Difference in worship?

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runningfreak

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I am a 20 year old Catholic attending Aquinas College in Grand Rapids. This week my friend, who is converting to Catholicism, and I were invited to a bible study with a group on campus we hadn’t heard of before. Before the study (which on a side not, wasn’t a study) they did some worship. There was a guitar player causally strumming while everyone else in the room would randomly start passionately pray/talk/singing and as they were doing this, everyone else would chime in agreeing with what the speaker was saying. Obviously it is right to passionately pray to God and naturally some people would ooze passion, but to us, it seemed forced at times. It almost seemed like they were putting on a show. Is it wrong we felt so uncomfortable? Is it okay if I go with a more subtle form of worship? I’m sorry if I haven’t made this the most clear but this type of thing has been bugging me for a long time and I’m just looking for advice. If anything needs to be clarified just ask and I’ll try my best! Thanks!!
 
runningfreak said:
I am a 20 year old Catholic attending Aquinas College in Grand Rapids. This week my friend, who is converting to Catholicism, and I were invited to a bible study with a group on campus we hadn’t heard of before. Before the study (which on a side not, wasn’t a study) they did some worship. There was a guitar player causally strumming while everyone else in the room would randomly start passionately pray/talk/singing and as they were doing this, everyone else would chime in agreeing with what the speaker was saying. Obviously it is right to passionately pray to God and naturally some people would ooze passion, but to us, it seemed forced at times. It almost seemed like they were putting on a show. Is it wrong we felt so uncomfortable? Is it okay if I go with a more subtle form of worship? I’m sorry if I haven’t made this the most clear but this type of thing has been bugging me for a long time and I’m just looking for advice. If anything needs to be clarified just ask and I’ll try my best! Thanks!!
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no its not wrong to feel uncomfortable.These sorts of worship services often do over dramatize.they feel the more they put into it the more they’ll get out.Sure.Don’t feel since you can’t get into it that your not as holy or religious as they are.They probalbly are seeking God in the only way they know how.
 
You may have just been invited into a rather pathetic meeting. Consider your college may have a spectrum of events ranging from conservative and totally aligned with the magisterium, to the other side, the dark side. These events can be just lame, like what you described to the fringe “new age” gatherings.

Be careful what you go to, even on a catholic college campus. If you do go, try to pull someone you think is reasonable, back to their senses.

Get a group to meet for Eucharistic adoration once per week for an hour. Then spend some time together discussing how to defend the faith. Once per year, attend one of these events as a pair and start dropping some revealing questions during the Q&A at the end.

You may save someone’s eternal life.
 
runningfreak said:
I am a 20 year old Catholic attending Aquinas College in Grand Rapids. This week my friend, who is converting to Catholicism, and I were invited to a bible study with a group on campus we hadn’t heard of before. Before the study (which on a side not, wasn’t a study) they did some worship. There was a guitar player causally strumming while everyone else in the room would randomly start passionately pray/talk/singing and as they were doing this, everyone else would chime in agreeing with what the speaker was saying. Obviously it is right to passionately pray to God and naturally some people would ooze passion, but to us, it seemed forced at times. It almost seemed like they were putting on a show. Is it wrong we felt so uncomfortable? Is it okay if I go with a more subtle form of worship? I’m sorry if I haven’t made this the most clear but this type of thing has been bugging me for a long time and I’m just looking for advice. If anything needs to be clarified just ask and I’ll try my best! Thanks!!
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Hello! I’m also in college. There are a lot of people in our generation who are big fans of this praise and worship stuff… I mean it’s cool as long as you’re not messing around with the liturgy or doing this in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Sooo technically there’s nothing wrong with what they’re doing…

As one of my priests put it, this kind of touchy feely faith is sometimes what people need to draw them into the Church. It’s really over-emotional, and thus can give you a sort of spiritual high. When through grace you progress further in the spiritual life, these more shallow aspects of spirituality tend to fall away naturally. Indeed, a close friend of mine was drawn back into the faith in this way after living in a lot of sin, and now sports a chapel veil and prays in Latin 🙂 So God can make good out of this kind of thing.

