I went to my first catholic Sunday morning mass today. Well, it was the first time I went willingly to Sunday morning mass. I've gone to mass in the past but it was usually with my family and for more italian family traditions than it was my willingness to be closer to God.
I've been attending Monday morning mass for the last month or so when my work permits it. The Monday morning mass is a little different than the Sunday morning mass. First off, it's twice as long, Monday morning is only 30 minutes long and Sunday morning was an hour. There was a band and a lot more singing with this service. The priest was dressed differently than on Monday mornings, I'm not sure if that was because it was Sunday or for some other reason I'm unaware of.
The other noticeable difference between Sunday morning and Monday morning was the people attending. Typically the Monday morning service is about 30 - 40 people and usually all over the age of 60. This morning there was well over 300 people in attendance and they all ranged from children looking to be around 3 and 4 to the same elderly folk I see on Mondays.
It's funny sitting through the catholic mass being a charismatic christian. I sometimes sit there and have the passing thought "I wonder if they can tell that I'm not one of them?" Maybe my mouth moving during the prayers gives me away. I don't always know what they're saying so I repeat the parts I understand and the rest of the time I move my lips so it appears as though I'm saying the same words. If they see my mouth moving they must know that I'm one of them. I have this weird fear that if they knew I was not catholic they'd drag me out of the church handing me papers of excommunication. Maybe not so much a realistic fear as much as it is my inner child imagining.
I sat in St. Joseph's church this morning surrounded by so many families, it appeared as I was the only single person there. Everyone else was with brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, children and parents. I felt almost like Kevin McAlester in home alone as he sat through the christmas eve service alone.
I observed the people through part of the service and what I saw blew me away. Everyone participated. Young and old, male and female, mother and daughter, father and son, it didn't matter. Everyone stood, everyone knelt, everyone prayed, everyone sang, everyone crossed themselves. That's different than what I'm used to at my church. Being charismatic we believe that people can worship God in any way they see fit (so long as it's not catholic, baptist, lutheran, or any of the other forms of Christianity that are different than ourselves). So while some stand and sing others sit and watch while some kneel and pray and still others wave flags and dance.
What I couldn't help but think was how every person sitting in St. Josephs was vitally important to the function of the mass that morning. If no one showed up to mass who would respond to the words of the priest? Who would kneel? Who would receive the body and blood of Jesus when offered? Every person sitting there was responsible for something in that church service, they all were important to the mass progressing and moving forward.
Looking at a typical charismatic service I see something different. Aside from needing someone to preach to, the pastor doesn't need the people to accomplish the service on Sunday. We charismatics can worship in song alone, we can pray alone, we can take the elements alone, we can even teach ourselves through the Bible. It seems like the catholics need each other. They need each other and they know they need each other which makes the mass unfold in a very beautiful and romantic sort of way.
In mass we always say the Lords prayer. "OUR father...give US...OUR daily bread...forgive US...as WE forgive...lead US...deliver US..." It's not "MY father...give ME...MY daily bread..forgive ME..." It's driven by family and community, each member serving a very specific purpose in the service. We are being taught by the priest but we're also serving and holding some importance in the functioning of the service besides simply listening to the preacher.
I wonder what we can learn from the catholic mass. Can we, as charismatic believers, become more involved in our Sunday morning worship services?
How can we as church leaders make Sunday mornings more participatory? How can we need the church attendees besides needing their ears and money?
How can community and human connection be more integrated into our worship services? I'm not sure exactly how to make this participation more functional within a charismatic service aside from swinging into more of a catholic feel, but I'd like to explore the possibilities.
No comments:
Post a Comment