Attending St. Joseph

So I ended work at 4 on sunday but I was late for 5pm mass at olph. Instead I went to st joseph in waipahu. Now I couldn't help but compare the two parishes. Obviously St Joseph is more newly improve when it comes to the looks of the church. But there's more that meets the eye (lol dustin's blog title, I like that quote)

So there's no fountain of holy water as I enter the church at st joseph as there is in olph. The first thing I see is a cross (I believe) where people are praying upon. Even when I walk into the main room there are people praying. Unlike olph, st joseph has those comfort things for your knees, so as I walk in people are on their knees praying.

As I imagine what would have been happened during 5 pm mass at olph, I seen the choir setting up, aunty julia running around getting things set, father jim also walking around or father scott talking to the audience, the young ushers greeting everyone walks in (wait, it's only philip), and all you here is people talking and babies crying.

At st joseph silence was broken only from the footsteps of those walking in. No one was talking (except for jr and I). The priest was no where in sight. The alter people and the people who do the readings and announcement were all in white, literally all white. And what amazed me was the live video hung up above the alter (two projectors to be exact) capturing every thing that was going on during the entire mass.

The one big difference that I noticed between the two churches is the energy. St joseph is so serious that its so boring. I guess the only thing that keeps me up during mass at olph is the songs. Everyone claps along to the upbeat music. Even the slow songs are heart felt, and I don't even know why. The songs played at st joseph are the same songs (rhythm and all). The song alleluia came up but no one was clapping like how they do at olph. I was secretly clapping cause that song isn't fun without the clapping. Lol. And at the end of mass they played the song 'lord I lift your name on high' and I was the only one doing the hand signs lol!

At olph I can imagine father jim or scott singing along. Although father jim does look tired a lot, he still gives strength to pull some words together and sing along. I didn't see the priest at st joseph sing at all. Then again he was new to the church, let alone new to the island. From somewhere in the islamic area. Yeah, he had a strong accent.

Yet again, the parishioners at st joseph has so much respect in church. At olph I can imagine babies crying, cell phones ringing and people walking in and out. There was no sound other than the readings, the homily and the worship songs. No babies crying though there were babies. Not one cell phone went off at any time during mass, beside the fact that the beginning annoucements reminded everyone to kindly turn off their phones. And as far as the mass itself, everyone was seated the whole time avoiding communion. No one even made a move to leave before the priest bowed in front of the alter. I felt so outta place.

I didn't go lifeteen, though I wasn't planning to even if I did go olph. I wonder if st joseph has something like that after mass? I doubt it since mass ended at 7pm. Yeah, mass went by pretty quickly.

I'm not judging at all. Okay maybe I am, but not in a bad way. I enjoyed attending st joseph but I think I'm gonna stick to olph. I'm use to it, though babies cry, cell phones go off, and people walk in and out during father's homily. Besides, parking at st joseph's is crazy! Lol

Final thought: I wonder how it feels to go to jehova's wittness' mass or meeting. Lol.