I was in church last Sunday after a long time. Over the years, I have managed to avoid
Sunday mass, while still remaining a believer. What turned me off was the quality (or
actually the lack of it) in the sermons that are, according to me, the meat of the one hour
(typical duration of a Catholic mass) spent in church.
As far as Catholic services go, the mass will be the same anywhere, line-by-line, with the
sermon given by the priest being the only differentiator. My time would have been spent
wisely on an otherwise lazy Sunday, if the sermon makes me think and does even a tiny
bit to make me a better human being. If it lacks that spark, I would rather stay at home.
At my parish church, we used to have a priest who was not only good with words but also
the content was educative and informative. As long as he was the parish priest, I would religiously attend Sunday mass. He got transferred to another parish and the replacement
did not really get my attention and thus I stopped attending mass for some time. However,
I would still drop in at church during late evenings to spend some time in solitude, conversing with the power above.
The current priest left on a temporary deputation and so we had a new priest as a stop-gap arrangement. I decided to check out the new incumbent, thinking,"What if he is good with sermons ?".
So, I sacrifice my usual late-into-the-morning Sunday sleep and haul myself to church.
When we get to the sermon part, I am impressed by the priest's speaking skills and the
subject he had chosen to speak on. He mentioned about today's mad rush world, with
people busy with work and making more and more money. And in the process they not
only fail to look around them and appreciate the joys of nature, but are also increasingly becoming indifferent to other human beings, including their own family members.
He urged people to take time out to converse with people, to take genuine interest in
those that are suffering from disease or other problems, to spend time with the elderly
who are lonely and to help those that are not as blessed in life like us. Sounded good to
me, given that our daily lives have become so routine and machine-like that we don't
even have the time or the interest to think of others.
I am enthused enough to start making plans of how I could make a difference to others
and think in terms of doing something for charity - maybe visit the orphanage nearby
or try to volunteer some time for an old-age home and so on. So, while the priest continues
with his sermon, I am actually mentally debating what I should be doing.
I am brought back to the church from my mental meanderings by a loud shout. It takes
me some time to understand where the shout came from and at whom it was directed.
It seems that a mentally challenged boy (looked like in his early teens) who was sitting in
the front row, decided that the sermon was getting too long and boring for him. So, he
leaves his seat and walks around near the altar, resulting in the whole gathering looking
at him and whispering amongst themselves.
This seems to have enraged the priest, who till a few seconds ago was talking about caring
for and understanding others, lost his cool and screamed at the poor kid. So much for all
his talk on being considerate to others etc etc. All the time and effort that he spent on
preaching to the audience, was to me a complete waste of time, if he could not himself do
what he preached to others. All he needed to do was walk the talk and the audience would
have got the message, than by his giving an hour-long sermon, which he himself does not
believe in practicing.
Anyway, looks like I would not need to waste time at the Church on a sunday morning
for some time to come. A morning walk should do me more good.
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