Allison Collins- Church Visit #2

Allison Collins – Church visit #2

Church name: Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church

Church address: 35 N Ellsworth Street, Naperville, IL

Date Attended: October 28, 2015

Church category: More liturgical

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?

I attended worship at Saint Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Naperville. I ended up attending a Wednesday morning mass at 6:45am. Right off the bat the time and day of the week were different from my regular context. Additionally, the order of service and the rite in which they did everything was very different. I am not accustomed to having call and responses and was not knowledgable about what the correct response was. Another marked difference was the absence of music. Except for a short prayer that the priest sang at the beginning of the proceedings there was no songs and the congregation did not do any singing. It was also strange to not be able to participate in communion. I was the only one in the service who did not go forward to receive communion. Before the passing out of the bread and wine the priest blessed the elements to make them the actual blood and body of Christ. This is contrary to what I believe and different from the way my home church practices communion.

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

As I walked into the building I was not sure what to expect from an early Wednesday morning service but I was surprised by the number in attendance. The priest spoke about the importance of making Jesus a priority in our lives and charged us to ask Him to help us carry the cross so that we can all lead more Jesus centered lives. It was striking to me that all in attendance got up early and came to spend time in worship to begin their days. It seemed to me that they knew exactly how to live out what the priest was challenging us all to do. Their devotion to Christ was clear through their discipline in attendance and I found it inspiring that this is likely how some of those people start every one of their days. The devotion to  beginning the day in fellowship and worship with other believers to me was a beautiful illustration of the centering one’s life around Jesus.

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?

I had never been to a Catholic mass before. I have attended a couple of Jesuit masses at the college that two of my siblings went to so this gave me a little bit of an idea mass is like but I was still very uncertain going in. I am not particularly comfortable in new situations and would rather know what to expect so in that regard it was a challenge for me especially when I didn’t know what the proper responses were to what the priest said. It was challenging to so clearly be an outsider. There was no effort to be welcoming to visitors or to help to guide them through the service. I feel that this creates a sort of exclusivity within the the church. It puts the regulars and those who are comfortable in a catholic context in the in group and everyone else in the out group.

What aspect of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

Attending this mass challenged what I think about the elements of a liturgical service. I have normally been under the school of thought that finds all of that to be ritualistic and in some regards, hollow. This was not the impression I got from being there though. Instead I think it shows a degree of reverence that sometimes is lacking from protestant's emphasis on a relational God. Scripture over and over again speaks to the set apartness of God. We cannot even look upon his and live. We should come before him with a posture of humility and reverence and I think the liturgy creates a greater feeling of reverence that I sometimes forget about in my normal “rock worship” and emotional connection service.