Yesterday I attended Mass at my local parish. I had considered going to the traditional Latin Mass but decided against it because I wanted to stay closer to home due to a family situation. There were two things I noticed that made me think I made a bad choice:

1) The Opening Prayer - one thing I love about the prayers of the traditional Mass is that they are so concise and pack a lot of theology into them. They are amazingly relevant to my life and the life of anyone struggling in this world. Instead, the opening prayer at Mass was weird and actually made me think that there was nothing Catholic about it -

"Father, help us to seek the values that will bring us lasting joy in this changing world. In our desire for what you promise make us one in mind and heart. Grant this through..."

With the exception of "Father" is there anything in this prayer that could not or would not be said at a Unitarian meeting or the United Nations?

2) The Voice of the Faithful have new tactics - they put a handwritten sign up in their windshield and park so everyone going into Church can see it. Also, the lectors for the past two weeks have been wearing their VOF button. It has a symbol with sort of a cross on it. They wear it like a political badge as they process up to the altar.

It is things like this that keep me wondering why do I go back? There is nothing like this at the traditional Mass, just prayer, very Catholic prayers.