catholicism and christianity

I decided to do my religious study on Catholicism because I am a protestant Christian, and our religions are generally grouped together under the banner of “Christianity” even though our beliefs and traditions vary. I wanted to learn more about the beliefs of Catholicism so that I could better understand the differences between it and Protestantism. As it turned out, this semester my Catholic extended family invited my family and I to mass while we were visiting them in Michigan one weekend, so we decided to accept the invitation. As I walked through the parking lot at St. Mark Parish, the first thing that caught my eye was the ornate architecture on the outside of the church. It had a soaring steeple with a cross on top, as well as a fully-brick exterior and many sharp edges. The parking lot was almost completely full, which didn’t necessarily surprise me but was nonetheless interesting; however, the most peculiar thing to me was that not one person walking into the church was carrying a Bible. Coming from a Protestant church where nearly everyone brings a Bible to church to follow along with the sermon, this was surprising to me. After studying Catholicism more this semester I understand why this was the case (the interpretation of the Bible is left to the Church), but at the time it shocked me. Walking in to the church, the lobby was very pretty if a little plain, which was not quite what I expected from the outside of the church. However, there were pretty stained glass windows with pictures on them, which sort of colored the room. As I walked in to the auditorium, I noticed a bowl of water that people were dipping their fingers into and crossing themselves with. I learned that this was “holy water,” water that has been blessed. The sight of the auditorium almost took my breath away. It was beautiful; the stage was completely white, with different podiums and an altar in front of it, and there was a huge crucifix on the wall in front of the auditorium.