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Unlike Ralph Waldo, Catherine Grace has little effect on other's perceptions of me. Perhaps the only "magical" aspect of it is the way in which it, like my hair color, seems to cause a large number of people, particularly older women, to offer their personal connection to somebody with the same name.

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John Mulaney Quote on Catholic Upbringing

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John Mulaney Quote on Catholic Upbringing

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"I don’t know if you grew up going to Church and now you don’t, but it can be a weird existence because I like to make fun of it all day long, but then if someone like Bill Maher is like, ‘Who would believe in a man up in the sky?’ I’m like, ‘My mommy, so shut up!’

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My middle name does reflect my faith; I believe in the grace that comes from human connections and intentional actions, more than I believe in Jesus himself

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As I noted before, my grandmother, and in fact all of my aunts and grandparents, are still devout. For that reason, my humanism includes connections to the Catholic church. For example, when I see sun peeking through the clouds I always think of how my aunt would say that it was a "piece of Jesus" shining down on us. Additionally, I cannot shake the compulsion to pray, or at least to ask the universe for guidance, during dark times, both in my life and in the world.

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Catholic Guilt is an often-discussed side affect of growing up in the Catholic faith, which usually includes guilt at not continuing to go to church and at behaviors opposed by the church. The austerity and pageantry of the Catholic Church differentiates it from other sects of Christianity, which have better adapted to the modern world. Having a name which is a relic of a Catholic past contributes to this feeling of guilt

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I don't have a strong opinion about my middle name. Although in some ways it was chosen as a virtuous name, I do not think it was meant to predict my future. My family no longer goes to church on Sundays, but I still have some sense of attachment to religion. I have often heard the term "humanist", meaning someone who does not believe in God but who believes in the goodness of humans. I would say that I am a humanist, but in a specific kind of way that is informed by my Catholic upbringing.

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Grace was chosen because my parents wanted to have a name that matched my sister's. Both of us had first names with three syllables, starting with Ca-, and middle names that were one syllable.

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My Grandma, of course, was also a Catholic. and a far more active one than my immediate family. She attended church every day, and prayed the rosary with my sister and I. My sister's middle name, Rose, was chosen because of this faith, and so was mine.

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When I was born my parents were devout Catholics. They, like so many other Christian families, decided to reflect their faith in my middle name. People all around the world, even from non-Christian majority countries are named Grace. Whether this is indicative of the spread of Christianity or just the simplicity and pleasant sound of the name I do not know.