Lately I have been reading a lot about getting back to the basics of our faith and what it means to be a Christian. There are a lot of things that I have been asking myself lately and one of the big ones is when did Christianity become comfortable to me. Being Catholic has never been hard for me, in the sense that I don't have to worry about the well being of my family and I by saying that I am a believer/follower of Christ. I get to go to Mass whenever I want. We have a beautiful Church building, good music, and great preachers, but why is it that mass seems lethargic to most people when I am there and sometimes to me. We have become so accustomed to our routine that going to mass has become a box we check off. I am just as guilty of doing this sometimes. I have been becoming more aware of how my faith is not really as great as I thought it is.
A couple thoughts: If I being Catholic really believe that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, Why would I not go to mass daily to receive Him. Sometimes I struggle with this belief because my thoughts get in the way of soul, then I come back to well if I really believe that Jesus is God and He can doing anything, like raise the dead, cure the blind and deaf, walk on water, why would I struggle with the thought that He could change a piece of bread into Himself.
John 6:53-69
53Jesus said to them,
“I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.
57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.
58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.”
59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Many Disciples Desert Jesus
60On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them,
“Does this offend you? 62What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!
63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
64Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.
65He went on to say,
“This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.” 66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
I want to point out a couple things here. Jesus said "for my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink". The apostles said "this is a hard teaching" Many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed him! Now Lets look at this, after Jesus said this and people started leaving him and not believing in him anymore, He didn't say wow wow wow I was messing with you guys I didn't really mean it, I just meant its a symbol of me.
Knowing that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist and that His flesh is real food and blood real drink I pray that I can leave my comfort of sleeping in and taking my day however I want to, and go to daily mass. For you are not truly alive without Christ and why would you not want to take him in on a daily basis. Jesus never said to his followers come believe in me and life is going to be really simple and you can live the same life you are living now you just need to add me to it. He said a lot of hard things, like sell everything you have and give it to the poor and follow me. Eat my body and drink my blood and you will have eternal life. To be a Christian (a follower of Christ) "Christ-like" we are called to die to ourselves. How do we do this? How can we make God a priority in our life? I think the answer is stop thinking about it and do it.
Maybe you can start by looking at your belongs and see things you don't really need/use. I'm not talking about an extra toothbrush ( although im sure the poor could use it) I'm talking about your Tv's, your car, your nice new winter jacket, you know what I mean. Christ has called us to love Him, and we won't be fully happy until we love Him with our whole heart. Although it is hard to rid yourself of wanting nice things, those things aren't what is going to give us happiness and peace.
God Please give us a heart after yours. A heart like your Son's heart. Help us put our faith in you and our trust in you that you will provide us with everything that we need. Give us a deep desire for the Eucharist and give us the will to wake up early and get to daily mass. Help us long to need you and you alone. You are my God and please help me to remember You before me.
Amen
1 comments:
This is such a great post. I struggle with this same thing right now. My husband and I have three boys under 5, so going to Mass is definitely hard. Sometimes we feel like we didn't get a thing out of it because we were so focused on keeping the boys quiet, etc. But you are so right - it's not really about us, it's about Him and if we really believe what we say, we'll go anyway, just to receive Him. Thanks for the reminder.
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