Melodie Yu - Church Visit #1

Church name: Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church

Church address: 36 N Ellsworth St, Naperville, IL 60540

Date attended: March 27, 2015

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

The building itself has pictures of Christ's death and resurrection, murals of Mary and Jesus, and an altar with a cross in the middle of it. Interestingly, I did not see an big focus on Mary in the art. I have been to this Latin mass before but I was able to follow closer this time around. The service itself was a preparation for the Eucharist. There was incense waved around the congregation and around the elements. I noticed the amount of prayer involved in preparing the elements. There were prayers for the elements to be accepted by God but also a large focus on why Eucharist was being taken, namely Christ's death and resurrection. A little more than half way through the service, the priest did give a homily, similar to a sermon in my context. Although this was much shorter, spoken with less emotion, and filled with examples from life rather than my typical context of exegetical work before application. In my context, there also seems to be much more focus on the human side of things and a more personal focus. This was more, if not all, focused on the trinity and on the church. Some prayers were sung out loud while other prayers were silently said by the priest. Compared to my regular context, this was much more liturgical and traditional with artistic appeal in the service and the building.

What aspects of Roman Catholic theology did you notice expressed in the service?

I noticed aspects of the Roman Catholic theology of priesthood, Eucharist, and church. During the preparation of the Eucharist, there was a lot of standing and sitting. The thing I noticed was that whenever the priest sat, the congregation sat as well. I also noticed that the priest's rob had a sash with a cross on his back. It was clear that the priest was to be held in high regard because he was handling the elements and in a way in union with Christ. Another aspect I noticed was transubstantiation. This was more obvious due to the booklet that I was following along with. It had little notes on the side explaining parts of the service and one was a note on how the preparation of the Eucharist is to convert the elements to Christ's self. The last aspect of Roman Catholic theology I noticed expressed was on the unity of the church. The prayers were never focused on the self. If it was not on the trinity, it was on the church. Even by doing liturgy, responding together and more so in Latin, it was a unifying act of the present congregation, past, and future ones.

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

The service illuminated for me the idea of Christ as King and ruler of all. Although this is something that all Christians know, it is a difficult thing to imagine in America as there is no monarchy. With kneeling, crossing, and the focus on Christ instead of ourselves, it caused me to ponder on why Catholics do these actions. I came to the conclusion that these are great acts of respect, showing that we are not God and how small we are compared to him. I imagined that if there was a throne in the center of the stage and Christ was sitting on it, how much I would want to show that respect and honor by bowing and kneeling before him because of his glory, forgiveness, and love. It makes me want to start crossing myself! But I won't, because that is disrespectful to do as a non-Catholic.