More About Steubie 09

Now that you've enjoyed my lovely pictures, I'm going to give you a piece of my mind. I went to Steubenville, last year, and had a great time. This year, however, I had some misgivings even before I went. Lest year, I was a brand new Catholic. who just went because her debate teacher said it was fun. It was fun, a little too loud, but still very fun. This year, I went back after attending Latin Mass every Thursday for a year. It was not fun.
I don't mind praise and worship music in moderation. I don't mind singing the stuff for fun, but I can't stand it in Mass and Adoration. Praise and worship music makes Mass like a performance and draws every one's attention away from God. During Sunday Mass, I was in line to receive, and all of a sudden, I was like, "Oh yeah, Jesus. That's why I'm here." By Sunday afternoon, I was so sick of this music I could have strangled the band.
What is the point of having any sort of Catholic gathering if you are going to have crummy liturgy? Please tell me! I was shocked at the amount of clapping, ad libbing, and priest dancing that went on. I'll put up with the music, if I have to, but not bad liturgy! There was priest who cracked me up, because he personified my feelings perfectly. He looked really uncomfortable, and had the worst time with that whole arm waving thing. That was in contrast to the priest sitting next to him, who was totally rocking out. I must admit that the ad libbing wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it's awful at anytime. I HATE clapping in Mass, period. The end. Good bye. Yeah, it's good to be back with my "as uncharismatic as you can get" friends and family.
One of the things that realy, really bugged me was the immodesty. Honestly, this is a Catholic event, and there are girls running around in shorts that are short they barely cover anything. If you must wear them on the bus, fine, but do you really have to wear them in Mass? Also, not wearing dress clothes to Sunday Mass. I know we're on a youth trip, but how hard is it to throw a skirt or polo shirt into your bag. If you can bring pool noodles, you can bring modest dress clothes.
Last year, the talks were really interesting and helpful. This year, the ones I went to were for people who obviously know nothing about their faith. I went to one on Mary and the Saints, given by Kelly Pease. I really don't remember much about it, except my own confusion. I also went to one on the Mass, it was interesting because the Priest who gave it took questions so he could explain things people didn't understand. Sadly, this priest was one of the dancing, ad libbing, clapping kind. To be nice, the talk was good, and he didn't say anything that would be questioned.
The most fun I had was just spending time with my friends. We stayed in the dorms and ate in the cafeteria. We ate a lot of ice cream, and drank more soda than was good for us. We all bought catholic t-shirts, and books about chastity. We did the wave before the entertainment on Saturday. We got pizza on saturday night and played a signs (a game which has become a tradition). Y'know, if it weren't for the religion part, this would have been a really fun trip.