Missing Out On World Events
It feels like we often miss world events by just a few days when we go on a big trip. Back in 2011, we were in Florida just a few days before the last ever launch of the space shuttle, mission STS-135. Now we are in Dubai, just a few days before the visit of Pope Francis. It would have been serendipitous to see him on this trip, in Dubai of all places.
I did not imagine that he would have planned a visit to here. Each day we hear the local calls to prayer. They are enigmatic and audible from the hotel, in shopping malls, everywhere. But here is the pope, about to be welcomed in a country that is not famous for Christianity.
Church in Dubai
This morning we went to St Mary’s Cathedral for mass. It was
Mass itself was different too. The same format but people seemed, hmmm, responsive and somewhat more enthusiastic. As for the building itself, it seemed to be in a quarter of the city with a few different religious schools and cultures. I’d never seen anything like it. The main church seemed to be made of two parts with slightly different styling and a large folding room divider in the middle. I think they could have run 2 masses at the same time if they wanted to. As it was, they had TV screens showing the altar, which seemed like a great idea. And there were no candles in the church at all.
Universal Church Should Be Treasured
Something is comforting about being part of a universal church, and all that it stands for. To understand that there is a history and philosophy ad meaning behind what it does, rather than the simple notion that some other churches preach of being able to “consume God” as if He is a tank of petrol or a box of tissues. Perhaps that is something that this church has to get used to and learn to celebrate a little more.
We walked outside after mass, in that early Dubai morning sun. The mosque was just at the entrance. It seemed like a harmonious confluence of Abrahamic faiths, not something you get to appreciate very often.