Try a High Episcopalian service/mass next time. They are more Catholic than a Catholic mass. Prettier and closer to what Catholic masses were prior to Vatican II, without the Latin
First time ever - I attended my first Catholic Mass tonight...
by ziddina 69 Replies latest jw experiences
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FlyingHighNow
We have women priests and deacons, too.
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satinka
Hi Zid,
Mr Satinka and I accompanied our friends to a Catholic Mass for Christmas once. Very formal. And because our friends are not married, they were not allowed to partake of the communion, even though they are regular church attenders. We did not go up to the front to partake, either. We are not Catholic. We are not married, either, so we would not be allowed. Catholics have quite a lot of rules to follow.
In the past, after leaving the jws, I have attended different kinds of churches...Christian Alliance Churches (shudder...too much like the jws), several New Age Churches (at least three different ones), Baptist Church (kinda harsh like the jws, too ), United Churches (most "moderate" and "inclusive" of all, in my experience).
I began thinking that church was not for me. I never really felt like I "belonged."
We are not church attenders any longer. Best thing we like to do is go for a walk in nature to feel connected.
Oh, and interestingly...I have "goddess" cards that I draw once a week or so, for inspiration!
satinka
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AK - Jeff
Sounds interesting. I avoid religion these days, but have considered popping into the local Catholic Church sometime to observe a Mass.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Jeff
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glentrevette
you mean after all syou were taught about the trinity and images and homosexual priests and i could go on and on you were a dog returning to its vomit
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Band on the Run
tAnd a Catholic service yet. You get extra points from either God or Satan.
I could not make the leap to Catholicism. The very few things I believe the Witnesses are right about negate Catholicism. I do see it as a manifestation of continuity of the Church. I became Episcoplian because the subway was out at Columbia so I had to walk downtown. For some reason, I walked past a church I never noticed before. There was a sign up that Geraldo Rivera and Cesar Chavez, the migrant worker leader, were preaching the sermon on Sunday. I drove in from NJ. It was the Episcopal Cathedral in NY, off the beaten path in NY. The majesty of the architecture, the happy faces, the intellectually rigorous sermons, the ecumenical approach all made me feel as though I was in heaven. It is High Church, Anglo-Catholic, which is very dominant in NY. Oh, the glory of the incense and ritual going back thousands of years.
I was so used to treprimanded in the Witnesses that it took me years to get to baptism and confirmation. The Exchange of Peace was awkward and it was just being introduced. I obsessed about how to hold my hands properly during communion. It never occurred to me that I could ask someone. I kept buying catechisms and history books. It is a lot of English history to know. I was terrified of demons. My confirmation teacher told me to read C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, letters from a senior demon to his nephew in the field. It changed my life.
Isn't it a shame what the Witnesses give up? Aesthetics aside, being a Witness I never felt affirmation. It is available elsewhere. The Anglican communion is very split now because of the ordination of homosexuals. You can voice your opinions freely. Try voicing any criticism of the Witnesses.
h
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White Dove
Egg and I are talking about visiting the Catholic Church here.
We've visited before and liked the ceremony.
I could read a lot of what they said because they use song books and another book to read out of.
We want to attend a Latin service to see what it's like.
I relate the saints they have with the different gods and goddesses of paganism.
Each one represents a facet of life and something to work on.
And, they have such beautiful buildings.
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dgp
From a former devout Catholic, Episcopalian = Light Catholic.
Catholics can go from the cultic, like the Opus Dei, to the very modern. I do not believe in the religion anymore, but it can be a very good social experience.
I may add that in the developing world the churches are not necessarily nice buildings. The poorer the community, the poorer the building. Except, of course, if you happen to attend mass in an old church, where the decoration can indeed be magnificent.
Catholic Mass is simular to the wittnesses in that the same scriptures are read on the same days. You can google them for your daily text if you like. We went to Mass tonight and heard those same readings.
In fact, it's the same scriptures the same days every year. If you want, you can buy the "Daily Missal" and read them in advance. Or you can get them as bulletins. Or you can NOT get them and go to mass all the same.
Confession is said to be the way your sins are forgiven. If you die while in deadly sin, you'll go to hell, so frequent confession is said to work in your favor: you start out clean again, so to speak. In poorer churches the priest does see you and does know who you are. In my experience, there were never problems for that reason. The very elderly priests usually make themselves useful as confessors.
