Jane’s reason for avoiding church in “Jane the Virgin” broke our hearts a little bit

Obviously religion has always been a large component of Jane’s life, and of Jane the Virgin. That’s something you could figure out nearly from the title alone. And throughout the show, no matter what’s happening around her, Jane’s belief in her faith has been a constant. It was pretty jarring this episode to realize that Jane hasn’t been going to church consistently, and it was also immediately clear that her struggle to get Mateo to church despite Rafael’s protests and Michael’s quieter disagreement was about more than Mateo.

We didn’t find out till toward the end of the episode that Jane has been avoiding church because, after Michael got shot, she’s struggling with feeling angry at her God for letting that happen.

In typical Jane the Virgin style, they dealt with a very real issue in such a thoughtful manner. Jane vented to a nun while she and Rafael were looking for hints about his past, and through that conversation Jane was able to realize that her desire for Mateo to go to church was more a manifestation of her own feelings of disconnect with the church.

In the end, she agreed with Michael that Mateo was too young, and decided that she’s going to look to her own relationship with God first. Whether or not you’re religious, Jane’s journey through this episode of realizing the root of her unhappiness is something we can all relate to.