MoNiCa4316
23rd May 2008, 09:03 PM
:wave:Hey everyone! I went to a healing Mass some time ago and I want to share my experience with all of you :)
oki in one word, it was amazing !!! I really enjoyed it a lot, and I know that I'll be going back. I really really liked it.
so here's what happened :) I went alone, but I didn't really mind. the people were soo friendly, I could tell that there is good fellowship there.
The Mass was in the evening, and when it started it was already getting dark. I was worried that not many people would come, but actually there were lots of people there!! many were from that church, but not all. I really didn't know what to expect. I was kind of nervous. I was glad to see people of all different ages and there were some young adults like me, and a teenage girl too (with her mom). i was just praying and waiting for the Mass to begin.. but before Mass, they had some praise and worship (instead of the 'entrance hymn'.. although they still called it a 'hymn' hehe). There were modern musical instruments, like a piano, guitars, and several singers.. I knew all the songs. (they even did Hillsong at one point lol!). The first thing I noticed was that people were raising their hands when they sang, and they clapped sometimes.. hehe..yea and it was pretty charismatic... The first song we sang was "Lord I lift Your name of high" - maybe you know it.. oki then, this lady came up to the front and invited everyone to praise the Lord, and then began praising Him in both tongues and english..and some other people were praying in tongues too but it was all peaceful and organized and not "out of control" hehe. Many people raised their hands again. lol when they started to pray in tongues I was a little surprised - i haven't heard much of that so I'm still not real used to it..
well then we sang another song... and then everyone got quiet and the priest came into the church, so that's when the actual Mass began. This Mass was a little different in that the songs were contemporary, and the people were somewhat more 'expressive' in the worship - as I expected.. the priest's homily was good and the prayers too. it was great because the Scripture reading of the day and the homily really spoke to me. the structure of it was just like regular Mass in any catholic church. (btw I didn't notice any liturgical abuses ;))
I couldn't take Communion (obviously..) but I really wanted to - as usual, lol.. I went up to receive a blessing from the priest though. when I got back, I was just praying on my kneeler and I heard a woman in the pew behind me praying in tongues...her prayer language sounded so pretty!! =) and then we all sang another song. there was a lot of focus on God's presence in the Eucharist there, i could tell that these people really believed in it and it was a powerful experience for them.
After the Mass, some people came up to the front and shared some things they felt the Lord tell them during Mass.. it was just encouraging things. this one man gave a really good word from the Lord, about the importance of trusting Him, and then they also talked about healing a bit (I don't mean just physical healing but spiritual and emotional as well). after this many people said something like "thank You Jesus". then we had a bit more praise and worship...and while the band was playing some music, the people were invited to the front to be prayed over. I was just sitting there and watching everything, this was really new to me - in my old churches no one ever got 'prayed over'! btw it was interesting, because some people were 'slain in the Spirit' but not all - i was glad that not all were, because that made it more genuine for me - I could see that the people were not being pushed down, etc. =) all that happened is the other person would pray for them and then at some random point, they would start slowly falling down lol - sort of like they had fallen asleep in a way.. but the ones who were not slain in the Spirit just thanked or hugged the person who prayed for them and walked back to their pews. I observed the people who did fall; it was interesting - I never really saw anything like that happen before - they were all caught by someone standing behind them and laid on the carpet. lol. each person was prayed over for a considerable time, not just for a minute, but like 5 minutes. most people went up btw. and the whole time, the band was playing music quietly and the people in the pews were singing or praying. what I liked was just the calmness and sense of peace there, no one was shouting or being distracting in any way ;) and the people who were praying were very quiet and gentle too in a way.. I think that's good because the Holy Spirit doesn't cause chaos and in Corinthians, Apostle Paul encouraged orderly worship.
