That's because we're special

The young, enthusiastic and altruistic Korean Priest was the speaker at our RCIA group last Sunday (RCIA stands for Rite of Christian Initiation). It was one of our final meetings before our Catholic Confirmation to be held at the Easter Vigil Service on Holy Saturday. Half of our group of fifty would also get baptized as well. I was looking forward to this final meeting because this Priest was going to walk us through all the meaning, ceremony and symbolism behind the Eucharist. As I have mentioned before, beliefs regarding Communion are probably one of THE single biggest differences between Catholicism and Protestantism.

To get started, the Priest began by saying the Eucharist service at our church had recently been evaluated by some type of official liturgist. My Catholic church got an "A" on most everything including adhering to the scripture, executing the ceremony and service correctly as well as other things associated with the Priest's and Deacon's activities and responsibilities.

But guess who got an "F"? I won't keep you in suspense ... the congregation! Yes, Newport Beach got an "F". The evaluator's comments were "never before had he seen a congregation where so many people came late and left early" in all his years with the Catholic church. And, never had he seen such disrespectful attire (e.g. torn up jeans, revealing clothing, flip flops).

The Priest lecturing our group that day clearly expected us to be shocked. Well, big fat surprise. After having held and attended dozens of children's birthday parties in Newport Beach, it goes without saying that you can always expect a few guests to bring their kid 30 to 45 minutes late in spite of invitations or requests to bring the children at a certain time due to a special (and typically expensive) activity planned for a specific hour. And, it is absolutely normal that you will see WAYYYYY too much of mom A, B, or C's red thong underwear or enormous surgically enhanced breasts.

And, why would any of this behavior change in deference to the Catholic church? I noticed some of the RCIA initiates shifting uncomfortably in their chairs during this school teacher style scolding. I am sure a few of them didn't realize that attending church has a specific dress code (glitter tank tops and spike heals not being appropriate) and that the Priest actually expects you to be seated BEFORE the service begins. He ended with a stern warning "I hope your group takes this to heart." I solemnly nodded as I hiked my Paige jeans up and tugged my black Tahari sequins shrug down.