Caleb Odell - Church Visit #2

Caleb Odell - Church visit #2

Church name: St. John Cantius

Church address: 825 N. Carpenter St., Chicago, Illinois 60642-5499

Date attended: 10/30/16

Church category: Tridentine

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

The church itself was very ornate. There were murals on the walls and tons of images and statues. Even before and after the service the environment was very quiet. Everyone spoke in hushed voices. In the service you were mostly an observer. Most of the talking or singing was done by either the priests or the choir. The service was in Latin so most of the time I was looking down at a little booklet that had the Latin on one side and English on the other. This service, while reading through the booklet, made it very clear how far we differ in our view of justification and salvation with the Catholics. I felt like constantly they were praying prayers which I could not quite say with them. My church back home is much simpler than the Catholic service. The congregation is more involved and the church is less ornate.

How did the worship service illuminate for you the history and contours of global Christianity?

It was very interesting to attend a Tridentine mass. Obviously growing up I had always heard about the Catholics and the reformation, but Sunday was the first time I really experienced any of it. The church did feel medieval which makes sense because the Catholics claim that the Tridentine mass is the same now as it was then. Attending the Catholic mass made the history I had learned seem a little more present and it helped me get a little better grasp of what Church was like in the middle ages. I think going to the mass also highlighted to me the importance of the reformation in trying to reform the Catholic Church. I had a much harder time with the Catholic service than I did with the Orthodox service. There just seemed to be many more beliefs expressed in the service that I could not agree with.

How did the worship service illuminate for you your personal identity as a Christian?

We have been talking a lot in class about concepts such as church unity and it has gotten me wondering why we, as a church, cannot do a better job in reconciling with one another, but I think my experience at St. John Cantius helped me to better see why these divisions arose, and how at least some of them are very good and very necessary. I do think the Catholics do make their service very reverent which is something I think we sometimes lack in Protestant circles, but I think they have lost sight of some of the core essentials of Christian belief, namely the nature of justification and grace. Going to this mass definitely made me more thankful for the reformation and those reformers who were willing to risk challenging society to bring people back to the truth of God’s word.