Went to mass this morning. First time in quite a while.

[pinto]

Had long standing plans to get together with a former co-worker. I knew she came into town some Sundays for mass at the mission. A young Latino priest says the second mass. I called and she said "Let's meet at the mission for mass and go downtown for breakfast."

So we did. The mass was in Spanish, so I didn't get the homily, but the rest is very familiar in any language. As is the ritual. She took communion, I didn't. All good and I enjoyed sharing a mass with her. When it came the time to turn and shake a neighbor's hand she took mine and said, "Te amo mi amigo."

Saw some mutual friends. Had a few laughs and hugs on the steps outside the church. And a great breakfast. That was my Sunday morning.

[hrmjustin]

1. I hope it was a good moment for you.

[pinto]

5. Oh it was. Surprised somwhat at how fond I remain with the mass and a great visit with a friend.

At breakfast I joked with her. "Susana, you've got a crush." (The priest is very good looking.) She almost laughed, but grinned and kicked me under the table. "Yeah, but he really says a good mass." We agreed to agree.

[hrmjustin]

6. lol. it is ok to have a crush on a priest.

Going to church has an uplifting experience.

[ZombieHorde]

2. I'm glad you had a nice morning.

[rug]

3. "Te amo mi amigo."

That's what it comes down to.

Next week starts Advent.

[hrmjustin]

7. Yest the new chrch year. Today the priest used the Mozarabic Rites for the preface.

[rug]

8. You made me look that up.

A/k/a the Visigothic Rite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozarabic_Rite

Fascinating stuff. What a history.

[hrmjustin]

10. We use it in the Episcopal Church. Just beautiful. you have to be able to sing to do it.

[cbayer]

4. Very nice.

I very, very rarely go to a church service but I am generally glad I have when I do. There is often a pervasive positive feeling and positive message.

Glad you had a wonderful morning, my friend.

[pinto]

9. It was really nice all around.

(aside) She wanted to go to a local place that runs a menudo special on Sundays. I went no, menudo in the morning? Oh, please, no. So we had waffles at the diner downtown.

[cbayer]

11. Mmmm… menudo. Waffles are good, too.

We have been eating out while staying in the hotel. Discovering some really interesting food.

[No Vested Interest]

12. I admit the social aspect of going to Mass appeals to me as well.

I would go anyway, but I do enjoy the opportunity to briefly visit with some people I've known a long time but perhaps don't see otherwise.

[Brettongarcia]

13. Did church offer anything a visit to a coffee house would not?

[cbayer]

14. Don't know about your experience, but most coffee houses I have visited

are full of individuals hovered over their devices and interacting very little.

Now a bar might be a whole different matter.

[pinto]

16. LOL. There's a very popular, new coffee house up the street. All dishes made in-house, great coffee.

Lo and I went there recently. They have a line of vegan items and lots of bacon items, so it worked for us both.

Literally every table had an array of cell phones, iPods, laptops, etc. in use.

[cbayer]

23. Yeah, you probably didn't see many people on devices at church.

We are in the middle of Baja in a beautiful town called San Ignacio.

Big Mission church which we plan to visit tomorrow.

[No Vested Interest]

24. I did visit a mission church up in the hills of Baja.

I don't know if it was San Ignacio, because I don't remember much of a town around it.
Spouse and I were on a cruise that stopped in Loreto, I believe, and a trip way up into the hills/mountains was offered, to this mission, still active, I believe.

I remember more the primitive but clean toilets more than the church - shame on me, but it's all part of the experience.

[cbayer]

28. We are headed towards Loreto and there is a mission there, as well as a few others in the area.

You may have seen the one in San Javier. They are having their yearly festival over the next couple of days and we hope to get up to it.

The history of the missions here is fascinating, and often tragic. Willa Cather's books are the best I have read about them.

[AtheistCrusader]

20. I've been in a few churches.

Recon mission.

Anyway, it seemed that there wasn't a whole lot of social interaction either. Mostly an auditorium full of people listening to one dude talk. Sometimes music.

Might as well have been a muzak track.

[cbayer]

22. LOL, sorry for your vacant experiences.

Lots of music and talking in most of the churches I have been too.

Rarely an auditorium with a single dude talking.

But hey, if your experiences have been limited to that, I can see where you might be coming from.

[AtheistCrusader]

25. I've also seen youth group and bible study type stuff

but this is every weekend. Congregants make up the band/choir. Powerpoint is used heavily on the projectors. Lots of modernization, but at the end of the day, the bulk of it is single speaker to large audience. The speakers change, but the flow of information is one-way and did not appear, in the auditorium type format, two-way.

[cbayer]

29. Well, if you are truly interested, you may want to take the opportunity to see

and experience some of the other ways people do this.

Sounds like you have been to some of those mega churches.

I know they do it, but I've never been to a service with power point (and would probably find it pretty off-putting, too).

[AtheistCrusader]

30. The one down the street is a Covenant church, pretty modern. In fact, the structure is only 10 years

old.

I would guess max capacity of the auditorium is about 400-500 people. Max.


And that format seems 'normal' for other churches I have seen the inside of. Not what I would classify as 'large'.
Still, I will readily grant, mileage may vary.

[cbayer]

31. Even though I am not religious, I like seeing the different ways people "do" religion.

I'm in a little town in Mexico right now that has a Mission. I hope to catch their afternoon service today.

Some of my most moving experiences have been in rural african american churches in the south.

I have been to Jewish ceremonies and go as close to a service in a mosque as they would let me as a woman.

There is so much more I haven't seen, but I will say this - the variety of experiences and practices is pretty impressive in my experience so far.

[pinto]

15. For me there was the aspect of the shared experience with a good friend. I remain fond of the ritual

as does she. Although we come from very different backgrounds (she grew up in central Mexico, I in New England) there's a shared culture there. A common background that's a given part of our lives, however disparate our upbringings. And a common tradition of sorts - go to mass, go for a meal. I really enjoyed it.

[rug]

17. Yes, the absence of hipsters.

Very refreshing.

[No Vested Interest]

18. The social aspect is a side benefit.

I attend Mass regularly anyway, for a sense of satisfying the spiritual side of my life, to be reminded once a week of the words and example set by Jesus of Nazareth, to hear the exhortation of the homilist to live a a meaningful life.
A coffee house means nothing to me. I wouldn't know a soul there. Not at all interested in pricey cups of coffee.

[No Vested Interest]

19. I might add - a visit to a grocery store also has a social aspect

for me as well, even though that is not the main purpose of my going to the grocery store.
But I do run into friends and acquaintances whom I may not have seen in a while, even years.
And for that reason, I don't mind grocery shopping at all.

[hrmjustin]

21. Yes, free bread and wine.

[applegrove]

26. I often admire the walk the walk religious

Last edited Mon Dec 2, 2013, 03:30 AM - Edit history (1)

people in my life. The pope is impressing me these days too. I hope the ‘walkers‘ voices will be the religious voices that get amplified.

[pinto]

27. Same here.

I hope he echoes the broader movements in Catholicism. We'll see. It'll be interesting to see how he walks through the Vatican maze.