The Catholic Church

October 26^th, 2011

            So I have realized that one of the really nice things about the Catholic Church is that it is pretty much the same no matter where you go. That consistency is something that I have found really nice and reminds me a lot of home. Now of course there are a few differences between the mass here and the mass in the states, the biggest difference is obviously the language. Surprise, Surprise the masses down here are said in Spanish so when I first got down here it was really hard to follow along and know what to say and when to say it but now I actually feel like I can follow along with the mass and I have almost got down everything I need to say at the correct times etc. In fact, last week was the first time that I felt that I understood and followed along with the whole mass including the sermon, so that was really cool. The church that I go to is literally kiddy corner to my house so it is not a far walk by any means, it is called Iglesia San Antonio (St. Anthony’s). The priest is a large guy who is young and speaks rather slow (for Honduran standards) which is really good for me. Some other differences that I have noticed are the lack of holy water in the churches (I have been to three different ones, including a Cathedral and none of them have it), I questioned Fr. Art about this wanting to know if there was a liturgical reason for this and with our guest blogger of the week response here is Fr. Art:

You offer a good question, and after asking around to people who are smarter than I am----I believe that your note also contained the best answer.....there really is no liturgical reason. Perhaps just neglect....maybe you could volunteer to be the "water boy."

So, I am not too sure for the reason at this point but stick with me because I am going to try to figure it out, hopefully I can find an answer or start a new trend.

            Some other differences that I have noticed are that the mass never starts on time, I guess I should not be surprised by this because that is simply the culture however the mass is supposed to start at 8 a.m. which means that the priest usually shows up right at 8 a.m. and the mass usually starts around 8:10 or 8:15. Another difference is that while the church is usually packed full of people I would guess that only about a third of them go up for communion, I guess it is good that the rest of the people still go to church but at the same time sad that they do not continue with their education to receive their first communion. Communion is also different down here, this may be due to the churches that I have gone to in my life, but I have always been handed the Eucharist in my hand and there was always the option to receive it on your tongue. However down here the priest dips the Eucharist in the wine and then places it on your tongue, only option. I think this may be more liturgically correct however I am not sure, Fr. Art/Fr. Tom care to enlighten us? Last difference that I can think of is that during the time when everyone gives the sign of peace it is not like in the states where you shake the hands of those in your pew and the pew in front and back of you. Here, you basically shake the hands of almost everyone in the church, everyone is walking around shaking hands, giving hugs, greeting each other, all of the kids run up to the priest and he greets every one of them before then moving on to say hello to almost the entire congregation. It is rather different and I have to say much more of a community atmosphere, I like it.

            Honduras, according to CIA stats, is a country that is 97% Catholic. After being here for 4 months I do agree that this country is very catholic however there is no way that it is 97%, it is much closer to 50/50 Catholics/Evangelicals if you ask me. The reason for this, from what I have been told, is that after Hurricane Mitch destroyed much of Honduras many Evangelical churches came here to help out and that converted many of the people. So maybe it is more appropriate to say that Honduras is a really Christian country. The people here are always saying “Si Dios quiere” (God willing) or “Gracias a Dios” (Thanks to God) and many other assorted saying that show that God is a part of their everyday lives. You see signs saying “Dios nos bendiga” (God blesses us) and many other saying pretty much everywhere and you see cars and buses with huge stickers of Jesus and crosses everywhere you go. There is absolutely no separation of church and state and it is not uncommon at all for God to be taught in the public school system. However at the same time it is a bit ironic because the culture in some ways is so anti-Christian; womanizing is practically a sport amongst men here, girls get pregnant around the age of 15, and parents are not afraid to hit their children. I have seen trucks that have pictures of Jesus on the front and then pictures of scantily clad women on the back. It is for sure a culture clash between two very different cultures. While I do not think this is a struggle that is very new to the world or to Honduras it is a new culture for me, in the states it seems to me that people are usually what they say they are meaning if they usually do not try to be someone who they are not and it is culturally acceptable to just not be religious. Down here in Honduras it is not as culturally acceptable so I think some people put up an act and say these things when really they do not believe in God thus creating this irony. Needless to say, it is very interesting to observe and be a part of it.