Fast forward another decade, I am now a born again Christian out from under the Catholic church and going to Protestant/Evangelical services. When I would visit my Mom, we would go to Catholic Mass but I increasingly felt out-of-place there, that something was wrong and missing the genuine worship I had come to appreciate. I still drive my Mom to her weekly Mass, but I do not go in with her. It just doesn't "work" for me. This, by the way , was NOT something I consciously decided or felt I had to make a choice. It was an inward sense of the Holy Spirit steering me away from a false worship and into a genuine relationship with the living Savior.
I was raised as an Army Brat, and attended Protestant services around the world. They had slight variations depending on the celebrant. Since the Episcopal Church was the de facto church of the U.S. Army, many Protestant services were very similar to Morning Prayer, circa 1926 Book of Common Prayer. My experience led me to convert to the Episcopal Church from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) a Presbyterian offshoot.
Fast forward to my experience as an Infantry Battalion Executive Officer in Germany. Our battalion chaplain was a Roman Catholic and native of Chile who spoke only broken English. My battalion commander was engaged in an ongoing dispute with our Commander, then Brigadier General Norman Schwartzkopf who expected all of his commanders to attend Protestant Chapel (we were both Episcopalian and I was a Vestryman of the Anglican parish across the Rhine in Wiesbaden). We decided to attend the Spanish Mass offered by our Chaplain early on Sunday mornings so that I could get to Morning Prayer in Wiesbaden and my battalion commander could thumb his nose at Schwartzkopf.
I found Mass to be a grand experience, even in Spanish. I am very attuned to Catholic liturgy, though not so much Catholic governance. I have since left the Episcopal Church because of their abandonment of belief in God, but I cannot embrace Catholicism. Our religious institutions have become barriers to our Christian beliefs and adherence to Scripture.
....”This, by the way , was NOT something I consciously decided or felt I had to make a choice. It was an inward sense of the Holy Spirit steering me away from a false worship and into a genuine relationship with the living Savior”....
Remarkable that as young as you were you opted to navigate yourself to church...also interesting that even so young God was showing you the way to go.
Good story Boatbums.....That inward sense is often denied by catholics and others when the Holy Spirit is operating within.. or pushed back...you paid attention to that discomfort.