My first Mass today

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Mi3hael

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So my alarm went at 7.30 and I made myself a bit presentable - after all with who is present in the Mass the least I could do was put a shirt on and brush my hair.

I have a church about a mile from my house but I decided to drive into the city and go to the Catholic Cathedral there, I attended a guided tour last week I somehow felt for my first time going to a Cathedral felt right.

I decided to go to the first Mass of the day starting at 8.30. I got there early and then went in about 10 min before the start. Blessed myself with the holy water, and took a seat at the back.

I saw other people kneeling and praying so I decided to do the same, prayer is something I’m not very good with at the moment but think this went well, something about being in the cathedral made it seems more powerful.

The Mass started and I followed along the best I could, I need to get a guide for next time so I can join in with the spoken bits. I have to say it was an amazing experience, and I’m looking forward to next Sunday already.

I can’t do RCIA this year as I can’t guarantee I’m free on a specific evening to attend, but I have watched an online RCIA class on youtube to learn more and I know I want to take the class as soon as I can.

One concern I had before today, is that although I believe the points of catholicism, and spend much time learning and discussing Catholicism I seemed to be missing the passion (or maybe love) that runs through people’s faith - I’m sure the Mass will help me fill that gap. I think I had been learning as if I was studying for an exam, rather than letting it into my heart.

Not really a question but I just wanted to share my day, my family are not Catholic (or at all relugious) so I don’t really have anyone to share this with

Michael
 
Bless you. As Rick said, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
 
Mi3hael said:
so I decided to do the same, prayer is something I’m not very good with at the moment but think this went well, something about being in the cathedral made it seems more powerful.

One concern I had before today, is that although I believe the points of catholicism, and spend much time learning and discussing Catholicism I seemed to be missing the passion (or maybe love) that runs through people’s faith - I’m sure the Mass will help me fill that gap. I think I had been learning as if I was studying for an exam, rather than letting it into my heart.
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Michael,

Thank you for sharing, you remind me of a lot of myself before I was Catholic. It was about a year before I went through RCIA but once I did I couldn’t get enough. When I realized that Mass was offered at my local parish every day I loved it. It fed me every day, and it made my day complete, even though I was not yet receiving communion and still learning.

To what you said about prayer. All it is is just a conversation with Jesus. Just talk to him as if you were talking to your best friend or someone you love. It is not hard and people try and complicate it. If you are lifting up your heart and your mind and are open to graces you are praying.

As you pray more, your love will increase and transform you. I will include you in my prayers. God bless.
 
So nice to read something positive! Good luck on your journey!
 
Michael, Did no one show you what to do by passing a Missalette or hymn book to you?
 
Awesome! Yeah first mass can be confusing especially if it’s your first time but there should be a small book called the Sunday Missal it has the readings for each mass, some hymns, and all the responses said during the mass. I went to Catholic school as a child and it took me 2 years to finally learn all the responses. Then when I left and came back as a teenager I learn that the responses changed haha. I am still sort of getting used to it but I find I get better the more I go.

Welcome to the Catholic church if you’re new to Christianity it is a wonderful experience and if you’re switching from another church you will fall in love all over again!
 
Thanks for sharing your experience! 🙂

Another thing you might want to do is “explore” the church when you have more time. I did that and discovered we had a lot of little stained glass windows and plaques of old parishioners. I also found the old baptismal font hidden away, though happily it has since been moved to the front. The locating of another bathroom has also come in handy! 😃
 
Welcome home! Thanks for sharing. Very exciting. Keeping you in my prayers, Mi3hael. 👍
 
Mi3hael said:
So my alarm went at 7.30 and I made myself a bit presentable - after all with who is present in the Mass the least I could do was put a shirt on and brush my hair.

I have a church about a mile from my house but I decided to drive into the city and go to the Catholic Cathedral there, I attended a guided tour last week I somehow felt for my first time going to a Cathedral felt right.

