John Sheehy Church Visit #1

St. Michael Catholic Church

310 S West St

Wheaton, IL

September 18th 2014

Significantly more liturgical

·    The worship service was very different than the type of service I am used to. The church that, I attend back home and am most comfortable with is nondenominational. There is little talking, including, “Amens” in agreement with a thought, or “hellos” during the greeting, or even a recitation of a creed, at my church service back home. However, Catholic mass, on the contrary, required a lot of liturgy, standing and kneeling. There were many rituals, like dipping ones hands in holy water prior to entering the sanctuary or the recitation of versus and creeds, or responding to the Priest, after he said certain statements. Other rituals included bowing to the life size Jesus statue prior to sitting in the wooden pews. The sanctuary was silent before and after the mass, and following the mass, the attendees dispersed with little interaction or fellowship. Overall, the service felt very somber and cold, in contrast to friendly and worshipful.

·    What I found most interesting about the service was the hierarchal feeling. Two boys walked down the center aisle flanking the priest. The priest used the two boys throughout the service, making them hold, open and close the Bible as he read for the congregation. They also were used to carry the communion from the back table to the front table for the priest to bless. As the Priest blessed the sacraments, the boys rang a bell as a symbol that the sacraments were holy and cleansed, which felt weird. It reminded me of a magical fairy. The bell’s jingles seemed like the sounds that the pixy dust would make as it altered a substance in a magical way.

·    What I found most challenging about the worship service was the sermon. The sermon lasted only a few minutes and was lacking in sustenance. The sermons that I am used to span only a couple of verses and can last for about an hour. The priest’s sermon lasted only about five minutes and spanned the story of Mary Magdalene and her sister. Rather than dissecting the portion of scripture, breaking down the verses, he quoted the thoughts of past popes and bishops who had spoken on this topic. The rest of the mass was occupied with recitation, calls and responses, communion and prayer. I also found the kneeling to be uncomfortable on my joints.

·    It was not so much that the scripture was illuminated for me. It was more that I began to review theology more. I understand that the Bible claims that faith is the way to receive salvations.  However, it seemed sad to me that all the people in the sanctuary that I was sitting with, under the conditions of faith, would miss out on eternity with Jesus. Therefore, I began to wonder if Catholics who deny faith and solely depend on works, have the opportunity to go to Heaven or are they destined for punishment?