A Reminder of Why I stopped Being a "Good" Cathoilc

 I went to mass last night for the first time in twenty years.  I have my reasons and I'll keep them to myself, but this is going to be hard.

The service reminded me, over and over again, why I stopped going.  It is the week before Easter, a long service, and one where the readings really drove home what the Church is trying to teach me:  I'm a worthless sinner and I need the priest to save me.  The reading of the passion was the perfect example of that.  The reader began but any line that was the crowd was spoken by the congregation in response.  We were the evil bastards that killed Christ.  The priest spoke all the lines that were Jesus', underlying that he was our eathly representative of Jesus.  Subtle.

I have met this man, this priest, and he strikes me as being no smarter, no better than me but somehow I have to go through him to receive the blessings of God.  Yup, this is going to be very hard.