Talking the talk.

Today I went to mass for the first time in a couple of months.  I was excited to go to mass with some of my housemates for the first time; they helped put me in a very spiritual mood.  The church was beautiful.  It had a ballroom feel to it. A lot of light was flowing in that helped all the relics and statues glow.  There was a good amount of people there for a Sunday night mass; people of many different ages and nationalities.  The priest giving the mass had a strong personality.  His voice was strong and echoed when he spoke.  His homily was genuine and relevant to the readings of the day.  One week ago I would've been extremely satisfied with this experience.  Today, all I could think in my head can be summarized into one word:

HYPOCRISY  

The church seemed so unused.  The thought of how people are when they get something new and don't really want to use it so it wont get dirty or broken came into my mind.  The readings were about Jesus Christ teaching us to love people who are different than we are.  To understand that God does not only exist inside a Catholic Church; but that God exist everywhere.  He uses the example of people who are affected by poverty to explain the readings.  As Catholics we have to live out the teachings of Jesus Christ and help those affected by poverty.  The priest explained that "in order to help the poor, we have to meet the poor."  On the way out from mass I grabbed one of the Church's pamphlets.  Here is a section of their mission statement: "We declare to one and all that we commit ourselves to grow spiritually as disciples of Christ; to become men and women for others; to build community through hospitality, ecumenism and social and cultural differences and accept them as sources of enrichment; give loving service and outreach to those in need"... give loving service and outreach to those is need.  This is all great!  But something is missing.  The heavy snoring coming from the back of the church is what is missing; the sound of suitcases coming in and out of the church is what is missing; the fliers of social services and programs around the area is what is missing.  What was missing in that church are the people who need help.  The people the priest was referring too.  Why does only one church (that I know of) open its doors to help people who are affected by poverty?  Could it be because the Priest doesn't want problems to arise in the building?  Could it be because of the possible negative reaction of the parishioners?  What could it possibly be?  

Catholic mass always ends with the priest sending us all forth to do Gods work.  I agree, lets all start walking the walk.