As I was observing, this older lady came up to me and said hi, I said hi back. She was soo nice. =) I noticed that she talked to a lot of people there, I guess she's part of the charismatic prayer group in the church. One thing I noticed about her and also about many other people there - is that they had a lot of joy and love in their eyes, like they were just ..different, somehow. The priest was like that too. And during this Mass, when it was time for the sign of peace, when I turned to the people around me I just noticed a lot of warmth and love in their eyes too. it was cool. Well I told this lady that this was my first charismatic Mass and she asked me what I thought of it, and I said that I felt a lot of peace there. btw, yea I felt soo much peace there!! more about that later.. she said that she gets that comment from many of the visitors. Then she asked me what parish I go to, and I said that actually I'm not Catholic yet but I'm going to be. She looked really happy and gave me a hug hehe. We talked for a bit more, but then she had to go to talk to someone; she gave me another hug and said 'God bless you' I said 'God bless' back. I continued observing the people who were being prayed over
I guess you're wondering by this point if I went to be prayed over eventually? ;)
oki here's the ONLY thing I regret about all this: I didn't go!!! aaah.. I really wanted to - I felt God calling me to go too, like I needed to be prayed over at that Mass... but the reason I didn't' go is because I was expecting to be picked up (by my mom) any second, to go back home..the plan was that she would drive up to the church and phone me, and i had my phone set on 'vibrate' (so it's not loud), and then I'd know she's there and would come out. and I thought that if I went to be prayed over, that might take some time, and I'd miss the call.. so I didn't go. I really regret that lol.
My mom called soon after that, and I got up to go.. the lady I was talking to before came up to me and asked me if I'm going, and I said yes, and she was like - are you sure you don't have time to go be prayed over? i was like..I'd like to, but I don't have time. lol I wish I did though.
so then I went back home.
the really cool thing about this Mass was that I felt soo much peace there! as I said before. It was really supernatural in a way !! even afterwards, in the car, I just felt so close to God. And while I was in the church, I felt the Holy Spirit there all around me and there was just so much peace. Nothing there made me uncomfortable at all. and there was a lot of reverence for God there which I liked (because that's something I like about the Mass in general).
So that's my story! :) it was a really good experience for me, and I'm planning to go back in June.
my family is pretty skeptical of all this "charismatic stuff" (it's just very new to them..) so I'd have to be careful at explaining why I want to go back.. but next time, I'm going to stay longer and maybe be prayed over if God wants me to.
I'm done =)
thanks for reading! Sorry I kind of rambled on and on.. hehe
God bless!
monica
oki in one word, it was amazing !!! I really enjoyed it a lot, and I know that I'll be going back. I really really liked it.
so here's what happened :) I went alone, but I didn't really mind. the people were soo friendly, I could tell that there is good fellowship there.
The Mass was in the evening, and when it started it was already getting dark. I was worried that not many people would come, but actually there were lots of people there!! many were from that church, but not all. I really didn't know what to expect. I was kind of nervous. I was glad to see people of all different ages and there were some young adults like me, and a teenage girl too (with her mom). i was just praying and waiting for the Mass to begin.. but before Mass, they had some praise and worship (instead of the 'entrance hymn'.. although they still called it a 'hymn' hehe). There were modern musical instruments, like a piano, guitars, and several singers.. I knew all the songs. (they even did Hillsong at one point lol!). The first thing I noticed was that people were raising their hands when they sang, and they clapped sometimes.. hehe..yea and it was pretty charismatic... The first song we sang was "Lord I lift Your name of high" - maybe you know it.. oki then, this lady came up to the front and invited everyone to praise the Lord, and then began praising Him in both tongues and english..and some other people were praying in tongues too but it was all peaceful and organized and not "out of control" hehe. Many people raised their hands again. lol when they started to pray in tongues I was a little surprised - i haven't heard much of that so I'm still not real used to it..
well then we sang another song... and then everyone got quiet and the priest came into the church, so that's when the actual Mass began. This Mass was a little different in that the songs were contemporary, and the people were somewhat more 'expressive' in the worship - as I expected.. the priest's homily was good and the prayers too. it was great because the Scripture reading of the day and the homily really spoke to me. the structure of it was just like regular Mass in any catholic church. (btw I didn't notice any liturgical abuses ;))
I couldn't take Communion (obviously..) but I really wanted to - as usual, lol.. I went up to receive a blessing from the priest though. when I got back, I was just praying on my kneeler and I heard a woman in the pew behind me praying in tongues...her prayer language sounded so pretty!! =) and then we all sang another song. there was a lot of focus on God's presence in the Eucharist there, i could tell that these people really believed in it and it was a powerful experience for them.
