Distinctives and questions (updated)

Didn't make it back from visiting family in time to make the 4:30 mass Saturday at either St. Rose's or St. Margaret Mary this week, but was able to get to a 5:00 mass here.

Once again, a much different place than the others I've visited. Do all parishes have this much distincitveness from each other? For some reason I thought that the liturgy made Catholic parishes more... what, uniform?... than Evangelical churches. Nope. :)

This congregation, for instance, was much more enthically diverse than the other two. And, they had a choir. And, they had very different music than the others.

Not to mention that there were no kneelers! What's up with that? I wanted some! It was a hard tile floor.. :(

And, instead of a basin with holy water in it where you enter, there was what looked like a cross-shaped baptismal tank? The thing had steps in it. It had to be for baptising. And it was full of water.. but nobody got dunked today, so.. what's up with that? And I felt kind of dumb wanting to reach down in there to wet my fingers to make the sign of the cross, but... there wasn't anything else around. Weird.

This is also the first place where I've noticed that some people, when they take the Eucharist, will eat the bread (read: wafer - kinda crunchy. Sort of like a corn chip. Hm.) but they walk right past the cup. What's up with that? Why would you take the body but not the blood of Christ? It's like being only halfway forgiven? I don't get it.

A cool thing, though, was when they brought up the "gifts", as they call them. I'm still not sure I follow that notion. Some family brought up the weekly money offerings in a basket for the priest to receive and give thanks for. Plus, they bought up the bread and wine, and they referred to them all as "gifts", like the bread and wine were offerings, too. I read about this somewhere, but I'm not sure I follow.

I thought we celebrate the gift of Jesus' body and blood given for *us*, not the other way around. But the whole Eucharist ceremony seems like a sacrifice, and I think they even call it that. I suppose that's consistent with Paul's command in Romans to "offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, acceptable unto God, which is your spiritual worship." I have to think about that whole business some more.

But where was I going with this? Oh! Yeah. When the priest received the gifts, he gave thanks for them, and the form of his prayer was just like the wording of the Seder blessing for the ritual foods (among which are wine and matzoh). It was cool. :) It connected nicely with Passover, as it should.

So, a very different mass this week. And now, this morning, after the "contemporary" church service at the Baptist church, I have even more comparisons to draw. :)

The Catholic priest was not a natural preacher, that's for sure. Poor guy. He struggled. Thankfully he knocked off after 10 minutes. :) And I thought he really missed an opportunity this week. The Gospel reading was Jesus' parable of the guy who tore down his old barns and built new ones, since he was so prosperous. And the punch line to the story is "You fool, this very night your life will be required of you - then who will enjoy all you've accumulated?"

Boy, with the 35W bridge collapse this week, what a great segue that Scripture makes to a discussion about the brevity of life and the need to keep short accounts with God. But he blew right past it. I sure know what homily *I* would have given. You have people's attention this week on that subject, man - use it!

The Baptist church had a guest speaker this week. That makes the 6th time out of seven weeks of visiting Evangelical churches that the regular pastor has been on vacation. What's up with that? I know it's summer and that season doesn't last long here, but.. c'mon! Which brings up a question: do priests take vacation? They seem to always be around, never gone.

Hey, I don't know this stuff! Stop laughing..

Anyway, the guest speaker was no prize either in the preaching department. But, unlike the priest, he went on rambling for 40 minutes. :( Honestly, there was a point where it got offensive to me. When he turned it into a slideshow of *his* ministry, it became a workshop, not worship. And this has happened in Evangelical churches wherever I've gone. I hate it, just hate it!

I can't imagine Catholics even thinking of such a thing - inserting 40 minutes of ministry description in the middle of the liturgy! To me they have too much respect for the Eucharist, the ministry of the Word, and being in the presence of the Holy, to entertain such a notion.. but the Evangelicals don't think twice about it. The lack of respect for worship galls me.

But! They did sieze the opportunity at the opening of the service to focus attention on the tragic events of the week, where the Catholics nearly blew that off completely. The Baptist worship leader gently brought people to prayer and to meditation on those who were suffering, and then led the congregation in the Lord's Prayer (which the Catholics call the "Our Father", but - same difference. I think I like the Catholic cadence to it better, even though I find myself sort of blending the two in my own goofy way.)

And the music today. Waaaaaay better, thank you. It was contemporary, yes, and still too performance-based for my liking (not enough opportunity for the congregation to sing) but at least it had some depth to it. No namby-pamby choruses and fluff pieces. They started with the Doxology, took it realllll slooooow, and cranked up the organ to swell the ending. And as the last chord hung in the air, the drums and bass kicked in to a good Lincoln Brewster praise tune. The worship leader did pump the crowd a bit too much, though. We're not at a concert, here..

Then some more older hymns (This Is My Father's World, Nothing But The Blood of Jesus) and a newer one that is really rich (How Deep The Father's Love For Us) which were all done in a contemporary style - modern chord structures, rhythms and singing styles that you could easily hear on a top 40 radio station right now. Nicely done that way. Contemporary, yes, but with depth.

An extra little plus today was that it was the first Sunday of the month, so they had Communion. Those Evangelicals! Can't have too much of a good thing, you know - everything in moderation, including Communion. It did make the comparison to the Eucharist the day before a little easier, though. Again, the Evangelicals took a more casual approach to things. Much less preparation, contemplation, or serious engagement. And, as usual, there's no need to leave your seat. You pass the plates and serve yourself. Feels more like a family dinner and a toast in Jesus' honor, than a humbling and reinforcing experience of forgiveness directly from Jesus. And I suppose... that's about the difference.

So, next week, St. Rose's at 4:30 on Saturday, and Calvary's sister church down the street the other direction at 10AM Sunday. Contemporary again - that's all they do there, I guess. Hmmm... wonder if we'll get to see the actual regular preacher, and get our batting average up to .250?

Oh, and... shorts today again, and not just on me! :) Same with the Catholic church. No dress code at either. Yay!

And to wrap up, here is a postscript that gets me excited. :)

Finally, Evangelicals are getting what Catholics and others have appreciated for some time, that as stewards of God's creation, we have a responsibility to care for the physical world around us, in part because of God's original mandate to Adam to "till and keep" that which He gave him.

Take a look:

http://www.restoringeden.org/

Thanks to my niece, Liz, for this URL Saturday. :)