I was born in 1970 and came to know Christ outside of the Roman Catholic Church. Since I’m following Him, I would go wherever He would lead me, including the Catholic Church. I even looked into it when I didn’t have much by my simple faith and understanding of the Gospel, and had read the Gospels. I went to masses for awhile, and in my 20’s found some appeal in all the artwork (this was a basilica) and the mysticism that was there in the service, but there was no personal connection there (no one ever spoke to me) and something, looking back, seemed to be missing. I found it to be better than the Lutheran services I grew up in, in which people seemed to see themselves as enduring them, and were only too ecstatic to be released from for another week once they were over. But once I read the whole Bible, and meditated on it over and over, so that my understanding grew, I saw how so much of Roman Catholicism is in clear contradiction to God’s Word and Spirit. And the argument that “it’s the exact same religion” for 2000 years falls flat, too. There might not have been wholesale changes, like Mormonism’s Book of Mormon, but there is over and over again distortion of what was there at the beginning, that result in wholesale changes due to altered meanings of things.
I got the same impression from some masses on tv. The people there seemed bored out of their skulls. They never smiled or changed expressions. On the other hand, I have seen local Black churches on tv which were wonderful. They loved Jesus and were not afraid to show it. And, do not forget those colorful hats. We used to wear hats but I have not seen any in 35-40 years. Even the little girls do not wear them anymore. Belonging to Jesus should be a joyful experience and I do not see that in a catholic service. Could it be that thy do not have anything to have joy about?
I enjoyed reading that, thanks.