Stuff Catholics Like: Sunday Mass

Lately, I’ve been amused by a blog called Stuff Christians Like, (now a book, pictured at right) which is written by a guy, one Jonathan Acuff, who is just completely unashamed in his criticism of all things Christian, while still remaining a good Christian. I have to respect this guy. It’s easy to poke fun at things you don’t like. But it’s even easier, not to mention more fun, to poke fun at things you really love! So, believing imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery, I present to you the first installment of Stuff Catholics Like! (Yes, yes, I know. If you look around, there’s actually a blog that’s already entitled that. But it’s not mine, and I’m not pretending it is. Maybe it will be someday. Maybe not. Maybe I can guest write for them…Who knows.

There are many reasons why it’s totally great to be a Catholic, but I’m not getting into apologetics here. This is not the venue for complex theology and discussions thereof. And lest you think I don’t know what I’m talking about when I make some these comparisons, I’ve done the Protestant thingy, so I know. I was a church musician for the Missionary Church for eight years, and have played and sung with various other denominations. (I’ve done a lot of things, religious and otherwise…so, believe me when I say, “I know.”)

Onward and upward!

Probably one of the greatest things that Catholics like is Sunday Mass. You go to Mass on Sunday for basically one hour, and you don’t have to do anything else. It’s a one shot deal. Period. There’s no Morning service, with an Evening service thrown in. (I went to a church once where you could tell the “holiness quotient” by whether the people at the Sunday evening service had already been there for the Sunday morning service. (All these places will remain nameless, for their own protection.)

Image via Wikipedia

So you go once! Yay! In fact, even though you’re allowed to go to Communion more than once on Sunday, you have to go within the context of a Sunday Mass. Generally speaking, the priest who does more than one Sunday Mass repeats his sermon at each one, so it’s not like going more than once in a day is getting you additional “content.” (I am a pianist for a Spanish Mass and often attend more than once on any given Sunday. One Mass in English and then the one I play for in Spanish. There are some cultural adaptations, but it’s basically the same homily.) So there’s none of this Sunday morning service, then the Sunday night service, and then if you’re good, the Wednesday night service! That’s a whole other kettle of fish, and not fish you’re going to have to eat on Friday, either. (That’s another blog entry there…it sure is.) Of course, you can go to Mass every day if you’re good and holy, and that’s a very good and admirable thing to do, but it’s not a requirement by any means. So there’s very little of this, “Well, he’s/she’s here every time the doors open,” mentality. Even if you were, hardly anyone else would notice, because they’re probably only there on Sundays!

Or maybe they showed up Saturday night. Let’s not forget Saturday night. ‘Cause that rocks! You can get in an early Saturday night Mass (which totally covers you for Sunday) let’s say around 5:00 p.m., and still hit all the clubs without the bother of having to go to church hung over on Sunday morning! Oh, yeah!

Sunday Mass–what’s not to love?!