![]() ![]() In fourth grade, we worried ourselves sick about having to confess our sins for the first time. The next year, we learned all about Mother Mary and topped it all off with Hail Mary-not the moment the Pittsburg Steelers made it to the Super Bowl, but the name of the prayer they said to make it there. In second grade, we learned everything we needed to know to receive the holy sacrament of Eucharist. In first grade, we memorized the Our Father. The parts that talk about the pressures many Catholic teens feel were so familiar to me. No one treats him the same anymore, his father can't tolerate being in the same room with him. Everyone knows about their relationship, even his parents. All it takes is one slip up and you are the new town scandal. He quickly learns that things are hard to keep secret. He decides to have an 'inside the closet' relationship with Edward. As much as he tries, he can't make his feelings go away. He worries that his feelings towards this other boy are a sin. ![]() His entire life his parents and church has taught him that he should find a nice woman to marry and have children with. ![]() Tristan meets a boy named Edward at a party. He goes to Catholic school, attends church every Sunday, and is now taking classes to be confirmed in the Catholic Church. His parents are Catholic and have injected as much religion into his life as possible. John Collings' book Hell and God and Nuns With Rulers, gives us a peek into the life of a teenage boy named Tristan. ![]()
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