9 Things I Like About the Catholic Church

If you read this post of a few months ago (or this one) about faith and religion, you know that I have recently started going to church for the first time in, oh 30 years or so. Catholic Church, to be precise.

I agreed to go to Catholic Church by default really, since my husband is Catholic and I am, well nothing religiously, I suppose. Rather, I don’t have an affiliation with one particular denomination of church. He does. So it made the most sense to go where he is comfortable.

Growing up one of my closest friends was Catholic. Whenever I spent a Saturday night at her house we went to church on Sunday. I kind of got a kick out of it. Stand up, sit down. Now kneel, touch your forehead, chin, chest, shake hands, “Peace be with you,” and so forth. I thought it was fun, but weird.

Never in my life did I picture myself becoming a regular attendee of a Catholic Church. I didn’t really have anything major against the Catholic Church, other than I thought it was odd and kind of overdone. I just didn’t want to go there.

Nevertheless, these days we are going to a Catholic Church. Really. As in, regularly. It’s foreign and nice at the same time.

The crazy thing? I actually like it.

Strange, but true. And here’s something else –

About a week ago, I had a bit of a faith crisis. Yes, another one. Already.

I read something about the Catholic doctrine that had me saying, “Oh Hell no. I am not going there anymore. I am not going to baptize my children in that church, no friggin’ way. If we are going to continue going to church, we’re going to have to find someplace else. Someplace Not Catholic!”

Then I calmly and maturely asked my husband about my concerns. As it turns out, I was mistaken. No need to freak out. Crisis resolved.

Interestingly, during the 24-or-so hours that I was in a misplaced rage against Catholicism, I felt really, really disappointed and sad. I have become fond of the Catholic Church. I find the service to be very peaceful and calming. When I sit in the church on Sundays, it’s a nice time to reflect. I’m learning things, and feeling some stirring of spirituality that I didn’t think was in me anymore.

And when I imagined attending a different type of service, I was quite unhappy. I wanted to continue going to the Catholic Church. This was very surprising to me, so I’ve thought a lot about it in the past few days trying to understand it.

Here’s what I’ve come to realize about the Catholic Church and why I actually prefer it to other services:

1. I like that the priest isn’t overly preachy. There are a few nice readings during the service. The priest comments on them and on some other things. Done! It doesn’t feel like being lectured. I don’t like being lectured.

2. Similarly, there is no hellfire and damnation talk. I don’t like hellfire and damnation talk. I refuse to sit and listen to someone tell me how sinful I am and how the world is going to Hell, particularly if he is yelling and/or red-faced and/or banging on a pulpit while doing it. No thank you. The Catholic priest talks about sin and repentance sometimes, but not in a scary, crazy, accusing way.

3. Along those lines, the Catholic service is nice and peaceful. I don’t much like church services where people are yelling out “Hallelujah!” and “Amen!” and such. Makes me uncomfortable.

4. Even so, the Catholic service has a joyful feel to it. No yelling required.

5. I really love the sound of a church full of people murmuring reverently in unison. This happens a lot throughout the Catholic Service, and I just like it.

6. I have never once heard mention of certain groups of people or of those who believe or act differently or not according to the Catholic teachings being bad or sinful or damned or anything else.

7. I enjoy the music during the service. It’s beautiful, but doesn’t leave me feeling as though I’m at a rock concert. It feels right for the service.

8. The people there are very kind. The priests and deacons are welcoming and speak to you as you come into and go out of the service. They shake hands and smile. The people in the church are nice too. This is not like many of my previous church experiences.

9. The Catholic service is beautiful. It just is. If you let yourself sit and listen and watch and sort of participate, the ritual and symbolism are just lovely. I say “sort of participate” because of course I don’t receive communion, and I haven’t gotten the hang of doing the sign of the cross and other stuff (stuff that I don’t even know the name of), and really I’m not there at this point anyway. But I like it. It moves me somehow.

So there it is. Surprisingly, I enjoy, dare I say prefer going to Catholic Church. It is a nice fit for me. It makes me feel good, and not at all uncomfortable (though I admit the first few times I was kind of uneasy).

Beyond enjoying the Catholic Mass, I have been educating myself on the doctrine of Catholicism. I’m reading a lot from this blog in particular, which just makes a lot of sense to me. I figure if I’m going to go to Catholic Church and take my children there, I ought to learn more about it. I have been surprised by what I have found. Though there are a lot of things about Catholicism that I don’t agree with, by educating myself about the reasons Catholics believe the things they do, I am beginning to at least understand it a little. It’s not as stuffy as I thought it was.

As with most things, when I open my mind and actually educate myself about something, I find myself pleasantly surprised and less judgmental. How about that?

I do want to add that I am well aware that there are lots of other great churches out there, and by describing my preferences I am not trying to belittle any other religion, faith or lack thereof, or type of church service. I’m just trying to find what is best for me, not to disparage what works for anyone else.

After my brief panic last week, I was especially grateful to attend and enjoy church today.