After the Mass, some people came up to the front and shared some things they felt the Lord tell them during Mass.. it was just encouraging things. this one man gave a really good word from the Lord, about the importance of trusting Him, and then they also talked about healing a bit (I don't mean just physical healing but spiritual and emotional as well). after this many people said something like "thank You Jesus". then we had a bit more praise and worship...and while the band was playing some music, the people were invited to the front to be prayed over. I was just sitting there and watching everything, this was really new to me - in my old churches no one ever got 'prayed over'! btw it was interesting, because some people were 'slain in the Spirit' but not all - i was glad that not all were, because that made it more genuine for me - I could see that the people were not being pushed down, etc. =) all that happened is the other person would pray for them and then at some random point, they would start slowly falling down lol - sort of like they had fallen asleep in a way.. but the ones who were not slain in the Spirit just thanked or hugged the person who prayed for them and walked back to their pews. I observed the people who did fall; it was interesting - I never really saw anything like that happen before - they were all caught by someone standing behind them and laid on the carpet. lol. each person was prayed over for a considerable time, not just for a minute, but like 5 minutes. most people went up btw. and the whole time, the band was playing music quietly and the people in the pews were singing or praying. what I liked was just the calmness and sense of peace there, no one was shouting or being distracting in any way ;) and the people who were praying were very quiet and gentle too in a way.. I think that's good because the Holy Spirit doesn't cause chaos and in Corinthians, Apostle Paul encouraged orderly worship.
As I was observing, this older lady came up to me and said hi, I said hi back. She was soo nice. =) I noticed that she talked to a lot of people there, I guess she's part of the charismatic prayer group in the church. One thing I noticed about her and also about many other people there - is that they had a lot of joy and love in their eyes, like they were just ..different, somehow. The priest was like that too. And during this Mass, when it was time for the sign of peace, when I turned to the people around me I just noticed a lot of warmth and love in their eyes too. it was cool. Well I told this lady that this was my first charismatic Mass and she asked me what I thought of it, and I said that I felt a lot of peace there. btw, yea I felt soo much peace there!! more about that later.. she said that she gets that comment from many of the visitors. Then she asked me what parish I go to, and I said that actually I'm not Catholic yet but I'm going to be. She looked really happy and gave me a hug hehe. We talked for a bit more, but then she had to go to talk to someone; she gave me another hug and said 'God bless you' I said 'God bless' back. I continued observing the people who were being prayed over
I guess you're wondering by this point if I went to be prayed over eventually? ;)
oki here's the ONLY thing I regret about all this: I didn't go!!! aaah.. I really wanted to - I felt God calling me to go too, like I needed to be prayed over at that Mass... but the reason I didn't' go is because I was expecting to be picked up (by my mom) any second, to go back home..the plan was that she would drive up to the church and phone me, and i had my phone set on 'vibrate' (so it's not loud), and then I'd know she's there and would come out. and I thought that if I went to be prayed over, that might take some time, and I'd miss the call.. so I didn't go. I really regret that lol.
My mom called soon after that, and I got up to go.. the lady I was talking to before came up to me and asked me if I'm going, and I said yes, and she was like - are you sure you don't have time to go be prayed over? i was like..I'd like to, but I don't have time. lol I wish I did though.
so then I went back home.
the really cool thing about this Mass was that I felt soo much peace there! as I said before. It was really supernatural in a way !! even afterwards, in the car, I just felt so close to God. And while I was in the church, I felt the Holy Spirit there all around me and there was just so much peace. Nothing there made me uncomfortable at all. and there was a lot of reverence for God there which I liked (because that's something I like about the Mass in general).
So that's my story! :) it was a really good experience for me, and I'm planning to go back in June.
my family is pretty skeptical of all this "charismatic stuff" (it's just very new to them..) so I'd have to be careful at explaining why I want to go back.. but next time, I'm going to stay longer and maybe be prayed over if God wants me to.
I'm done =)
thanks for reading! Sorry I kind of rambled on and on.. hehe
God bless!
monica