After a long day at work and a car limited to the Issaquah/Bellevue area I decided to do an impromptu to Church visit. First thing I got to say is, if I had a lot of free time and transportation I would probably be visiting a lot of Catholic Churches for this blog. Most have daily mass at 9am and they are in almost every city or town I've been in (can't say the same for a lot of other denominations and religions I've visited). Each experience is different too, some are more conservative congregations, while others are more liberal...the aesthetics also vary depending on the Church.I've been to Saint Joseph's before and it is close to my work so I decided to drop in since I wouldn't miss too much of the service.
As for the substance of the Mass, today was a good day that actually tied into my own philosophy and depending on how you do it can be very practical. The moral of the sermon was if you become like a child and depend on God then you will find peace and grow. Luke was used as the example and the reading was about how a widow was persistent for a corrupt judge to rule in her favor and how he eventually relented because of her persistence, the moral was "If a corrupt person will relent, what about someone Good like God?"
I saw how this could be applied to "The Way" in Taoism or even Buddhism. I haven't found any good evidence that anyone has physically met Jesus post death, or anyone who has died...but from when people describe prayer to me and the times I've prayed in the past it is a reflective process. It forces you to look at yourself and desires. From that place it is much easier to get rid of Ego, whether God is the reason or seeking Enlightenment or following "The Way" the end product can make you unselfish, and if you seek that place like a child or the idea of child (Innocence) than you will find some part of it and grow.
That is what I got out of the experience of Mass today and the sermon.
Also, the new responses the congregation does are a bit hard to remember. What was once "And also with you" when the priest says "Peace be with you." Is now "And with your spirit." Which also seems a bit more vague...the definitions of spirit(s) range all over the place versus "and you" which is very clearly talking about the person and wishing them well.
That's all on that, tomorrow I plan on visiting some more Churches and continuing the adventure.
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