All Saints Day Question from Non-Catholic

[Reborn2013]

I hope he has a lot of feedback. Interesting.

 

[jmcrae]

Prayers are said by the priest, and the congregation has responses to those prayers. These responses are in the missallette in the Order of the Mass section.

And don’t worry about that part. If you come to Mass frequently, they will soon embed themselves in your memory. The worst thing is to be distracted from praying with the Mass by endlessly flipping through books trying to find which page of the Missal we’re on.

If you don’t know the words, listen while others pray them, and then pray them inwardly from your heart.

 

[Tryin2ShowJesus]

Thank you all for giving me great insight as to what I would expect last Friday. All of you made me a little more comfortable to the experience.

I arrived 15 minutes early in order to pray beforehand and see what other people did. I decided to dress in suit and tie, but most were wearing jeans. I was generally able to follow the order of things, but they did not have a bulletin or program as a guide through the service.

I really enjoyed the reverence of the service. You see Jesus as Lord over all throughout the scriptures, prayers, and liturgy. I have never physically bowed down before the Lord and never physically knelt to pray in worship. These are symbols that seemed so right to do and brought me into the right frame of mind to focus on God. When everyone says, “Peace Be With You” to the people around them, it seemed more genuine than the evangelical ‘greet your neighbor’ time when everyone says, “Good morning.” The homily was about how Catholics do not worship saints, but ask the saints to pray for them (good and informative).

On the flip side, even after the detailed list you guys gave me, I felt apart from the service and awkward at times. As someone that hasn’t memorized the prayers or songs, I could only listen to what was said. I was also the only one there that did not receive the Eucharist. My worry in doing what others were doing took my focus away from God. I wonder how a non-believer would feel sitting in my seat.

All in all, I did feel as though I worshiped God on All Saints Day at mass. I come away from the experience with a new respect for liturgy. I can’t say I’m looking for the RCIA signups, as I still do not theologically agree with aspects the Roman Catholic church. I do think I have an increase in passion for being holier.

I welcome any questions and comments on my experience as I continually seek what the Lord’s will is for me.

 

[jmcrae]

Thank you all for giving me great insight as to what I would expect last Friday. All of you made me a little more comfortable to the experience.

I arrived 15 minutes early in order to pray beforehand and see what other people did. I decided to dress in suit and tie, but most were wearing jeans. I was generally able to follow the order of things, but they did not have a bulletin or program as a guide through the service.

Since it follows the same pattern every time, there is no need for a program.

I enjoyed the reverence of the service. You see Jesus as Lord over all throughout the scriptures, prayers, and liturgy. I have never physically bowed down before the Lord and never physically knelt to pray in worship. These are symbols that seemed so right to do and brought me into the right frame of mind to focus on God. When everyone says, “Peace Be With You” to the people around them, it seemed more genuine than the evangelical ‘greet your neighbor’ time when everyone says, “Good morning.” The homily was about how Catholics do not worship saints, but ask the saints to pray for them (good and informative).

That’s great!

On the flip side, even after the detailed list you guys gave me, I felt apart from the service and awkward at times. As someone that hasn’t memorized the prayers or songs, I could only listen to what was said. I was also the only one there that did not receive the Eucharist. My worry in doing what others were doing took my focus away from God. I wonder how a non-believer would feel sitting in my seat.

This is exactly why I said “don’t worry” about these things.

All in all, I did feel as though I worshiped God on All Saints Day at mass. I come away from the experience with a new respect for liturgy. I can’t say I’m looking for the RCIA signups, as I still do not theologically agree with aspects the Roman Catholic church. I do think I have an increase in passion for being holier.

I welcome any questions and comments on my experience as I continually seek what the Lord’s will is for me.

I think it’s a great start! You are welcome to do the same again, soon, and next time, don’t worry about the postures or the words- these things will come to you in time. If you make a habit of attending frequently, the day will come when you find yourself praying aloud with the congregation, and assuming the postures in a natural way just as if you had been doing it your entire life.

