Feelings

Recently on Facebook I have seen posts about people wanting to find "a new church". There are various reasons; the new pastor is boring, the person asking hasn't been to church in years and now has children and so they need a church with a separate children's service, their last church didn't clap enough... But the ones that really get to me are the "I was raised Catholic but...." I stop reading after that sentence. Many of the reasons people leave one church and search for a new one are selfish reasons. They didn't feel welcome. They didn't feel happy when they were going to church. They didn't feel like there was enough diversity. All about feelings.

When we go to Mass, we should not be there to feel good (although it is nice!) but we should be there to praise Our Lord. We've gotten so accustomed to needing/ wanting to be entertained so we "feel good" or "feel welcomed" when we should be the ones making God feel good and feel welcomed in our hearts! During the Mass we get to be at the foot of the cross, in the upper room with the disciples, at the Last Supper and even at the empty Tomb- all within the earthly span of an hour! We should not be seeking out entertainment at Mass because we're there to learn and practice our faith in Christ. A joke in the homily is nice, having music that is upbeat (when appropriate) and adds to the Liturgy is all good because of the end result. That end result is drawing God's people closer to Him. If you find yourself searching for a new church, ask yourself this. "Am I seeking a new church? Or am I seeking Christ?" I hope we would all seek Christ and the building in which we worship him would be secondary.

St. Jude pray for us!

Mary Our Mother pray for us!

Jesus Christ, have mercy on us!