Sunday, July 12, 2009

"Lying in bed and screaming 'Oh God!' does not constitute as going to church."

Today I became a little frustrated with my younger sister. I love her dearly, and of all reasons to be upset with her, I never would have thought this would have been one of them... I would have expected something like it to happen with my other siblings, not her. The reason why I became upset with her was because if I was not home today to make her think, she probably would not have gone to church today. Now, this is something I tend to get frustrated with a lot: people who claim they are Catholic and love the faith and all, but still think it is okay to miss Mass on a Sunday just because they are too tired. That's the excuse my sister gave to me anyway. I walked into the living room and I happened to notice that Mass was supposed to start in fifteen minutes, and I look and see my sister still asleep on the couch not at all ready to go to church. I asked her boyfriend if he told her what time it was, and he did not. At this point I kind of nudged her awake and told she better get herself up if she was planning to go to Mass, and then she said, "I'm just too tired to go today." Maybe it was the fact that Crista used to not think like that at all and would never think of missing Mass on Sunday a few months ago made me kind of lose it and go all "big sister" on her. I looked at her and said, "You know, this situation makes me think of a bumper sticker I saw on facebook today. It said, 'Lying in bed and screaming oh God does not constitute as going to church." I also told her how I was thoroughly disappointed and a little shocked in her behavior towards going to Mass. I may have said some other things as well. At first she was mad at me, but then she finally looked at me and said that she was going, so she got up (with five minutes until Mass began) and rushed downstairs to brush her hair, and then she finally left....
It just really makes me sad when I hear people who claim to be Catholic, but do not seem to "find the time" to go to Mass on Sunday.... It only takes up an hour of their time... I just do not understand that mind set. I personally think one hour a week is so easy to spare for God. I wish more people went to daily Mass myself... I also get frustrated when I see people walk into Mass even up to thirty minutes late and come out afterwords quite happy with themselves... It makes me wonder how many people really know they are not supposed to receive the Eucharist on Sunday if they have not heard the Gospel. Maybe it is because I love my faith so much that it is hard for me to comprehend other people kind of taking it for granted. Don't people realize that being a Catholic/christian is not a one way street. They can't just be "Oh, I'm Catholic. I believe in God. I'll be saved..." Oh no, every relationship is a two way street. It takes as much effort from each side to be of any worth at all. If they can't give just one hour to their relationship with God, then how can they truly expect God to be so willing to always help them out when they need it? I am going to close with a quote by E.M. Bounds, which I think is very fitting. "Those who know God the best are the richest and most powerful in prayer, Little acquaintance with God, and strangeness and coldness to Him, make prayer a rare and feeble thing."

3 comments:

Suzanne said...

This is good for me to read too. We can all go to Mass too and get complacent or frustrated and it takes our mind off of the Mass, so, I appreciate this story and I know you love your sister, but more importantly, God knows it and I think and hope your sister does too. It is all about priorities and all have gone through some of this one way or the other. Something about going to daily Mass begins to seal up a relationship with God even more. Thank you for loving us God and thank you for Teresa's love too. :)

Kate said...

+M

Amen!

What I would like to say to some of these people is, "You can't even spend an hour with God a week, how do you expect to spend all eternity with Him?"

Mike Keucher said...

Teresa,
Wonderful. I am so glad you had such a positive influence on her!

Kate:
I love that phrase and will remember it!

Mike