Sunday Mass

Editor's Note: Today, we welcome a guest post from Peter Serzo, the blogger behind the blog Catholic Churches Visited. I hope you enjoy his introduction to his blog and that you'll take some time to pay a visit today at www.dotirome.com. LMH

Sunday Mass

Every week, convincing my boys to go to Mass is no simple matter.  My parents argument, "It's only 1 hour per week.", didn't work with me and I decided long ago not to use it.  Our home church serves donuts afterwards, that is a good motivator.  Heck, it is a good motivator for me.  All kidding aside, many years ago, after some soul searching, I developed insight into why I loved going to mass.  This is what I share with my boys.

It is our time to reconnect with God, our family, and ourselves.  No ipods, no xbox, no angry birds, no cell phones, no boss asking for something to be done, no teacher nagging you, no parents yelling (unless you have to sit between the kids to keep them from annoying each other).  In other words, NO demands meaning nothing but peace for 1 hour.  Use that hour for personal reflection.

Since I have moved states many times over the years, and now I travel for work, I have seen my share of churches, Priests, and mass.  What I discovered is I like the consistency of the Catholic mass and I love hearing the message of the homily and how a myriad of Priests approach delivering the Word.  This is the one dynamic part of our Mass.

I am now blogging about these experiences as a labor of love, for my boys and my faith.  My blog is www.dotirome.com.  Odd name that stands for the part of mass I love most: The sharing of Christ body and blood.  "Do this in remembrance of me."  I love those words and they resonate everytime I hear them spoken.

My goal is to get to as many churches as possible - and not just Cathedrals.  As a matter of fact, my goal is just the opposite.  I believe the strength of our church is the local neighborhood parishes.  It is these churches I want to visit and the people who support them.  After my visit I write about my experience and mainly review the following: Church environment, Stations of the Cross, Homily, The Lord's Prayer, and the music.  Then I end my write up with a reflection on what I heard and answer some questions and pose others.

I am honest in my thoughts about homilies.  But my blog does not bash any Church or Priest, it is a positive reflection with constructive thoughts.

Right after the first week of doing this I had an email conversation with my home parish Priest.  He let me know about the changes the Mass will have on November 27, 2011.  How appropriate!  I had no idea - and the changes are significant (The most significant changes in 40 years!).

Now my blog has taken on new meaning for me.  A even more meaningful mission.  I hope by reading my blog, catholics everywhere will keep in mind what is most important to themselves about the Mass experience.  It is a personal experience and one that we choose to experience.  Hopefully not just at Easter and Christmas.

Read, enjoy, and comment.  Provide me with feedback.  Thank you to Lisa for allowing me to introduce myself and my blog.

See you at Mass!