Marja Moore -church visit 3

St. Michael Catholic church
310 S Wheaton Ave, Wheaton, IL 60187
Attended on November 9, 2014
Church tradition more liturgical than mine

The Catholic church is completely opposite to my regular church tradition. The only similarities I experienced between the two were reading the bible and singing hymns. The Catholic church has many traditions that are embedded within the church service itself. The things I noticed were the physical acknowledgements of the sanctuary. For instance, before entering the sanctuary everyone dipped their finger into a bowl of water and did the cross over themselves. Then before entering their row to be seated they kneeled in the direction of the altar. Throughout the service there was organized sitting, kneeling, responses, readings, standing, and singing. There was time for offering, greeting one another, and prayer like most churches, but the way the Catholic church prayed was in sort of a song.

I found the music most interesting. There was only an organ and voices. The melodies echoed through the sanctuary so purely one could almost feel the harmony. It was beautiful in a way that I had not experienced. Most churches have more instruments in their music presentations than just organ. It made me think of all the bands that are put together in churches and if they only add to our worship. For the first time I was thinking that many instruments could take away from our worship experience.

The theme of this service was unity of the church under the pope and how Jesus is so zealous for us that He is willing to do anything for us. The speaker emphasized a personal longing that Jesus has for each of us and that communal fellowship available for everyone in the church under the pope. I thought it was interesting that it was emphasized that the Catholic church was under the pope and not under God.