John Daigle Church Visit #1: More Liturgical

St. Michael's

310 S Wheaton Ave

Wheaton, IL 60187

February 1, 2014

Roman Catholic

Describe the Worship Service.  How was it similar or different to your regular context?

The one word I would use to describe the service is Structure.  It was so well structured!  The service ran just under an hour.  It was the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.  This was the Mass to remember the day Jesus' family went to the temple and a man named Simeon saw Jesus and rejoiced and prophesied.  There was a processional at the beginning which was very different than what I was used to in my home church.  We recited the Nicene Creed in the Service.  The Hymns we sang were unlike hymns I sing in Protestant circles.  The architecture of the building was also different than I was used to: big beautiful wooden pews, knee cushions for kneeling and the massive crucifix above the altar to remind everyone why we were there.  The Priests wore robes whereas my pastor wears a suit.  Everything just had an ancient feel to it.  It reminded me of the communion of saints accross the ages. 

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

The structure of the service was fascinating to me.  The consistent schedule for liturgy is a very interesting way to approach a worship service.  Right now, in my personal devotional life, I am seeking a balance between the beauty of routinized, intentional worship/communion with God and the spontaneous enjoyment and heartfelt seeking that just happens.  There are pros and cons with each one and it is not simple for it to work.  Either way there must be an intentionality to give glory and praise to God and to worship Him.  The solid structure is appealing to me for the same reason that a solid structure appeals to me in my personal devotional life:  By establishing a structure, I can get into the actual worship.

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?

But that only works when I have a structure that I have come to know really well.  It was harder to get into this service because I did not really know the structure that well and so my participation was not steady.  Maybe that made it better in some way because  could keep it from becoming too familiar and dry.  The thing I found most challenging about the service is that even while there was a lot of singing in the service, the people weren't really getting in the music that much.  It seemed like there was a lack of engagement with a lot of people there.  i think that is a challenge of this style of worship, that for some people it can become dry and thoughtless and careless.  That is a sad thing.   i observed a meaningful liturgy that must be carefully engaged with honor for God and reverence but also joy! 

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

This is a hard question.  I am not sure that the worship service illuminated anything unique about a specific aspect of scripture for me.  But given all that we have been talking about in class, I did notice theological aspects that this service highlighted that I do not usually perceive in my regular context.  Specifically, I noticed a strong emphasis during the service about each member of the Holy Trinity.  There were hymns where we sang one verse about the Father, one about the Son, and one about the Holy Spirit.  We also recited the Nicene Creed aloud together.  That was a cool experience, especially saying it in a congregation full of people not of my particular faith tradition.  It is amazing all that we really do share.  Just in reading that I was affirmed in our similarities.  I am very thankful for this assignment.