I also enjoyed their choice of songs. They seemed as if they were actually celebrating having Jesus in their lives and being at mass instead of just going through the motions like some people do.
After the songs of worship came the sermon or homily as us Catholics would call it. One thing I liked about this was that instead of actually reading the scripture the reverend just explained it in simple terms so it related more to the congregation's daily lives. The reverend was a very loud and animated speaker. He kept my attention the entire time, which is not an easy thing to do. The message of the sermon was an excerpt from Matthew, "Simply let your yes" be yes," and your "no," "no"; anything beyond this comes from the evil one" (Matthew 5:37). He spoke about how we abuse our word not only by lying but also just by giving our word. Instead of just letting our simple statements of yes and no mean what their supposed to mean we feel as though it has to be written out or contracted in some manner to really count. He said that we use oaths because we are scared and cowardice and that the only reason Jesus used promises was to assure us. We should use promises when they are necessary such as with a big group who don't know us, for example, the army, in politics, or judicial affairs. However, when we our with the people who really know us we should not have to mention the thought of promising because the simple words yes or no should be enough reassurance. I think the reverend was showing that we have an awesome and forgiving God who is understanding of our needs. So understanding that even though God doesn't need to make promises, God does so to make us feel better in our lives. He showed that God is all-knowing, all-loving and always there for us. The reverend did so by providing the congregation with an example that applied to their daily lives in order for them to understand more fully the meaning of the scripture.
