Spanish Mass

Yesterday our family decided to visit another parish and see how they do Mass.  My wife came up with the idea earlier this summer as a way to see the other churches in the local area and note the differences in architecture and style.  We found a local parish in Arnold that was having a 12:30 pm Mass.  Our family typically goes to the 12 noon Mass at our church because we like the music and it lets the kids sleep in on Sunday which they like to do.  Well to our surprise, the 12:30 Mass at the church in Arnold was a Spanish speaking Mass.  Rather than leave, we decided to stay and experience the Spanish Mass.  While we didn't understand the language and what was being said, we did understand what was happening because we know the order of the Mass.  The people were very friendly, many came up to us to shake hands during the Sign of Peace, even the priest!  The music was great, they had such a good choir with many percussion instruments accompanying the organ.  The priest even gave a 5 minute version of his homily in English after he finished his Spanish version.  It was a very neat experience.  What we all found out was that while we didn't understand every word, we knew what was happening because all Catholic Masses are basically the same.  The order of the Mass is the same.  That's the beauty of Catholicism.  At every Catholic church in the world, people are celebrating the Mass in the same way, just in different languages and with difference styles of music.  And we all receive the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, the body and blood of Jesus Christ.  How cool is that?