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Minority Report

I attended mass/liturgy at an ethnic church yesterday--St. Rafka--in the next town over from me. I had previously attended a Sunday evening liturgy with my family, but this time I was alone.

The first time we went it was rather sparsely attended as their festival was occurring in the parking lot, so most parishioners were, I imagine, at the festival. Not to mention that Sunday evening services are only attended by those most serious about their faith. The liturgy was in English, though a few prayers were in Syriac (a dialect of Aramaic--the language Jesus spoke).

Did I mention this was a Maronite-rite Catholic church? The Maronite rite is one of many in the Catholic church--known most famously for the Roman rite--that's what everyone thinks of when they hear or think of Catholic church. Anyway, this is a primarily Lebanese rite.

Attendance yesterday was substantially more than the evening in August previously attended.

And the prayers and songs! Many, many were in Arabic (providentially, they had two screens that (sometimes) had the English translation along-side the Arabic.

There were a few non-Arabic spouses and friends (I imagine) scattered about the pews, but I was distinctly in the minority.

Did I feel discomfort? Sure, but some of that was because I was attending a new church for the second time and the fact that there existed a language barrier at times. I was not about to sing the English transliteration of the songs because what I read was not always how it was pronounced.

Nevertheless, I recommend attending church in a situation foreign to your language, ethnicity, race, or culture. It can open your eyes to the diversity that is the Body of Christ.

The parishioners were friendly enough, even though I screwed up the passing of the peace (it involved hand placement that I wasn't familiar with). The music was pleasant, even Western sounding, given that many were in Arabic. The homily was encouraging without being vapid; the priest friendly and orthodox.

I might go again in spite of my discomfort. After all, we shouldn't be attending church in order to be comfortable.


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