My first stop on the religious path was a Roman Catholic church called St. Angela Merici. I contacted Father Rooney last week and asked if he would mind if I joined them for mass, and he invited me to his church this weekend. He also invited me to talk with him a little about Catholicism also. I arrived about 20 minutes early, and said goodbye to my husband as I got out of the car (he was dropping me off). I said “I love you” and shut the door. I hadn’t walked far before a man laughed and said “I thought you were talking to me!” I replied “well, I do like you even though I don’t know you…actually, I love everyone. I love you!” His wife laughed along with us and we all introduced ourselves. They were Rick and Betsy and were just getting their 5 month old grandson out of the car to take him in. I told them I was new, and not only new but not even a Catholic at that. I confessed to having no idea what I was doing, and they immediately offered to take me in and show me the ropes. I was incredibly happy, as I’d been nervous all day about walking in and not knowing what to do and making a fool of myself. They introduced me to a few people inside, and one girl asked if anyone knew what St. Angela Merici (whom the church is named for) was the patron saint of. No one in the immediate area did, so I googled it and informed them that she was the saint of the disabled and ill. I think I may have gained a few brownie points with that They thanked me, let me know that I was welcome to sit with them during mass, and then showed me where to find Father Rooney. He welcomed me and told me how glad he was I had made it. He asked if I’d like to chat a little bit before mass and I did, so we had a seat. He said he was very interested in my project and wanted to hear more, so I told him what I am doing here and why. He asked if I’d ever been to a Catholic church before and I admitted yes, I’d been with my biological mother after I’d met her again right after I turned 18. He found it interesting that my biological mother was Catholic but I shared with him that she and I were no longer in contact. I spoke about the falling out we’d had over my being liberal (to which he informed me that a lot of catholics are liberal), for having gay friends (to which he informed me he believes that people are born gay and there is no reason to judge them or not be their friend) and because I am Buddhist (to which he replied that he thinks highly of the Buddhist religion. He said he believes that many religions have truth in them, and he admired the Buddhist philosophies of doing good and being compassionate. He shed a completely different light on his religion and fellow Catholics than the impression I had gotten before then. I told him that I had some questions for him, both from myself and from some others who were following my journey. We agreed it would be best for me to email them to him for him to answer. I will post them when he replies to me with them.
He had to leave to get ready for the service and I went into the main part of the sanctuary and joined Rick and Betsy in the front left. We started off singing a hymn - We Are Called
1. Come! Live in the light!
Shine with the joy and the love of the Lord!
We are called to be light for the Kingdom,
to live in the freedom of the city of God!
Refrain: We are called to act with justice,
we are called to love tenderly,
we are called to serve one another;
to walk humbly with God!
2. Come! Open your heart!
Show Your mercy to all those in fear!
We are called to be hope for the hopeless
so all hatred and blindness will be no more!
3. Sing! Sing a new song!
Sing of that great day when all will be one!
God will reign, and we’ll walk with each other
as sisters and brothers united in love!
and then we were instructed to greet the people around us. Father Rooney spoke about how important it was to welcome new people and really make them feel at home, and help them know what to do. They got an A+ at that in my experience.
From what I can recall (and unfortunately, I do not remember the exact order of things, or which hymns were sung other than the above) next was a reading from the bible that spoke of how the locals of the area were very upset with Jesus’s disciples for not following the ritual of hand washing before meals. Jesus had replied to them that it is not what goes into the body that makes someone unclean, but what we do. Gossip, greed, selfishness, blasphemy, hate, etc, that’s what people do the makes them unclean, not rituals and traditions. He also said that Jesus said all who praise his name are not his followers. Too many people worship Jesus and God with their words, but they don’t actually do anything that Jesus commands us to do. And what does Jesus want us to do? Take care of widows and orphans, and love our neighbors. This part made me smile, as I have two children whom I adopted from orphanages, and charities that care for orphans are close to my heart. Father Rooney went on to say, though, that we have all experiences loss. Deaths of loved ones, losses of jobs, income, friendships, etc. We are all widows and orphans in that sense. We need to reach out to one another and take care of each other in times of loss and need.
The priest read about the current church bulletin, cookbooks being in, a prison ministry they were starting for anyone who felt called, getting the children who could read to start doing more with the church, and about it being the 3rd anniversary of them being in that new church. They sang a hymn that was the first hymn they’d sung in the new place in celebration. I thought their church was very beautiful. It was decorated very nicely, and was welcoming and inviting without being so over the top that you would wonder if the money wouldn’t have been better spent helping the poor. Soon it was time for the communion, and there was a lovely ritual with a song and some chanting as the father blessed the wine and yeast he broke off. As we stood and got in line, my friends informed me to cross my arms over my chest and instead of receiving communion, I would receive a blessing instead, which I did. I noticed everyone else held their hands out as someone, a lady in my case) would say “the body of christ” and place a bit of the thin yeast wafer in their hands. They would eat it, and it seemed most people kept their hands in a prayer position as they ate it. In the middle was a line for the wine, which I did not enter. I observed that the priest would say something, I imagine was “the blood of Christ”, and they would drink from a gold chalice. There was a little more singing, and a man got up and said a prayer for everyone. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone. He prayed for the government, the people who make laws, the sick and injured, the kids returning back to school, parents, professional, the Pope, the archbishop, the nuns, you name it. Then Father Rooney led us in prayer and dismissed us. I was very excited that I had remembered the Lord’s Prayer from when I was a child in Sunday School at my Nazarene church. Pride may be a sin, but I grinned from ear to ear as I was able to follow along with everyone else and not be the only one who didn’t know the words. As we left, my friends reminded me it was proper to genuflect (bow) to the Christ on the cross at the front of the sanctuary, so I did. I told them that as a Buddhist, we’re often accused of worshiping idols because we bow to Buddha statues. They replied that people accuse them of the same thing for bowing. They didn’t know anything about Buddhism, so I told them that to us, the Buddha is not a god, but was just a wise man and we bow to the Buddha statues as a sign of respect for a teacher, much like martial arts students bow to their sensei. They do not believe their sensei is a god, they are just showing respect. They told me that as we left, there would be bowls of water that the priest had blessed, and if I chose, I could dip my fingers in it and make the sign of the cross. I did so, but I probably got it backwards. I remember saying “in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost” a lot in church as a kid, but I was never really taught how to do the sign of the cross. Father Rooney thanked me again for coming and asked me what I thought and if I enjoyed myself, which I told him I did. I said goodbye to my new friends and greeted several more people on the way out. All in all I am very glad I went and I did come away with a much higher opinions of Catholics in general for having gone. Not that my opinion was poor of all Catholics, but I did learn things that made me see them in a different light. I hope the rest of my experiences go as well in the future.