Mass today...

I slept in today (OK, overslept), so I went to another church for Mass. I had no idea what to expect, but much to my disappointment, it was a "Life Teen" Mass with those terrible quasi-hymn melodies as songs. I don't have anything against that music, although I'm not terribly fond of it, but Mass is not the place. I guess that'll teach me not to oversleep. Moving on...

I had been to that church a couple of times before, and I'm fairly familiar to the area. But this was the first time that I sat near the back of the church. I was over on the far right side of the elongated building. And no, that's not political this time.

As I was kneeling in prayer, I tried and tried to look up at the crucifix. But my view was blocked by a square column. I moved my head to one side, then the other, but still didn't have much luck.

Then came the readings. Today's ordinary form Gospel reading came from the 10th chapter of St. Mark. The reading told the story of a blind man that wanted to meet Jesus, and of the impediments that were in his way. Suddenly, the column struck me again. What are my impediments that keep me from being closer to Christ? What things are in my way? What can I give up? The reading really did that column justice today. And something that I thought was annoying at first, really got me to thinking about the deeper issues of my blind spots.

Another thing that struck me was the terrible waste of space of the building. The free-standing altar was up higher on a platform. Each time I looked up, I yearned for something more. It would have been amazing if priest and congregation alike were worshiping together, in the same direction, in ad orientem. The setup of the church just screamed ad orientem! Maybe some day...