My First Catholic Mass Experience
After the eggnog and board game binge on Christmas Eve, my father-in-law and I spontaneously decided to attend the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass down the street. It was one of those moments when curiosity and the Christmas spirit get the best of you. I have never been to a Catholic Mass so I was a bit nervous about the experience but I was glad someone was coming with me. This segues into lesson #1.
Lesson #1: I need to help visitors to our church feel comfortable – This sounds so simple but most people (including me) forget how intimidating a new building, new people, and a new church experience will be. Questions poured into my head like: “What do I do with my kids during the service? Am I dressed up enough? Are they going to accept me or make me do something weird?” So think like a visitor. If you invite someone to church, ask them if they want to ride in the car with you or meet them outside if they want. That will go a long way. At the Catholic Church, the priests stood at the doors and shook everyone’s hand as the entered the service and as they left the service. Props to the Priests!
Lesson #2: I could be a Catholic – Growing up I thought that Catholic’s weren’t really Christians because we disagreed with parts of their theology. Now, I’ve come to understand that theology is just an individual’s or church’s interpretation of scripture. Most people or churches have good intent when they are interpreting scripture. They aren’t purposely interpreting scripture so they and their church will go to hell. Kind of funny if you think about it. What was interesting is that I found the Catholic Church service to be more reflective of the scriptures than non-Catholic Church services.
Lesson #3: I liked the Catholic service – There were many things I liked about the church but here are few things they included that I liked:
Non-weird Scriptural Elements: Even though the Catholic service might have been a little dry at times, I liked their inclusion of scriptural elements in their service. If it says to do something in the Bible, they did it. They recited the Lord’s Prayer, they asked forgiveness of their sins, they had communion (every week), they kneeled, they raised their hands at one point in the service, they sang songs and they read scripture together. And I liked that they did all of this is a very comfortable, non-weird way.
Variety: There was so many different things going on that I didn’t get bored. A typical church service is 45 minutes of music then 45 minutes of preaching. Their service was much less monotonous. Their order of service was more similar to a David Letterman show: a few songs, monologue, scripture reading, homily, another song, interactive prayer, communion, message, kneel, stand, song, etc.
Stimulates all 5 Senses: sight = candles, smell = incense, touch = greeting and kneeling, hear = music, taste = wine
Real Wine: Did I mention there was real wine? Isn’t that scriptural? Isn’t grape juice for kid’s?
Interactive: Most churches shy away from interaction on a Sunday service but the Catholic service incorporated many interactive elements in their church service. It worked beautifully.
Collaborative: They included many volunteers in various parts of the service. Besides the musicians and singers, there were probably 5 adults, 5 young adults and 20 kids involved.
Reverence: Some churches feel they need to bring the presence of God into their building whereas the Catholic service approaches their building that the presence of God is already there. Everything is done in reverence.
The moral of the story is to try new experiences. Routine is the enemy of creativity. This was a wonderful experience that I hope everyone of you try someday.
