Marcy Watson - Church Visit #2

-Marcy Watson – Church Visit 2

-St. Mary’s Catholic Church

-140 N Oakwood Ave.

West Chicago, IL 60185

-10/30/16

-Catholic

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

            St. Mary’s was very reserved in comparison to a regular service at the Glen Ellyn Evangelical Covenant Church.  When you first walk in it is silent and you just sit down.  No one talks to one another or greets one another.  The orientation of worship was also rather odd because the alter was pushed into a corner.  Therefore the pews had to be adjacent to each other in order to look towards the alter.  This is likely because the service was in a small elementary school classroom.  The whole mass was rather quiet.  There were only two priests, one spoke Latin very quietly towards the alter.  The reading and the sermon were both in English.  The Eucharist was also interesting, people had to kneel down before the priest and stuck out their tongues for him to put a wafer directly in their mouth.  No one really approached us after the service, one lady said hello but other than that: silence. 

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

            The service was almost entirely in Latin, of which I do not have any knowledge.  This led me to think about all those throughout church history that went to church and had no idea what was being said.  Language is culture and culture is language.  Many people must have been deprived of the beauty of worship and the message of the Gospel with the service not being in a language they could understand.  It also gave me a good look at tradition.  There seemed to be an underlying structure to the service that everyone else knew that my companions and I did not.  My church has a structure as well but it changes depending on what we are talking about at the time.  This church seemed to have a rigorous structure that likely would not change that much over the years.  Therefore giving me a sense as to how Christians of earlier time periods would have worshipped.  Probably tying well to the idea of worshipping with the communion of saints. 

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

            The sermon was about the coming of the kingdom of Heaven.  I am not sure what Bible passage it was because it was not cited.  However the priest asked the congregation if we believed in the coming of the kingdom of God.  He also mentioned that there be many false prophets that will claim to be the Christ.  However he also mentioned John the Baptist, and how he was a prophet.  Yet John the Baptist told others that there was someone greater that would come after him.  When Jesus did come he told others to follow Jesus and not himself.  Therefore giving the congregation a measuring stick for whom to listen to when the kingdom is coming.  He then proclaimed the simple message to follow Christ.  It was a very simple message but an important one for people to hear.  For me is was a reaffirmation to keep doing what it is the I am doing: to keep following Christ and look for the coming of his kingdom.  Not only that but to work toward and for his kingdom while I am here.