[aftergibson]

Catholicism is so mired in needless hierarchy and ceremony that it severely inhibits any genuine value it might provide.

It hit home as a teenager during Easter Sunday mass. A priest enters the church, wearing his extra religious garb, a crucifix is carried behind him. The procession take several steps, the worshippers then kneel down and immediately stand back up. Several more steps, then kneeling and standing. Then several more steps, then kneeling and standing.

The third time I stood up I felt like it was outside my body looking at myself. Following the crowd with absolutely no idea why or the meaning behind it. To me, I looked like an idiot. My father was religious his entire life, so afterwards I asked him what the ceremony represented, he had no idea. I went to church less and less after that.

[yepguy]

Unfortunately this is an example of exactly what CederMills said above about failing to properly teach the faith. There is an incredible amount of meaning imbued into every moment of a Catholic mass, and the more of it you understand the more engaging it is to attend and participate.

Earlier this year I attended a 90 minute "walkthrough" of the mass where my priest explained the structure and meaning of a normal everyday mass. At the end of it he had still only scratched the surface, but it was probably more explanation than most (ex-)Catholics ever receive on the topic.

[ebrenes]

Yet such information is incredibly lacking and hard to find. You would think the Vatican and similar would have all this information ready to be digested by people interested in learning, yet it's incredibly hard to find if it's available.

[magicroot75]

Unfortunately we Catholics often try to 'dumb' down our theology and liturgical training to make us seem more approachable like protestant churches. This acheives the opposite of the desired effect: the 'motions" begin to feel pointless. Ritual is important in human life, and symbols are important. But without good education, the symbols and rites are empty. Which it seems like what previous commenter was experiencing at Easter Mass. Granted, it's entirely possible even after learning the meanings that they would all still seem unattractive to commenter. But at least he wouldn't be missing a key element.