xmas mass

i attended an xmas mass with my parents-in-law in lovely waynesville MO. it was, afaik, the first catholic service i've ever been to.

to quote an unrecalled jewish comedian, the catholic mass is a lot like synagogue, only with less hebrew and comfier footrests.

har de har.

the mass itself seemed more goofy to me than the jewish "equivalent" partly because it was all in english, partly because i hadn't been raised to consider it anything other than slightly goofy, partly because i'm much wiser to the purpose of repetition and prayer, and partly because i really paid close attention to what was said. so close, in fact, that i recognized the closing benediction was ripped straight from the jews. it was literally word-for-word, other than the bits about jesus christ, that is.

there was something else that bugged me about the service, but honestly, i can't recall what it was. at the end of the service, i came across the page in the back of the prayer guide detailing what various flavors of non-catholics were supposed to do at the various points of the service. where was this page when i needed it, at the beginning? ah well, i did all right, i think.

i came out of it still a non-catholic. that's good.