On Religion

How Big You Were: How Small You Are

I was sitting in church about an hour ago, looking up at the cupola, the cement walls and huge arches; the grand ceilings and simplicity of everything was perfect. I sat on the wooden pew and knelt on the wooden  kneeler and was surrounded by people.

I realized concretely in those moments, that no matter how much we know - how much we think we know - or how familiar something has been, there is always a larger meaning: a wider perspective. I was stunned as I sat there to think of how unfamiliar the service in Spanish was, even though my whole life I have attended mass. A new church, a new language, everything was strange. The same Catholic mass said today at San Benito Abad's in Palermo, Buenos Aires, was the same was was given at St. Alexis Church in Wexford, PA; was the same at St. Mary's, Marietta, OH; the same at St. Bernard-St. Mary's in Akron, OH; the same at Sacred Heart, Bloomfield, Connecticut; and the same at the St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican. The difference is the location. But we all heard the same readings. And as many times as we hear them, when you're thrown into a different place, you find yourself sitting back and admiring the mystery of religion; the fascination of faith; and the appreciation of what you believe.

In the huge church, the voices came together in song and the resonance shook my soul. I was mute because of the language barrier and I had no music to follow, but the simple fact that I could be scared and surprised at the magnitude of what my faith could bring to me was such an enriching experience.

The astonishment of feeling the bond of religion living through each parishioner was magnified in the Sign of Peace. We would kiss on the cheek, just as the greeting custom in Buenos Aires, but the stark contrast to the Sign of Peace in the States was lucid: sometimes we don't even touch because we're afraid of spreading or catching viruses and bacteria. But that's such an insular and isolationistic habit that I've realized: love here isn't shy. Love of a brother or sister as we are all is not hidden.

I realized today through the display of passion and the love brothers and sisters have for each other that I am part of something greater. Religion isn't a transaction: it transforms you if you put yourself in the mindset that it can.

A little philosophy among my entries of jest.

Angela