Thank all of you for your responses and for the resources provided.
I realize that most of my questions would probably be answered by getting involved in the Church locally. That being the case, I would ask, how would I do that? Is it acceptable to simply show up “in my Sunday best” for mass at the time scheduled?
Yes, that would be fine.
Will I need to talk to anyone at the church beforehand?
No - the Church is a public building, and all are welcome. You don’t require an invitation or any kind of permission to attend and observe the Mass. We would ask that you refrain from receiving Holy Communion until you become a member of the Church, but apart from that, you can participate according to your comfort level.
I’m not familiar with any of the rituals of the Catholic church, so what should I expect?
When you enter, you will see people dipping their hands in holy water and making the sign of the Cross. You may choose to do that too, if you want to. When you enter the nave of the church (the area where the seating is) you will notice people going down on one knee and making a nod or bow of reverence toward the Tabernacle, and again, you can do this or not, according to your comfort level.
Once you’re seated in your pew, you can choose to kneel in prayer until the start of the Mass, which will likely be announced from the front. The priest will enter from the back, led by a small procession of altar servers, readers, and Eucharistic ministers.
At this time a hymn will probably be sung - again, if you want to sing along, that’s fine, and if not, again, that’s fine.
The Mass is divided into four main parts: the Entrance Rite, for which we all stand, and ends with the Opening Prayer. Most of the prayers recited, you won’t know, so just listen to them.
Then comes the Liturgy of the Word, and for this, we sit, except for the reading of the Gospel, for which we stand. This is followed by the homily, for which we sit, and then we stand for the Creed and Prayers of the Faithful.
After this we sit again, a hymn is sung, and the collection is taken up. The offering of bread and wine is then made, either by one of the families of the parish, or else it is simply presented on the Altar by one of the Altar servers.
This is followed by the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and there are many prayers recited - again, you won’t know most of them, so simply listen. The posture of the people alternates here between standing and kneeling, until we come to the Distribution of Holy Communion. At this point, simply remain where you are, and make room for people to get by you as needed, as they go forward to receive Holy Communion.
After this, everyone kneels until the final prayer, at which point everyone stands, and remains standing until after the final blessing and final hymn.
At this point, there may or may not be a social hour, depending on the culture of the parish. You can choose to hang around and chat with people, or simply go home and reflect on your experience of the Mass on your own.
- It would help me better understand more about the motivations of a good number of people around me and 2) to see if I’ve missed something about Catholicism that would make conversion worthwhile. Regarding the first aspect, I just don’t get the way many of them choose to live their lives. Some people I see in healthy lifestyles and others in unhealthy lifestyles, but there is some element of that rhythym that it seems I’m missing and that marks me as an outsider.
Interesting. Is this limited only to Catholics, or do you experience this with people of other religions, as well? (Surely you are surrounded by people of every religion - not just Catholics.)
Well, basically I understand that Jesus was the avatar of the jealous creator God, Yahweh.
Uhm - well, Jesus is much more than just an avatar. He is fully 100% God and fully 100% human.
Yahweh created Jesus to be a final sacrifice to replace the animal sacrifices demanded in the past because only blood could appease Yahweh.
Where to begin.
Jesus is not created - Jesus is the Creator. He is the Word that sprang forth from Yahweh’s mouth to cause to exist all that exists.
Yahweh required sacrifices, not for His sake, but for our sake, so that we do not become so attached to our material existence. We give to Him that which we love most, so as to turn our attachments away from material things, and towards Him. He in turn gave up to the Cross what He loved most - His Word - out of love for us.
What they gave up in bloody sacrifice was returned to them as food and drink for the whole community, and what He gave up was returned to Him in the Resurrection - not only of Christ, but of every virtuous human being.
