[siunevada]

I don't know what Catholicism you grew up with, but mine sure wasn't formal, legalistic and devoid of a personal relationship with Our Lord.

I'll second that.

And we moved fairly often when I was a kid, so it wasn't just one parish.

I went to Mass yesterday morning, N.O. of course. Took about 30 minutes. Even with a substantial homily.

[livius]

Actually, I don't mind when it is shorter, since most of the time I am gritting my teeth. Between the horrible music and the homily which is, generally, full-blown Pelagianism and full of gushing about how wonderful we are, I figure about a half-hour is all I can bear!

Here's a link to the Bottum article, btw: http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0608/articles/bottum.html

I'm not entirely in agreement with some of his conclusions, but I think his image of the destruction of the intricate nest of Catholic practices and piety, built up over centuries, and the resulting "homelessness" of its former residents is a very accurate one.

[oyez]

I always resented mass attendance being call weekly obligation. I prefer weekly opportunity.