Please help me like the Nicene Creed

[Lara]

There are many things I don’t like about going to Mass, but I try to overlook everything for the one reason I’m there, the Eucharist.

I find Church to be very taxing sometimes. First of all, the standing is wearying for me, for health reasons. Sitting is uncomfortable, so I have to stick something in the small of my back. Kneeling can be ergonomically difficult due to the placement of the kneelers too close to the pew in front of me. The music can be performed poorly. They say if only the beautiful birds sang, it would be a very quiet forest. But I like my forests quiet. Then there’s drumming which ought not to be in the church unless there’s African music, in which case it fits the music. The guitars should go. The key of the songs is often transposed down and I’m a soprano. Then the Eucharistic Minister forgets to say clearly, “The Body of Christ.” Then there’s people with their smartphones, some even allowing their children to view them during the Mass. There’s people who smell of body odor and cigarettes. There are many things which seem off to me. But yet I go, taking all non-Eucharistic elements as they come. So you’re not the only one who has trouble at Mass. It’s not easy, but it is worth it. I think of it as a form of Penance for all the things I’ve done wrong.

 

[newcalling]

Well, no worries. There’s no way I can be clear with what I’m saying without a lot of background and side discussion, but it was worth the attempt. Thank you for good responses, nonetheless, even though the issue remains unresolved. I’ll keep praying on it and trying to find a way through it.

I did want to respond to the_coppersmith though; there’s no chance of me becoming a Latin mass traditionalist. I’m happy with the mass in the vernacular, and I believe that’s the way it should be. If I were to be a traditionalist, I’d be more for going back to adding more Hebrew to the mass. I don’t hold any special reverence for the Latin language. I appreciate it as the root of many modern languages, and I appreciate its history with the church (and many saints praying and worshiping in Latin.) I don’t think it’s extra reverent or magical in any way. Hebrew, now that’s a language God might appreciate, but He’ll hear us if we pray in another language, strange tongues, or even without words.

I guess it comes down to the fact that I’m still deconstructing my logical arguments against the Catholic Church, and the Nicene Creed rubs against a couple of sticking points. My conversion was one of the heart and spirit first, and the vast majority of my reasoned arguments against the church fell apart afterwards. However, a couple still stick around. I put them aside because of the Eucharist; primarily that Divine Presence, but to me, the Nicene Creed represents some of those sticking points.

I am also rather overwhelmed by all the division in Christianity, and I see the filioque controversy as a symbol of that division; borne out of arrogance at needing to say definitively things which humans have no business saying anything definitive about. Having that statement in the creed will always bug me, whether I think it’s correct (it probably is correct) or not.

 

[MaryT777]

It was an excellent question and and I am glad you appreciated the responses. I hope you can reconcile your difference with the Church, especially regarding the Nicene Creed and your issues and remain with us. The Eucharist indeed is something the Catholic Church holds as the truth Christ proclaimed regarding real presence. I could never give that up in my journey down Lutheran studies.

I’m now a revert, and I wish you all the best.

 

[Irishmom2]

The “problem” will remain unresolved. That’s just the way it is. It is not up to us to change anything, just to accept it.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but it comes across as nit picking. We all have things we dislike about mass at times, but we just have to remember what is important and why we are there. Feel free to say the Apostles creed any time you wish, but to be disgruntled about it at mass will get you nowhere. I dislike the music at my church. I do not understand the need for a “master of ceremony” at certain masses, but I have to accept that I won’t like everything or I will waste my time at mass being annoyed.

Perhaps someone else knows better than you and I about what is right and good for mass. And because of that, I will accept it as it is.