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Last Sunday, my fiancee and I had the opportunity to attend a local Liberal Catholic Church. If you don’t know anything about Liberal Catholics, they pretty much descended from and are linked to Theosophy. Theosophy is, in the words of Carl Jung, Gnosticism in Hindu dress. You may or may not agree with him, but either way you can find out more about the Liberal Catholic Church at their website: http://members.tripod.com/~LiberalCatholic/index.htm

We dropped in unannounced at St. John of the Cross, which is actually located in someone’s home. Ordinarily, that might make you feel a bit uncomfortable - dropping in on strangers unannounced…or dropping in on strangers at all, for that matter. However, these people make you feel right at home. We were taken into their living room since service was going to start a little late and felt immediately at home. It’s hard not to feel at home when you have the Bishop’s wife, a woman who is the perfect image of everyone’s grandmother, sitting there and talking to you. They also had these wonderful huge cats that were very friendly and loving.

Of course that kind of stuff, even though it makes a trip very pleasant, does not a church service make. Everyone is looking for an experience, not just a social outing, when they go to a church and I’m no exception. Well, perhaps some people DO go just for a social outing, but that’s usually because they’re ignorant of experiences. Once you’ve had an “experience”, then simple social outings do not cut it.

The experience of this church service was very unique. It was a mass, but it was a very captivating mass. This was due, in no small part, to the Bishop. The Bishop is, if I recall correctly, the former Dean of Religion at Tulane University. Of course, it could be Loyola. It was, however, one of the local colleges. When this man went through the mass, you could really see the kindness in his eyes, but also something you’re probably not used to seeing in the eyes of mass participants…especially in the grandfather-age participants: excitement and wonder. You could tell he really enjoyed and believed in the mass. It wasn’t just a ceremony for him, it was worship. It showed.

I had no trouble staying focused in this mass. It was clearly an appeal to the Divine, however you see it. They have open communion, so I was able to take communion. They place the wafer on your tongue which I have NEVER done before. I wasn’t quite sure what to do, but it ended up in my mouth so I suppose I did ok The end was an appeal to the feminine aspect of the divine and was actually quite beautiful.

If you find yourself anywhere near New Orleans, I’d definitely recommend stopping in. It’s at 3417 Maine Avenue in Kenner (near the New Orleans airport). Mass is at 10 am on Sunday. Yeah, I know, no one in their right mind is out at 10 am on a Sunday, but if you HAPPEN to be (out - not out of your right mind), then you might consider checking them out. If you’re out of your right mind, you might consider going back home and sleeping it off instead

P.S. After the service, we had cake and coffee. I don’t think that’s a normal thing, but it could be. Well, they served chocolate cake. About 10 times after we left Allison exclaimed how good that chocolate cake was. So, if they whip out the cake, I think Allison would advise staying for it