Katie Cialkowski- Church Visit #1

Church Name: St. Michael's Catholic Church
Church Address: 310 South Wheaton Ave, Wheaton, IL 60187
Date Attended: Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Church Category: Church significantly more liturgical than my regular experience

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
This morning mass was much different than my normal worship context. Since it was attached to a Catholic school, the students also attended mass with the public. We began the service with a hymn to the Mother Mary, while the alter boy and girls accompanied the Father to the front of the sanctuary, then there were several prayers and songs before the Father delivered the message, which was on Mary's appearance in Lourdes, France to a 14-year old girl. Then they partook communion, and closed the service with another hymn. There were many traditions which I was only loosely familiar with. There were alter boys and girls offering holy water at the entrance to the sanctuary, and there were many more liturgical calls and responses than the church I attend. They also have much more tradition associated with communion and much more ceremony with the preparation and reception of communion. At times these traditions were daunting, but I have attended a few Catholic masses when I was younger, so I wasn't completely unprepared for these differences. Nothing made me uncomfortable, but the whole service was much more rigid and structured than what I was used to.

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
I honestly considered going to a more liturgical church when I began college, and seriously considered attending the Church of the Resurrection, but due to logistical reasons, decided to regularly attend another church. I was very attracted to a more liturgical setting for the sense of reverence, tradition, and structure it provides the church setting. Sometimes, I worry I am too comfortable in church, and that church caters too much to my own and other's expectations. The liturgical call and response demands attentiveness, and the traditions performed by the leaders of the service lend an air of solemnity that I think is sometimes lacking when we approach the word of God. So I was very interested in the liturgical aspect of mass.

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
I was disoriented when I was uncertain how to respond liturgically, but thankfully I was with another classmate so I didn't feel alone in that challenge. I didn't want to seem like I was intruding or appear disrespectful by inadvertently neglecting to kneel when entering the pew, or crossing myself at the proper time. I also have mixed feelings about the way communion is conducted in the Catholic Church. I know they have First Holy Communion, as part of their tradition, but for me and my faith, my parents helped me make the decision of when it was appropriate for me to receive communion and take part in that tradition. I question if these younger children understand all that it means to take communion, however I by no means know where their hearts are at. But I have always been intrigued by the Catholic traditions surrounding communion. My classmate and I did not take communion, but it was interesting to observe.

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?
The passage taught from was regarding Jesus turning water into wine, and Mary's influence over Jesus during that event. The Catholic interpretation of this passage, and of Mary's role and ministry is very different than that of the Protestant tradition which I grew up in. I feel fairly confident that some of the claims made would have been deemed heretical by the Protestant tradition; that Mary has significant influence over Jesus, that she is still sent by God into the world to point individuals to Jesus, and that she too was without sin and seen as immaculate. I was surprised by these statements, and found it interesting that in a story which the Protestant tradition views as an important mark of the commencement of Christ's ministry, the Catholic tradition views as a proof text for Mary's influence over Jesus' ministry and actions, even to this day. While the message did make me think more about Mary's role in Jesus' life and ministry, I am not convinced she had the influence the Catholic church attributes to her.