I am thinking of pancakes and what to eat for lunch. While the priest was talking about his homily, here I am thinking of food. That guilt crossed me. I should not be thinking about this. Focus… Focus… It would be nice to pair it with some strawberries.
Darn it.
Catholics across the Philippines are devout churchgoers. Every Sunday, it is a known tradition to visit the house of God and listen to the homily for an hour. The church would house a massive amount of people. At times, when seats are not available anymore, people would stand for an hour to listen to the message of God. In fact, it is a practice to dress really well. Those pants that were hidden for two years in the dresser, is finally worn and flaunted. You have women who wear heavy makeup and some wear perfumes that could kill. I mean it quite literally.
But to be honest, do we really understand the message? Did you really listen? At the end of the day, when you remove the dress and the make up and after the perfume dies down, do we live by the word of God? Or, you just cannot wait to go to the nearest restaurant to eat. As most of the time, in every church, there is a Jolibee restaurant nestled just right beside it. (Which, by the way is a great strategy for business.) Finally, you can post it instagram #dateafterchurch.
I remember, back in the days, when I still constantly go to church, I was in that point in my life where I had to question things that I have been doing, routinely. Here I am,trying to listen to the priest who seem to mumble words and I could barely understand him. The speakers used were also awful and nobody really cared to complain. So there I was, focusing my thoughts on something else–the people around me.
I saw an old guy, about 40 year old, eyes closed. When everyone else was standing, he was just there, sitting. He was sleeping. Did I just hear him snore?
Then, there’s a family of two small kids just on my left. We’ll that’s cute, I said to myself. Honestly though, this is typical in every church.But the mother and father was trying to hold their two kids together,chasing them. They apparently, were having tantrums. Loud screams and cries in the church. Music to my ears.
Then there is that guy who is trying to impress his girlfriend by going to church with her. This is part of the courting stage to appear that he is religious and “God Fearing”. When all he was thinking about was the Clash of Clans game she interrupted.
Also, there’s that teenage girl, who is just going to church because his crush is there. Hah! Then some friends of hers, who had to go because their teacher told them to. Otherwise, they would not get points for 3rd grading period.
I am not blaming these people for not listening.But there would come a time when the Roman Catholic church will lose the younger generation because the people who delivers the message of God are quite frankly, boring and old fashioned. This is a time when, the attention span is getting lesser by the day and if the church is not creative enough to grab the attention of its followers, this religion and everything it believes in, will disappear.
I believe in God and I still believe in the value of going to church. But, you are there to know and understand the message of God and if it’s not delivered properly, why would you be there?
At the end of the day, you are responsible for your actions. You cannot blame the institution entirely. But, they are there and this is their contribution to the society. This holds us together and if they can’t keep up with the changing demographics, Roman Catholicism will just soon become a historical data.
Now, back to pancakes.
Spinning Thoughts 