Go on in and enjoy yourself. There’s enough guilt for everyone.
PS - Don’t worry about nodding off during the lectures…err…homilies. If you look closely around, there are alot more snoozing than paying attention.
Oh and for the shaking of the hands ( Kiss of peace) I usually skip it ( when I go to service, which is when I get married or to someone else’s wedding.) because all I can think of is instead of saying, " Peace be with you" what goes through my mind is, " My germs are now yours."
The Lord’s Prayer does end with ‘deliver us from evil.’ The part that the autopilot kicks in with is called the Doxology. We Catholics say the doxology too, but in Mass it’s separated from the Our Father by what is called the embolism. (I know, I laughed when I first heart that term, but that’s what it’s called. One of the nice things about being Catholic is that there’s a name for everything
Baptismal masses. They’re a little longer than the usual mass, but it’s interesting to see it.
-First communion. You get to see the kids all decked out in their finest clothes, and hear their amusing answers if the priest does a question and answer session during the homily.
-Confirmation. sigh brings back such memories. It’s even more fun if you know the confirmation candidates.
-Ethnic masses. At our church, the Christmas mass has small parts done in the major languages of the church. You get to hear “Silent Night” performed in: Spanish, Tagalog, Korean, German, Portuguese.