It's interesting living in an area that's predominantly not Catholic. One could surmise that identifying with a Catholic identity could be hard in a religious-arena like that, but I'd also say that it can be just the opposite at the same time.
In the sad but normal protestant style, churches splinter time and time again to form new congregations and new doctrines. This creates a fairly watered down Christian identity among the people, who may not understand salvation all that well, but certainly know that they go to the ABC Church now because the XYZ Church believes in dancing. It's sad, horribly so. It only took somewhere around 15 years for protestant churches to begin splintering after the Protestant Reformation and it hasn't stopped (it's only gotten worse!).
What's the bi-product? A broken Christendom, segmented Christians spending more time concentrating on the differences they have with one another than being Christians in the world and witnessing to those of other faiths. I used to be Lutheran; I grew up in the middle of it. I've spoken to many Lutherans and people of various faith backgrounds who agreed with me when I said, "I'm pretty sure Martin Luther is turning in his grave right now over what's happened." I think that just about sums it up.
How then does a Catholic pinpoint an identity without getting lost in a predominantly non-Catholic Christian society that is so often lukewarm? Sometimes it's hard to be Catholic when everyone around you isn't. And even more so than not being Catholic, it seems the majority (or at least those you hear from) are so wrapped up in a sense of modernity (marked largely by relativism) that being one denomination or another doesn't mean anything or even matter. They simply attend a church in which they like the people and find the teachings at the pulpit generally inoffensive.
The problem is that when everything is relative, it is very difficult for one uphold the teachings of Christ, which were not relative in the least. Catholics struggle with this when they live in societies that do not identify with Catholicism and are consumed with relativism. A false understanding of humanity leads "humanists" to their ultra-relative and liberal teachings on "choice" and a general acceptance of “right and wrong” as it applies to “feelings.” In short, there is no sense of accountability except to each other, and every Catholic knows that’s not the way it’s supposed to be.
This is where it becomes both an identity crisis and an identity opportunity for a Catholic. It’s easy to get caught up in the game of relativism, and it’s there that we lose our Catholic identity because the responsibility to God is lost or replaced. However, Catholics must find their identity in that responsibility. It’s the very cornerstone of the liturgy, where we worship God formally the very best way we know how as taught by tradition. Our responsibility to God is also physically manifested in the charity and love we show to others (a fundamental point of Christianity). Our piety is just as centrally devoted to a sense of responsibility. Through the years the Church has instituted practices (such as Eucharistic Adoration, Stations, the Rosary, etc.) because of her responsibility to God in teaching His children the faith. When that responsibility to God is replaced with relativism, Catholics lose their identity and forget their mission.
Catholics living in areas dominated by non-Catholics are also gifted with a chance to really explore and identify with their faith within the parish community. While the world around them denies such an identity, or ignores it altogether, a strong Catholic parish community is a haven for the authentic Catholic identity. It’s there that a Catholic can feel at home and support the strong responsibility to God. It’s there that others like them come to commune and build their faiths, ever looking to heaven. It is in parish families where Catholics can come together to celebrate their identity and rally to share it with the world around them. It’s not to say that relativism and lax faith doesn’t seep into Catholic parishes as well (it does, sadly), but luckily we, as Catholics, have such a rich heritage adorned in art, pieties, sacramentals, and Christ’s presence, that the tools to help us return to our roots are never far away.
Our identity is real. It’s out there for the world to see. And when we forget it at times, we mustn’t look for answers in society. We need to turn to God. It’s hard to find that identity when we turn to culture, but in turning to the Church and its physical manifestations of its missions, (stained glass, art, statuary, sacramentals, charity organizations, etc.) we are reminded of the identity that is the reality of Christ’s Church on earth.
