Presence at Mass

[Michael P. Barham]

well, being protestant,  I am not sure this opinion counts, but . . . .

I have always been taught that being present at a church is a means of
grace -- that is, a place where one might be given the gift of faith, and
therefore we would welcome visitors of any level of faith or of any belief,
because God can work through a visitor in ways we might not be able, or may
have led the visitor there in order to stirour own hearts.  Plus, I think
most people who go to church probably have as much or less faith as people
who call themselves having no faith.

Also, I feel that the church is a place of prayer for all people, so to sit
pondering nature and the camino is, in attempts to know yourself better,
leading you on a path that, as a believer, I would distinguish as a level of
prayer.