 

[sousley]

Thank you for taking the time to post your insights. My wife (Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, non-denom and finally Catholic) found many of her same sentiments in your response and kept saying, “yep, yep” as she read. Personally, it was nice to know that you were going to be there.
In my diocese, there are 59 parishes, in the next one to the north, there are 78. So consider this: assume that some parishes had mass at the same time and others and hour later and so on. You probably remember reciting the “Our Father” during mass. Not only did you (probably) join with all the people at that particular mass, but all the people in masses in the other churches at that time as well. And not just in your state, but in all the states and even in every country in the world. How many voices, in unison, did God hear praying the “Our Father” at that moment? I don’t know, but yours was a welcome addition. So no worries about “not knowing all the prayers”. The fact that you put forth the effort is a pretty awesome thing.

 

[zz912]

Thank you all for giving me great insight as to what I would expect last Friday. All of you made me a little more comfortable to the experience.

Awesome! Glad you went and hopefully your next Mass will be even more comfortable.

I arrived 15 minutes early in order to pray beforehand and see what other people did. I decided to dress in suit and tie, but most were wearing jeans. I was generally able to follow the order of things, but they did not have a bulletin or program as a guide through the service.

The Mass is universal, with all Catholics (which means “universal”) worshiping with the same liturgy each Sunday. You can really feel the immenseness of the situation when you begin to realize that you are worshiping right along with the entire rest of the Catholic world to God together and not separately.

I really enjoyed the reverence of the service. You see Jesus as Lord over all throughout the scriptures, prayers, and liturgy. I have never physically bowed down before the Lord and never physically knelt to pray in worship. These are symbols that seemed so right to do and brought me into the right frame of mind to focus on God.

I grew up Baptist, so I completely understand this feeling. The bowing and kneeling are good things, especially because we forget that man is BOTH body AND soul. That is why the most of the sacraments have a physical component (i.e. baptism uses water, Eucharist uses bread & wine, Confirmation & Annointing use oil, Holy Orders has a laying on of hands). The next time you go to worship at your home denomination, I promise you, you will feel like something is missing when you don’t kneel or bow.

When everyone says, “Peace Be With You” to the people around them, it seemed more genuine than the evangelical ‘greet your neighbor’ time when everyone says, “Good morning.”

I’m glad it felt genuine. But don’t put too much weight into the feeling of it. I’ve experienced both genuine and non-genuine greetings in both Catholic and Protestant services. I think both sides could use improvement in this area.

The homily was about how Catholics do not worship saints, but ask the saints to pray for them (good and informative).

Excellent. Let us know if there are any follow-up questions about this topic. It is usually a big sticking issue for Protestants towards the Catholic faith.

On the flip side, even after the detailed list you guys gave me, I felt apart from the service and awkward at times. As someone that hasn’t memorized the prayers or songs, I could only listen to what was said.

Don’t worry too much about this. The first time at someone’s home for supper, it can be a little awkward. The next time, it will feel more comfortable. And the time after even more. Until you are right at home. Just think, you were participating in the Last Supper at that Mass.

I was also the only one there that did not receive the Eucharist. My worry in doing what others were doing took my focus away from God. I wonder how a non-believer would feel sitting in my seat.

See above. It can be overwhelming for Protestant or non-believer. I was somewhat intimidated the first time at Mass too. We can certainly get better at welcoming others. It is a definite culture shock.

All in all, I did feel as though I worshiped God on All Saints Day at mass. I come away from the experience with a new respect for liturgy. I can’t say I’m looking for the RCIA signups, as I still do not theologically agree with aspects the Roman Catholic church. I do think I have an increase in passion for being holier.

Let us know if you have any questions you wish to ask so that you can at least understand the faith better. Even if you disagree with the faith, make sure you do understand what you disagree with. (otherwise you could be disagreeing with something that isn’t truly part of the faith)

I welcome any questions and comments on my experience as I continually seek what the Lord’s will is for me.

Glad you went. The next great feast besides Sundays will be the feast of the Immaculate Conception, where God prevented Mary from becoming stained with Original Sin in her conception (thereby facilitating her to later become the Ark of the New Covenant).

 

[Arrowsmith1994]

Trying2ShowJesus,

How did it go?