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As a child, I was quite confused about the concept of
religion. For me, religion
was believing in God and praying- nothing more,
nothing less. As I grew older I realized
the reason of my state of confusion- I was practicing
two different religions. My mother
was raised a Catholic while my father had been raised
a Protestant in the United Methodist
Church. I was christened in the Catholic church and I
attended a Catholic institute for my
first year of school. I studied and took part in the
Catholic teachings at school as well as
attended mass with my family on Saturday nights. The
next morning, I would also attend
church with my family in a completely different
building- the United Methodist Church. I
never really questioned this religious lifestyle but I
did take note of the differences
between the two customs of worship. A couple of years
later, my mother converted to a
Protestant and I have been a member of the United
Methodist Church ever since. Now
that I am older, I can significantly see the
differences between Protestantism and
Catholicism.
Whenever I step into a Catholic church, the first
thing I notice is the structure of
the building and the artwork that adorns the ceilings
and walls. The building is very
spacious and contains rows and rows of seats that
accommodate a large crowd. I noticed
that in behind each row of seats were padded bars on
which people kneeled during certain
parts of the service. In contrast to the United
Methodist Church, there are a number of
statues that surround the church including a statue of
Mary. A very large, wooden
crucifix with Jesus on it is positioned in the center
of the front wall- the focal point within
the church. Throughout the church, a number of
intricately designed stained glass
windows allow the light from outside to enter. The
lighting in the church is quite dim.
From this, a solemn and humble setting is felt.
I’ve been to a lot of Catholic masses and it seems as
if the worship at one church is
as identical as the next one. The people seem to
simultaneously say and perform gestures
(the sign of the cross) without even thinking. I
noticed how concentrated the older people
were as they participated in the worship. The service
also contained a lot of music. A
choir situated in the back of the church began the
songs and the people would repeat the
verse. I thought the choir sang very harmoniously. I
very much enjoyed the parts of the
service when the choir would sing.
I believe that the most important part of the worship
service was the Eucharist.
The people who took part in the Eucharist looked very
concentrated and serious. After
receiving the blood and body of Christ, these people
prayed intensely on their knees. I did
not participate in this part of the service because I
didn’t feel comfortable for the United
Methodist beliefs about Communion are quite different
from the Catholic beliefs.
It was not hard for me to follow the sequence of the
worship service. I had been
to other churches before and I pretty much knew what
came next. I participated as much
as I could in the service. I sang and I prayed but I
was not able to recite the short phrases
and make the gestures within the service. I did not
feel lost nor confused but I did feel as
if other people knew that I wasn’t Catholic because I
didn’t fully participate in the service.
Unfamiliar surroundings can never really be
comfortable. I did not feel as
welcome as I thought I would be. It seemed as if the
people were there just to worship
God and didn’t exactly acknowledge anyone else. I
wasn’t really encouraged to
participate, instead I felt I should try to
participate. I didn’t receive the warm reception
that I see at my church. In some ways, I felt out of
place but I didn’t let that feeling get in
between my time with God.
Between the Catholic church and the United Methodist
church, I saw more
differences than similarities. The structure of
worship is quite similar but the manner at
which it was performed is very different. The only
prayer used in both churches is the
“Our Father.” The arrangement of the building is also
similar as well as the music played.
Another similarity is the Priest of the church and the
Pastor of my church are both male,
however I have been a member of a church where the
Pastor was indeed a female.
After understanding both worship services, I am able
to appreciate religion more.
Nowadays it seems as if people go to church for the
wrong reasons and others don’t even
go at all. For me, church is a very important factor
in my life. I go to church not only to
talk with God, that can be done basically anywhere. I
go to church to be with my family
and friends- to be a part of a community of people. I
feel as if my own faith is
strengthened when I see my family praying together.
In addition, experiencing a different
religion enables me to learn about the different
teachings about God which leads to
personally enlightening my spirituality.
Word Count: 889
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