I'm trying to do less of a day-to-day update type of post, and one that's more topical, so here goes! I usually like posting that way because it gives me a way to reflect on the past few weeks and have a chance to really think about more than just what I did yesterday.
I've been thinking a lot about faith obviously as I've been here, and just like going to Kenya, or Italy, or Ireland, or Providence, mass here in Houston is different than mass at home. The music is different, the preaching styles are different, and the way people go to church is different. Over the past few weeks, we've definitely been "church shopping," but I think we've finally found one we like and will continue to go to.
During the shopping process, you notice things about mass. I have noticed that Catholic mass here has a distinct Protestant flavor, which honestly isn't that much of a surprise here in the deep south. People dress up way more than we do at home. It could be that I'm used to my college kid 10:30 PM masses (which by the way, I miss, and I was thinking of you all last night!), but everyone here gets very dressed up- some ladies wear hats! It's nice, because we do it too (not the hats), and it makes going to church more of an outing than something you simply do every week. It brings some of the formality back, and it makes us aware that we're going somewhere special.
I have also noticed the influence on the preaching style of the different priests whose homilies I have heard since I've been here. They sound more like southern Baptist preachers than Catholic priests, and I'm saying this having been to mass in several different places. Fr. Martinez, the Jesuit who is President of Cristo Rey, has an especially loud and engaging voice, and his homilies most remind me of being at mass in New Orleans. He uses the same inflection and tone as we see in many movies about the south, and I still think it's funny that that stereotype is actually true.
The music is also very much influenced by protestant traditions. We have been going to mass at St. Anne's, where the choir wears robes, and we each have a St. Anne's songbook in the pews. This also has all the readings for the year- it's a bound book with a hard cover, and it makes sense if you think about it, but it's still so funny to have a nice songbook instead of the new one every year. The music style is different from home. I don't recognize a lot of the songs, which is rare, and they all have a lot of slides and connected notes. The tempo is a bit slower and the beat is more of a march, and I find the lyrics to be less poetic. It's just different, but I like it!
I like going to mass at St. Anne's because there is a real diversity of people at mass. Lots of young married couples, lots of families, older people, and then there's us, who are somewhere in between. We feel comfortable there, and are beginning to be involved with the Young Adults group that's really active. We're still settling in, and having one place to go to church is helping with that.
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