This morning I visited the local Roman Catholic church to see what they do. I now need to write a reflection for my SEITE course.

It was interesting to attend mass which was over in just under 40 minutes. I was confused in some places but I was interested in the ‘inclusive’ attitude that there seemed to be with some people joining in and others not, some having communion, others not – but that seemed to be ok, as did the coming and going during the service.

Chatting afterwards with some people I learned that they enjoyed the security of the mass. They did not need books because the liturgy was the same each week – maybe a good thing, I don’t know.

There was lot of symbolism this morning and a lot of ritual – but there was no application, no hearing from God, no sharing of ideas. Maybe those concerns have more to do with me than them, but it did seem to comfortable to come, do mass, and go – how was God to challenge these people? Maybe it is through the action of receiving communion itself – any other thoughts?