You'd be surprised to know that some modern priests don't even ask you to tell your sins. "It's enough for me that you came here, so ego te absolvo in nomine patri, et filii, et spiritus sancti. For penance, give something to the poor, be well, and please don't sleep face down or you'll masturbate again."
I understand that the Catholic Church does not hold you responsible for sins before a certain age, that used to be seven years of age. You're assumed not to know the difference between good and evil, so you're not responsible. In my experience, I had my first confession when I was going to have my first communion, meaning eight years of age (I had the communion at 9).
You're not allowed to take the host if you haven't had the first communion. This is because you have to learn the basics of the faith before they let you have the first communion. You sort of learn the basics, really, unless your family is specially religious.
Even if you've had your first communion, you're not supposed to take the host if you haven't confessed your sins. People often ignore that, and the priests don't say a word.
(Macchiavelli said that we should be on guard against priests, because they know our sins, and theirs)
Though the part where they turn to their neighbor during the service and say "Peace to you" and start hugging, had me hiding under the pew and ducking for cover...
Well, where I live, friends and relatives actually kiss each other.
Then we knelt - and I must say, I do appreciate that the pews had special "kneeling" pads attached to them. Much more comfortable than kneeling on the floor would have been.
Poorer churches don't have these niceties, so you can either kneel on the floor or stand up. If you're old and you do neither, no one will criticize you.
Another difference I noticed was in the way that the infants and small children were treated. None were dragged outside for a spanking; no yowls of pain echoed through the church.
You'd probably be surprised to know that in the poorer Third World countries it is not rare at all to have women breastfeeding their children at church, during the service. Of course many people complain, usually women (men don't).
Children are sometimes punished, but these days you'd certainly be disapproved if you were to beat your child while in church, or even outside. This in countries where "not sparing the rod" is still practiced.
You'd probably be surprised to see what happens in Baptism Sundays. The church is chock full of crying babies.
Then several very cute children (who were dressed in their street clothes underneath; I saw several pairs of tennis/sports shoes, but none of the ones that flash or have rollers on them)
I was an altar boy. Indeed this is the case. These days they have altar girls, too.
I used to attend a Salesian church (Don Bosco's), and we had a soccer league on weekends. We were required to attend mass on Saturdays, before the games started, but we did that in our team's jerseys. I had a Baptist friend who wanted to play soccer with us, and he was required to attend mass, too, which meant the poor guy didn't join the team.
Then an opening song was sung, and apparently it was so well known that everyone (except me) knew the words by heart.
You learn to follow the mass by attending mass. No one teaches you that. Some time ago they would tell you the parts of the mass, but no one told me.
Other things of the Catholic church. Ash Wednesday which marks the start of lent. People go to mass and get ashes put on their head. Lent which is the 46 days leading up to Easter Sunday. You are supposed to give up something during lent, something that you enjoy so that it is a sacrifice. You aren't supposed to eat meat (fish is ok) on ash Wednesday or any Friday during lent.
Lent is actually forty days, the same number of days Jesus is said to have spent fasting in the desert because he started his ministry.
In developing countries, meat is not as frequently on the table as it would be elsewhere. So the priests sometimes will not mind at all if you eat meat during Lent. Maybe that is the only time in the month you will have meat, so, how would that be right?
Catholics encourage higher education. Many of the Catholic high schools are competitive college prep schools offering many honors and AP courses, a variety of freshman, junior varsity, and varsity sports teams, and a fine arts and performing arts department. The high school I attended recently built a new, state of the art campus to replace the original 56 year old campus. I just looked at their stats for last year and they had 100% graduation with 96% of graduating seniors going straight into college. A far cry from most public schools and a huge difference from the JWs as far as college bound students go.
Higher education is not only encouraged, but promoted. Remember that the Jesuits call themselves "the best educators in the world" (to the disagreement of many). I happened to attend Catholic schools (of course) and yes, the teaching is way better than elsewhere. There are some nuns that, er, I don't remember fondly, but the quality of the education is certainly higher.
There are many bad things with Catholicism, of course, but I think it's fair to say that they are way more liberal than the Jehovah's witnesses.
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mouthy
Why not go into your room shut the door & ask the one who paid for all our sins
to come into your heart...Instead of all seeking for the right church.
If your a Christian ( a follower of Christ) you are one of the stones that makes up
the CHURCH!!!!So GOD is IN you! in the form of the HOLY SPIRIT!!!!Please refrain from tossing your rocks at me!!!!
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wasblind
((((((( Granny ))))))) Hugs and a no stones