Less Mass

I went to a Catholic funeral today and it was really interesting. Having organized and officiated several funerals myself, it was a real cross-cultural experience to see how the modern Catholic church does things. I can't honestly say that I thought it was good or helpful, but that opinion is based on what I try to teach and convey during a funeral. Rome must have a different plan.

Though not 95 theses or anything, here's a few thoughts I had afterwards:

• The Church's name was "Our Lady of Sorrows." Hmm… ok.
• The mass was in English and not Latin. This particular church still does Latin mass and I thought I would get to see that but it wasn't the case.
• It's easy to forget just how many paintings and statues are in a Catholic church.
  
• Nearly all of the songs were Protestant in origin. Can they do that? Amazing Grace and What a Friend We Have in Jesus, among others, were sung – it just seemed odd.
• The service was shorter than I expected at only an hour. My funeral services generally only last 20-30 minutes, but I knew that some Catholic funerals could go a lot longer.
• They only mentioned the name of the deceased a couple of times. I can't help but think the family felt like they were watching a procedure or ceremony go on without them in contrast to a Protestant funeral where there is far more direct address, explanation, and eulogizing.
• The homily was delivered by the eldest priest. He's didn't seem prepared and stammered about looking for the right word. His brief (and vague) sermon was the only spontaneous moment in the whole ceremony.
  
• Sit down, stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down, stand up. It became a distraction to the folks around me, accompanied with huge sighs and exaggerated groaning. I never did spot an obvious cue for when to stand but fortunately there were a few who knew when to stand and what the proper words were during the responsive parts.
  
• All of the rote ceremony and ritual seemed to be a comfort to those who were obviously devout Catholics, but it rang hollow and futile to me. The priests, there were three, acted like they were on auto pilot and that didn't help.

I'm glad I went but I'm also glad that we handle funerals and grief counseling and the presentation of the Gospel, etc., etc., the way that we do.