On Mass
It is Sunday, and I do try to at least watch Mass lately. I said to a social media-contact recently that you can treat Mass as literary analysis, even if you are not religious.
There are generally two Old Testament readings and one New Testament reading then a pastoral sermon. One of the comments from Isiah is about being capable to set your face “like flint.” I think it means being strong. The New Testament reading seemed to be about whether Jesus was only a religious leader or, as his community seemed to want him to be, a political one against the Roman empire. “Who do you say that I am?” He asks this of Peter.
The priest mentioned in his sermon that faith without action is “dead.”
A random thought. One of my neighbors when I was a reporter was a fallen-away Catholic. He said one of the things that disturbed him about the religion was the image of a man being tortured on a cross in church. I don’t know. I know what he means, but I guess I have a stronger stomach. I think it is sad but in a way beautiful.