits, however, parishes may want to contribute (??) to the cost of a diocesan settlement. If the diocese chooses bankruptcy as an option, parishes and parish schools will have their own attorneys to represent their interests, separate from any attorneys hired by the diocese.
SJC does not have attorneys. Furthermore, our donations support our parish and are not to be used for the abuses and cover ups and lies by the diocese. The parishioners must have assurance from their pastor that this will not happen, otherwize support will suffer.