Take these things away!

I attended a Christmas eve Mass last night in a Catholic Church. The congregation was a lot younger than last time I attended church and the service was incredibly vibrant.

However, I did find a few elements disturbing.

The most disturbing element of the service was the collection. The tinkering of change and the hustle of people twice during a worship reaching for their wallets I found particularly irreverent.

Jesus Christ made a whip of small ropes and drove all the traders with their cattle out of the Temple. He overthrew the tables of the money changers and poured out their money. He said to them that sold doves, "Take these things away; make not My Father’s house a house of merchandise." No one dared to disobey Jesus.

John 2:15-16

The other major issue I had follows the same theme - a place of worship should be full of people wanting to be there. The feeling I had from most of those around me was that they were only there out of some form of "duty" or for their own "salvation". This I feel detracts from the worship of those who do want to be there.

In all though; a younger congregation and a service conducted by a Papua Niuginian preist who brings a whole different feeling to the service along with the fantastic music and singing of the band made for a fantastic celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.