Orthodoxy vs Catholicism

 Things I appreciate about Catholicism:

1. Eucharistic Adoration

2. Kneeling (I need to go back to this when receiving Communion)

3. Stations of the Cross

4. Rosary

5. Latin (I may want to find a TLM)

6. Frequency of Mass availability; more churches around

7. Options within Catholicism: TLM, Easter Rite, Novus Ordo

8. Bells to mark clear moment of transubstantiation

9. Ability to attend a new Catholic church without being approached by anyone.

10. Jesuits & Franciscans

Of these, how many are things that I experience on a regular basis when attending Mass where I go? Even the bells for transubstantiation are sometimes missing at a Novus Ordo Mass!  Much less receiving on the tongue, while kneeling, at the altar railing!  What I'm looking for doesn't exist anymore in the majority of Masses at a majority of the Catholic churches I have been to. 

What can I do as I try to discern if it is possible to recapture some of that reverence and desire for piety and worship that I find missing in my current church experience?

1. I can start wearing the head covering to Mass, not just to Divine Liturgy.

2. I can start receiving Holy Communion on the tongue while kneeling, even if it holds up the line, even if the priest must sanitize his hands afterwards.

3. I can start spending time in Adoration again.

4. I can return to monthly Confession.

5. I can make a solid effort to find a joyfully reverent Traditional Latin Mass or Eastern Rite Mass, and see how these compare to the Orthodox Divine Liturgy at Holy Cross.

Things I appreciate about Orthodoxy:

1. Reverence

2. Beautiful interior

3. Chanting

4. Headcovering for women perfectly normal

5. Standing, bowing

6. Joyful atmosphere

7. Approachability of the people

8. Understanding of the priest

9. Shared values (homeschooling, ethnic diversity, chastity)

10. Whole of worship feels embodied

11. Fasting/abstinence

12. Married priests and their wives have certain position in the church

13. Communion bread prepared by the faithful

14. Feel God's presence, transported to a timelessness

15. Rule of life allowed both me and Natalia to start a daily prayer life

16. I wouldn't mind Antonio becoming a priest so he could also first be married.

17. Natalia's favorite church - and her faith has been my concern for over a year.

Once we become catechumens in the Orthodox church, we will need to stop frequenting Catholic worship.  What are my concerns about this?  I think after say a period of one year post-conversion, I would feel comfortable going back periodically for Eucharistic Adoration, Stations of the Cross, or if there's ever an opportunity to actually receive Communion at the altar railing (say, while abroad), or of course for someone's special occasion.

How much of what draws me to Orthodoxy is the faith itself, and how much is this particular parish?  Does that make a difference?  What if we join the Orthodox church, and then move and find that those local Orthodox churches don't hold a candle to this one?  But we do find a Catholic church that does at last?  For this reason, I want my son to receive his first Reconciliation and Communion in the Catholic church.  If we ever face this situation, we can go back to Catholicism.  Oh, I know religious loyalists will scoff at this, even call it sinful.  But see, I'm not in the business of church loyalty.  I'm trying to follow Christ wherever He leads me.  I do not pretend to know that I know everything, and frankly, I don't trust anyone who thinks they have it all figured out either.  Thousands of years of Church Tradition is actually present in both churches, so there is no convincing me that one is somehow superior to the other.  I believe Christ is fully present in both, and so I'm not deciding based on logic but based on the fruits that each church produces, specifically in our lives.

Then again, my daughter has stated that the Orthodox church is her favorite, my husband says he feels the Holy Spirit there, so I may just be afraid of change.  My daughter especially should be my priority.  I see hope for her spiritual growth in the Orthodox church.  I don't see it in the Catholic church.