But then the danger is that you can stay hooked on this emotional high. Or you could be reacting psychosomatically and attributing it to God. Or you could see the closeness of these practices to what Protestants do, and being disillusioned to the seemingly stuffy and lifeless Mass, get more involved with Protestantism. Or you could get involved, lose the high, and through peer pressure imitate everybody else in order to seem like a good Catholic, and then lose faith in God because of how fake His people behave. Can you tell I’m not a fan of praise and worship? 😉
 
runningfreak said:
I am a 20 year old Catholic attending Aquinas College in Grand Rapids. This week my friend, who is converting to Catholicism, and I were invited to a bible study with a group on campus we hadn’t heard of before. Before the study (which on a side not, wasn’t a study) they did some worship. There was a guitar player causally strumming while everyone else in the room would randomly start passionately pray/talk/singing and as they were doing this, everyone else would chime in agreeing with what the speaker was saying. Obviously it is right to passionately pray to God and naturally some people would ooze passion, but to us, it seemed forced at times. It almost seemed like they were putting on a show. Is it wrong we felt so uncomfortable? Is it okay if I go with a more subtle form of worship? I’m sorry if I haven’t made this the most clear but this type of thing has been bugging me for a long time and I’m just looking for advice. If anything needs to be clarified just ask and I’ll try my best! Thanks!!
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Like mark a said trust your guts on this one
 
Thanks this has been helpful! Can anyone suggest any good Catholic books on worship styles?
 
I would check and see if you are within reach of Dewitt,MI.

There is a group called Miles Christi that has some events there. You can look up their activities on www.mileschristi.org.

Also, check for a parish on www.masstimes.org by your zip code. Look for a parish that has authentic catholic activities like Eucharistic Adoration, confession at a posted time (not - “by appointment only”), then check their bulletin online. See if they have any activities that are of interest.

To be honest, I am not sure of a book on worship style. I have been looking for a long time just to find an authentic catholic group to interact with.
 
It is interesting that so many judge the way other Christians may worship. Praying together as a group, or singing a song that others can join in, etc. What is wrong with a bunch of college kids getting together and just being with the Lord together in prayer and worship? I think I know the style of worship that he is describing and it is usually filled with passionate people worshiping God.

If you read through Psalms, there are many ways in there of worshiping God that a Catholic would NEVER participate in because it does not follow the rubrics of what is defined by the church and therefore it is not pleasing to God.

Psalm 150

1 Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heaven!
2 Praise him for his mighty works;
praise his unequaled greatness!
3 Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn;
praise him with the lyre and harp!
4 Praise him with the tambourine and dancing;
praise him with strings and flutes!
5 Praise him with a clash of cymbals;
praise him with loud clanging cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 100

A psalm of thanksgiving.

1 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.

Psalm 149

1 Praise the Lord!

Sing to the Lord a new song.
Sing his praises in the assembly of the faithful.

2 O Israel, rejoice in your Maker.
O people of Jerusalem,[a] exult in your King.
3 Praise his name with dancing,
accompanied by tambourine and harp.
4 For the Lord delights in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.
5 Let the faithful rejoice that he honors them.
Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds.

Psalm 147

1 Praise the Lord!

How good to sing praises to our God!
How delightful and how fitting!
7 Sing out your thanks to the Lord;
sing praises to our God with a harp.

Psalm 145

1 I will exalt you, my God and King,
and praise your name forever and ever.
2 I will praise you every day;
yes, I will praise you forever.
3 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
No one can measure his greatness.
0 All of your works will thank you, Lord,
and your faithful followers will praise you.
11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom;
they will give examples of your power.
12 They will tell about your mighty deeds
and about the majesty and glory of your reign.
13 For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
You rule throughout all generations.

Psalm 141

A psalm of David.

1 O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry!
Listen when I cry to you for help!
2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to you,
and my upraised hands as an evening offering.

Psalm 138

A psalm of David.

1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart;
I will sing your praises before the gods.
2 I bow before your holy Temple as I worship.
I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness;
for your promises are backed
by all the honor of your name.
 
1 Cor. 14:

26 Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.
 
firstmode said:
It is interesting that so many judge the way other Christians may worship. Praying together as a group, or singing a song that others can join in, etc. What is wrong with a bunch of college kids getting together and just being with the Lord together in prayer and worship? I think I know the style of worship that he is describing and it is usually filled with passionate people worshiping God.
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I’m not saying there is anything wrong with it. Just the chaotic feel and pressure to conform with the intense emotional atmosphere was just a little overwhelming. I’m really just wondering if it is something I should be more open to or if its just a preference. I don’t know if I should feel bad for feeling so uncomfortable. I’m sure I could condition myself to fit in with those kind of worship groups but should I?
 
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