I decided to go to the first Mass of the day starting at 8.30. I got there early and then went in about 10 min before the start. Blessed myself with the holy water, and took a seat at the back.

I saw other people kneeling and praying so I decided to do the same, prayer is something I’m not very good with at the moment but think this went well, something about being in the cathedral made it seems more powerful.

The Mass started and I followed along the best I could, I need to get a guide for next time so I can join in with the spoken bits. I have to say it was an amazing experience, and I’m looking forward to next Sunday already.

I can’t do RCIA this year as I can’t guarantee I’m free on a specific evening to attend, but I have watched an online RCIA class on youtube to learn more and I know I want to take the class as soon as I can.

One concern I had before today, is that although I believe the points of catholicism, and spend much time learning and discussing Catholicism I seemed to be missing the passion (or maybe love) that runs through people’s faith - I’m sure the Mass will help me fill that gap. I think I had been learning as if I was studying for an exam, rather than letting it into my heart.

Not really a question but I just wanted to share my day, my family are not Catholic (or at all relugious) so I don’t really have anyone to share this with

Michael
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What a coincidence. I too went to my first Mass on Sunday. I’m a Methodist who’s been struggling for a long time to accept the different principles of Catholicism as opposed to Protestantism. I’d been struggling with it for years, in fact. I’d been meeting with a Priest off and on for about a year though and I finally decided to just go to Mass after my last meeting with him. I made a couple of mistakes, but I plan on going regularly so I’m sure I’ll get better.

Like you, no one in my family is religious (though my dad goes to a non denominational Church every Sunday but he lives far away). A lot of my physically-close friends are also not religious either, so it was kinda easy to give in to temptation to not go for the past few years.

Also like you I feel like I’d been missing the passion that others seem to have. And that’s why it took me so long to finally just try it. It felt like too much of a drag sometimes. But each time I talked to the Priest he gave me a blessing, and it does seem to help slowly. Persistence and prayer is key in my experience. I have a long way to go yet though.
 
vash88 said:
What a coincidence. I too went to my first Mass on Sunday. I’m a Methodist who’s been struggling for a long time to accept the different principles of Catholicism as opposed to Protestantism. I’d been struggling with it for years, in fact. I’d been meeting with a Priest off and on for about a year though and I finally decided to just go to Mass after my last meeting with him. I made a couple of mistakes, but I plan on going regularly so I’m sure I’ll get better.

Like you, no one in my family is religious (though my dad goes to a non denominational Church every Sunday but he lives far away). A lot of my physically-close friends are also not religious either, so it was kinda easy to give in to temptation to not go for the past few years.

Also like you I feel like I’d been missing the passion that others seem to have. And that’s why it took me so long to finally just try it. It felt like too much of a drag sometimes. But each time I talked to the Priest he gave me a blessing, and it does seem to help slowly. Persistence and prayer is key in my experience. I have a long way to go yet though.
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That’s great, it’s nice to speak to someone at the same stage as me - if it’s okay I’ll drop you a friend request and we can catch up from time to time.
 
Welcome! Mass is beautiful isn’t it? 👍
Maybe some advice for you, if you regularly attend Mass in a parish church (not a cathedral) and get to know the priest a bit you could ask about conversion and say that you probably couldn’t attend RCIA groups because I was never at a group I arranged with priests where and when I and they were available and that worked fine.

Not good at praying? Just pray to God from your heart be sorry for your sins ask forgiveness, praise Him, and pray for yourself, family and friends for personal situations and for graces to bring you and them closer to the Lord.

And perhaps, not sure if you know already but learn how to pray the rosary and try getting into the habit of praying it everyday it is a beautiful prayer and it is so helpful!
 
I remember my first mass, I was pretty lost myself but you pick it up pretty quick.

If you really cannot for RCIA I would contact a priest and ask about making an accommodation for a private instruction or something. If you talk to him about already watching videos and doing independent study he may be willing to try to figure something out for you.

Good Luck!
 
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