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On July 8, 2001, at 10am, I attended a Catholic Church service. Apparently, the church is called a parish. It was in the Serra Center at the San Luis Rey Parish.

This Catholic Church was unlike any other church I've attended. I don't mean the actual building (although it was unique), but I mean the service (or mass). This is what it happened.

Even in the parking lot, my stomach turned. My heart sped up and I got a little nervous. I didn't know what to expect, however, I did read quite a bit about the history and practices of the Catholics.

As I walked to the door, a greeter gave me a full-page sized brochure for their parish. I tucked it away and entered the building. There was a nice waterfall in the lobby. I observed it, briefly, and kept walking.

This was a large building and contained a vaulted ceiling. On one wall was a huge mural of the virgin Mary. With her were several other people. Only the heads of the others were showing. The only head I recognized was "Mother" Theresa. Jesus was not present.

Inside this building, people were sitting in rows of chairs. The rows of chairs faced each other. The sign on the wall said the capacity for this room was 1400 people. It was nearly full, so I guess there was 1200 people there.

In the middle of the room, in between the two sides of people, there was a low stage. On this stage stood a two lecterns. There were also some candles and two of them were burning.

As I walked inside and sat down, a choir was singing and an organ was playing. There was one, large, projection screen above the crowd and in the middle of the room. There was a welcome message on the screen.

From my seat, I noticed a wooden cross with Jesus on it. This was in the lobby and was about 6 or 7 feet tall.

A lady began doing some announcements through the speaker system. Everyone began introducing themselves. I shook the hands of the people who were near me.

Some children began walking into the room. They wore white robes and carried the wooden cross (the one that was in the lobby). Perhaps these children are altar boys and girls. One man followed them and he carried a book over his head. When he got to the middle of the room/stage, he bowed.

After those people entered, a man in a green robe began speaking. The congregation either repeated what he said or offered a group response. Of course, I didn't know any of these responses.

Upon completion of this (liturgy), a couple hymns were sung. They put the words on the projection screen. I didn't have any objections to any of the hymns. They were all biblical and none were heretical. However, I began feeling uncomfortable and asked God for peace.

When the crowd finished singing the hymns, the man carrying the book (and wearing a tie) began reading from it. I'm not sure what he was reading, but I know it wasn't the Bible. It could have been the Apocrypha.

Everyone did the sign of the cross on their chest. I have never done this and I don't plan to because it is a Catholic sacrament. It goes from top to bottom and then from left to right. Incidentally, last night I noticed two baseball players doing this when they came up to bat. I'm assuming they were Catholic.

I got a dirty look from an older lady. She was sitting in the front row and noticed I didn't do the cross. Oh well.

People were nicely dressed. One guy was wearing shorts. I wore slacks and a collared shirt. Everyone was in this room: elderly, children, teenagers, adults, etc. A baby kept crying behind me and at one point it was difficult to hear. I'm certain that the elderly people and even some of the adults couldn't hear most of the service because they weren't sitting close enough. I saw some of them drifting off into space.

A little while later, the man with the book read from Galatians. This was refreshing. It was awesome to hear the Bible.

Speaking of the Bible, I brought mine, a notepad and pen. However, I didn't see anyone else with a Bible. Nobody. I didn't see anyone taking notes, either. I didn't even see anyone with a book of any sort (except for the guy with the book).

Standing is a big part of this service. People are constantly getting up and sitting down. It felt like a game show of sorts.

As we were standing, the white robed youths walked to the green robed guy (apparently, he's a Franciscan priest). He read from Luke; the part when the disciples were told to shake the dirt off their shoes when people or towns didn't accept them. Next, the priest gave a brief application, story and exhortation to share the gospel. Before he read, he did the sign of the cross on his chest. When he was done reading, he kissed the book, sat down and drank something.

This service was not being videotaped.

Everyone stood and a woman spoke while the congregation kept saying, "Lord, hear my prayer". Next, offering baskets were passed around. This was a little odd because there was no mention of it (to my knowledge). There was no prayer for the offering.

After the offering, everyone stood and said a bunch of things. These things were mostly incomprehensible to me. I could only decipher a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and the virgin Mary. It was odd, but not overly disturbing. It sounded like a bunch of people mumbling and talking at the same time (not quite knowing what to say or when to say it).

Suddenly, a song broke out. At a table in the middle of the room, the priest "blessed" the wine and bread. He did the sign of the cross to the juice. I'm sure the juice appreciated it.

We stood and repeated more things. The priest said something I didn't like. It was this: "may this offering make us holy and closer to salvation". Since I'm saved and going to Heaven, how much closer to salvation do I need to be? Is it supposed to be something outside my reach? It doesn't sound like this priest has eternal security.

The priest said the sacraments (wine and bread) were becoming Christ's flesh. Of course, this is a heretical doctrine. It's called the Eucharist or the Eucharistic Miracle. Priests supposedly have the power from God to turn the communion sacraments into the literal flesh of Jesus. There were several "Amen"s and "Hallelujah"s here and there. Finally, the priest took the bread, raised it over his head and said it was the lamb of God.

The white robed children ate and drank first. Next, the rows walked to the middle of the church and took the sacraments. I almost went because I wasn't sure why people were getting up. I was so used to getting up and down, I just thought I was standing for more liturgies. However, it was for communion, so I returned to my seat. Taking communion with the Catholics would have been as great an evil as taking it with the Mormons. Incidentally, I noticed people doing the sign of the cross before they took communion. Some people could go to the priest's line and he would personally give them communion.

At this point, I was thinking, "it'd be really nice to leave, now". I hadn't felt this way at any of the other churches I investigated. However, my patience must have been growing thin.

Shortly after the communion, the priest spoke and did more announcements. Everyone sang one last song (actually, some people left before the song). When the song was over, most of the people clapped and applauded! I was excited it was over, too.

I asked the man next to me a question. I said, "What is the title of the man in the green robe?" He had to think for a minute, but finally said he was a Franciscan priest. Good enough for me. I figured he was a friar or a priest.

Nobody tried to talk to me as I left. However, I noticed a statue of someone in the courtyard. I walked up to it and observed it. I couldn't tell if it was Peter or Jesus. I asked a lady nearby if she knew. She said that her and her husband have wondered for years and they think it's Jesus. I think it was Peter. Nonetheless, this person had the appearance of walking on water because he was standing in a pool and on a little plate which was built on top of the water.

My brochure flew into the pool! I went and got another. As I got another from the greeter, I noticed the priest was talking to a man. There wasn't a line to see him, so I could have spoken to him. However, I really didn't have anything to say. I wasn't interested in attending this church. I didn't want to argue or debate with him. I was still trying to process everything that just happened. Therefore, I left quietly.

The entire mass took one hour.

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