iJar

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Recovery of Catholicism

4:18 PM

Well, I went to church yesterday. Interesting experience. Enjoyable? Not so much.

A lot has changed since I last went. First, we've got a new pastor guy, an Irish man. I'm afraid to say that I don't recall his name. Anyway, since he came along, there have been a few changes to mass procedure. I don't know if it was because it was Saturday mass or because the original organ guy was gone, but to replace him that night was some lady who was clearly not as talented as the original organ player (organist?). The songs didn't sound as lively, and she seemed pause and really stupid times or not hold notes out long enough or hold them too long. It just didn't feel right. Also, we no longer hold hands as we say the Lord's Prayer. I dunno what's up with that. I kinda miss it. Communion is a bit different to, because the altar servers hold this paddle thing below you as you take it. I don't get it, but whatever. At the end of mass, the priest says some weird stuff instead of simply "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" when it comes to do the sign of the cross. It's all crazy.

As for my actual experience there, it was okay. I didn't really WANT to be there, and my back hurt when standing for a long period of time (the gospel reading was one of those really long ones where certain people are assigned to certain speaking parts, which I made me miss Father Alphonse, by the way, because he was really awesome when he did his part as Christ). Also, there was this lady sitting next to me with three kids, one of them a baby, who kept crying. While I wasn't particularly annoyed by this, I did feel bad for the lady.

I also realized that for outsiders, mass can be a scary thing. With some of the chanting and stuff we do (it's not really chanting, just speaking long phrases in a monotonous tone).

Ugh, now I have to go pick up my sisters. When I FINALLY get around to doing something productive, it gets interrupted. Life is so unfair.