ever since, i don't like to hear catholic mass. it neither inspires me nor does it make me feel the lord. when i was in my second year of college, some iranian dormate talked me into not believing. i don't know how it happened but that was a most terrible time. it's a dire feeling to realize that you're alone, that life on earth is meaningless, so that one evening i found myself sobbing on one of the pews of the university chapel. not long after that, my faith stealthily came back. i don't know how it happened but that was a most splendid feeling. i knew then that my faith had grown stronger than ever and it will no longer leave me. it became clear to me that faith is one of the best gifts one can receive. i don't hear mass but i talk to him as much as i can. i don't hear mass because i'm not a community person. i don't hear mass because that doesn't work for me. faith and religion are two different things. it's faith i have but religion i have not.