Monday, May 9, 2016

If God is everywhere, why do we have to go to church? -- suze

Suze ...

This is a really deep question encompassed in such few words! My answer to you is peels away a couple of layers I immediately see in it. ... First, I wonder what lies beneath your question.  Is it that you find Mass to be boring?  If that's the case, I would guess that it's because you are not fully engaging in the worship.  Knowing the purpose behind the parts of the Mass, such as the songs, Communion, offering, and etc helps to keep the interest level high.  When you attend Mass, participate in the prayers, read along in the pew missal, really listen to the sermon, sing the songs, and etc., and you will find that the Mass is much more interesting.  It won't seem to last very long at all.  You may actually even discover that you enjoy it!  I mean, do you realize that Jesus comes to us fully - body, blood, soul, and divinity - at every single Mass?  That's not boring at all.  Nope, that's pretty exciting!

If your question is about whether you can worship God in other places, then that's an easy answer. YES!  God can be reached everywhere you go.  However, human beings were made to be in in fellowship with God from the very beginning.  Although faith is a personal thing, it is not meant to be private.  We should not keep our belief in God totally wrapped up in ourselves.  We are to share the Word with others, to go make disciples, to spread the Good News (Gospel) to the ends of the earth!

To keep ourselves motivated and from getting over burdened in our alone-ness, we worship, not only alone, but also with others.  That's a commandment too!  In the New Testament, God tells us, through Jesus,  to join other Christians to worship.  Jesus went to the synagogue every Sabbath to worship God with other people. And yes, he went alone to the mountain to pray.  He's our example of a model Christian.

Yes, we should spend time alone in prayer and in reading the Bible and listening to what God has for us to hear.  However, Jesus showed us that it's also important to gather with other believers so we can encourage and strengthen each other.  When we pray together, our prayers take on more power, more intensity, more oomph.

Let me give you an illustration:  Think of playing on a basketball team.  You can play it alone.  And playing it alone can be very enjoyable and even challenging.  You can put your efforts towards shooting foul shots, or practice lay ups over and over again, or work at ball handling. And it makes you a better and stronger player.  But, you might build some blind spots which turn into bad habits when you only do it alone.  You might not recognize that you only ever shoot right handed lay ups.  Or you might not realize that you don't put enough backspin on the ball when you shoot.   But, when you go to practice with other people, they sharpen you.  They can see the things you don't.  And, when you play a game with them , they add a dimension to it that playing by yourself doesn't have.  It ups the level.  It ups the fun.  It ups the satisfaction and the thrill of playing.

Like basketball, our relationship with God takes on a new dimension when we pray with others.  Of course we know that the most perfect prayer is the Mass.  Where is Mass celebrated?  At Church!  So, when we pray together we encourage each other.  We sharpen each other.  We strengthen each other.  We also learn from each other and accomplish something bigger than what each of us can when we pray alone.

Keep on praying!

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