I help a friend with the technical details on some internet “church” work he does. I don’t necessarily agree with his approach or interpretations all the time of course. Most of the time I’d say he preaches on the fringe of what might be acceptable to the Church.
But tonight I was watching the chat window available to the virtual pew-sitters as he was doing his thing and it crossed my mind that I see a lot of the same comments each week. Lots are meant as prayer. Others as emotional outcries. Some as simple comments.
But still they are similar and consistently so at that. Most of these people are going to be of the evangelical and fundamentalist stripe. The types that would likely give us Catholics some grief over our vain repetitive prayers. Yet I see the same things each week.
Are they secretly Catholics?
Do they realize they say/pray the same things each week?
Some seem to be sloganesque. Something that you would expect to see on a poster or sign.
Do they see us that way? Catholics certainly repeat the same prayers each week. Of course we do it mostly in context of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours and the Rosary. All chock-full of Scripture beginning to end. We intentionally say the same things. Do they? We have significant meaning behind all of them too.
Just an interesting thing I was thinking tonight. Anyone else notice this or have comment?