- Nov 11, 2017
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Hello all, I'm a junior working towards a bachelors degree in International Studies and had to take a World Religions class. I love that class and elected to complete an extra credit assignment for it. The assignment required someone to go to a religious service different from your own. One of the examples was that if you are an evangelical Christian you could go to a Catholic Church. So I did. I just wanted to share the short essay I wrote on my visit here to ensure I was respectful. The teacher is a Catholic and I would hate to disrespect him nor any other Catholics.
On Saturday, December 9th, 2017 I attended a Roman Catholic Mass at St. Michael’s parish in Frostburg, MD. I have been raised a protestant my entire life with half of my childhood being raised in a very conservative Southern Baptist church and the other half being raised in a politically moderate Salvation Army Corps. The Baptist church was very “low church” in that it was a very “come as you are” church. You could wear street clothes and fit in perfectly fine whereas the corps is somewhere between a low and a high church where church members, myself included, tend to wear military style uniforms and non-members tend to wear whatever they like. Both churches were/are very humble and plainly decorated and yet were/are very large (sanctuary wise). In fact, at that Southern Baptist Church we were always told how Catholics (and honestly any non-baptist) were cultists. The pastor adamantly preached how the Roman Catholic Church was a Mary worshipping cult. I am glad to know how wrong that is. Honestly, the Roman Catholic Church, during this Mass at least, was not as different from my background as I had originally imagined.
When I first entered St. Michael’s I was given warm smiles to which I replied with a smile as well. I was going to sit in the last row until I looked and saw a monk sitting in that spot so I chose to sit in the row in front of him. I had never seen anyone dressed in such a way in person and he smiled when he saw me so I smiled back. I got there about fifteen minutes early and looked around as the seats filled a shocking amount for a non-Sunday service. The service’s bulletin, or program, was for the Second Sunday of Advent. There was a lot of standing, sitting, and kneeling throughout the service which I went along with as I felt comfortable doing those motions. They didn’t seem to go against my beliefs in any way. I didn’t do the sign of the cross because I didn’t know how to be honest. The readings of the day went over John the Baptist, they started in Isaiah, then went to one of Paul’s epistles, and finally settled into the Gospel of Mark. They gave so much reverence for the Gospel that I was a little shocked. After a very short message about going out into the world with His message, they served communion. I of course did not partake in the Eucharist as it is, from what I’ve heard, for Catholics only. We sang three Hymnal songs, which were very similar to what I’ve sung at the Salvation Army.
As I looked around at the congregation, I saw a shocking mix of young and older adults as well as several children. All in all, there was more diversity than my current church, the Salvation Army Corps. The majority was white, and the congregation looked to be a mix economically. I felt comfortable despite not speaking to many people. During the service there was a handshaking time where I think everyone said, “Peace be with you”. There as well, everyone smiled towards me and it felt warm. In the end, would I return? Certainly, given the opportunity I will come back again. Maybe next time I’ll ask questions as well. I had always felt Catholicism was not Christian and yet, that service opened my eyes to the reality. I still don’t agree with many Catholic ideas but I am willing to learn. In the end, I have found that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and the Catholic church is definitely worth seeing.
Thank you for reading and God Bless!
On Saturday, December 9th, 2017 I attended a Roman Catholic Mass at St. Michael’s parish in Frostburg, MD. I have been raised a protestant my entire life with half of my childhood being raised in a very conservative Southern Baptist church and the other half being raised in a politically moderate Salvation Army Corps. The Baptist church was very “low church” in that it was a very “come as you are” church. You could wear street clothes and fit in perfectly fine whereas the corps is somewhere between a low and a high church where church members, myself included, tend to wear military style uniforms and non-members tend to wear whatever they like. Both churches were/are very humble and plainly decorated and yet were/are very large (sanctuary wise). In fact, at that Southern Baptist Church we were always told how Catholics (and honestly any non-baptist) were cultists. The pastor adamantly preached how the Roman Catholic Church was a Mary worshipping cult. I am glad to know how wrong that is. Honestly, the Roman Catholic Church, during this Mass at least, was not as different from my background as I had originally imagined.
When I first entered St. Michael’s I was given warm smiles to which I replied with a smile as well. I was going to sit in the last row until I looked and saw a monk sitting in that spot so I chose to sit in the row in front of him. I had never seen anyone dressed in such a way in person and he smiled when he saw me so I smiled back. I got there about fifteen minutes early and looked around as the seats filled a shocking amount for a non-Sunday service. The service’s bulletin, or program, was for the Second Sunday of Advent. There was a lot of standing, sitting, and kneeling throughout the service which I went along with as I felt comfortable doing those motions. They didn’t seem to go against my beliefs in any way. I didn’t do the sign of the cross because I didn’t know how to be honest. The readings of the day went over John the Baptist, they started in Isaiah, then went to one of Paul’s epistles, and finally settled into the Gospel of Mark. They gave so much reverence for the Gospel that I was a little shocked. After a very short message about going out into the world with His message, they served communion. I of course did not partake in the Eucharist as it is, from what I’ve heard, for Catholics only. We sang three Hymnal songs, which were very similar to what I’ve sung at the Salvation Army.
As I looked around at the congregation, I saw a shocking mix of young and older adults as well as several children. All in all, there was more diversity than my current church, the Salvation Army Corps. The majority was white, and the congregation looked to be a mix economically. I felt comfortable despite not speaking to many people. During the service there was a handshaking time where I think everyone said, “Peace be with you”. There as well, everyone smiled towards me and it felt warm. In the end, would I return? Certainly, given the opportunity I will come back again. Maybe next time I’ll ask questions as well. I had always felt Catholicism was not Christian and yet, that service opened my eyes to the reality. I still don’t agree with many Catholic ideas but I am willing to learn. In the end, I have found that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and the Catholic church is definitely worth seeing.
Thank you for reading and God Bless!