Catholic Church Service

Well Sunday was definitely a new experience. I’m all about trying new things and experiencing all that I can, so when we were invited by Johannes (a worker at Casa) to attend church with him, Molly, Veronica and I jumped right on it. I will say it was a very different experience. I enjoyed seeing a different denomination and seeing that once again the Lord gets his message out some how! The service began with singing; some I knew, some I had no idea what they were. I just went with the flow and thank goodness Johannes was there because he is Catholic and knows all the proper routines and what we are suppose to do to be respectful of the church and people attending. It was a little embarrassing and frustrating though not know what I was doing and feeling like I had to do specific things to be accepted and respectful. Most of the time I felt I had NO CLUE what I was doing.

Then…right before we sat down for the first time, we had a woman grab us and tell us to move up front, AND it was NOT just up front it was behind where the priest preaches from, so we got to look at the back of the priest and out on all the people attending church. I was thankful that there were others sitting with us, but it was still very embarrassing being moved in front of the whole church. It was obvious that the church building was way too small for all the church members.

Throughout the service there was a lot of standing up and sitting down, as well as synchronized prayers and saying that were routine throughout the service. Most of the time I had no idea what was happening and even when the priest was preaching because we were in the front, behind him, and he had a thick accent, it was VERY hard to understand!

Then when it was time for communion I confirmed with Johannes that if we are not a part of the Catholic church then we are not suppose to take communion, so we sat and watched as everyone took communion. It was a very interesting experience to watch how everything throughout the service played out. I will say that I felt a little weird just because I felt I was restricted in my faith and passion. I am so used to just being free in front of the Lord and it was a whole new experience trying to make sure I did everything that was expected so that I could respect the people of the church, seeing how I was a visitor and already stood out because of my skin color. Also, not being able to take communion made me really think because at my churches everyone is welcome.

I really found that although God is the same everywhere, I began to realize that some denominations approach Christianity in different ways. Catholic is very different from my more modern and contemporary experiences, but I loved being able to experience a new church in a very different culture. GOD IS STILL THE SAME NO MATTER WHAT AND THAT IS WHAT I LOVE!