Same, Same but Different

Saint Agnes on February 24th.

Our Lady of Peace on March 3rd.

Park in the parking lot at 8:55am for the 9am mass in Florida.  

Park on the street at 8:30am for the 8:30am mass in Connecticut.

Walk in to be told there are no more seats left.  We have to sit in the vestibule.  

Walk straight to the first pew to sit with my uncle.

100s of people at the mass.  

Less than 100 people at the mass.  

Read on a TV screen the songs and readings like the rest of the congregation in the pews.

Read the songs and readings in the missal.  

Tall priest with a long sermon.  

Short priest with a shorter sermon. 

Communion given by 15 eucharistic ministers followed by a separate children’s blessing.

Communion given by the priest and deacon to the congregation.  

Over an hour later we sit in traffic to leave the parking lot.

50 minutes later we are back home, no traffic at all.

As I sit in both churches I think about how the same experience can be so different.  They actually remind me of the book Same, Same but Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw where 2 boys from different countries realize their worlds might look different, but they are actually similar.

Saint Agnes and Our Lady of Peace each have their own energy and provide me with different feelings when I attend.  Yet, they both supply me a place to decompress, a place to be with my family, a place to think, a place to pray.  Same, Same but Different.