Who Am I?

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I'm just a guy trying to trust in God and be the best I can be for God and others, then myself.

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Church High Not Needed

I love hearing conversion stories. This might not be the proper way to say it, but I feel a sense of pride in my Church when I hear how people have joined the flock.
The greatest and most common piece that brings people in, from what I have experienced, is the Eucharist. How awesome is that!
Over the last weekend I got to hear another conversion story. This gentleman and his wife were both Protestant ministers. They went through all the training and each had their own congregations that they were in charge of. Somewhere along the line they were encouraged to read up on the Church Fathers. This lead to a deeper understanding of the celebration of communion. In there denomination they were only permitted to celebrate the breaking of the bread 21 times a year... but they wanted more.  A deep desire to celebrate the breaking of the bread lead to diving in deeper into its theology and eventually lead them to the Catholic Church.
That was great to hear, but the rounding out of the story is what got me.  With the understanding that the bread and wine become the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, this gentleman shared that attending mass became easy. Easy in a sense that there was no stress involved, no worries about the celebration, and no wondering whether God would be present or a spiritual high attained.
Having been a Protestant minister his job every weekend was to give the people a church high. He had to provide a sense of the divine for his congregation. All the wait of that was on him and the words that he chose.  But in the Catholic celebration of the mass, there is no need for a church high. There is no need to give the congregation just the right words to make them feel good. God is present at every Catholic mass and that is the most important thing that needs to be understood. No matter what a person feels and thinks, God is there, and the priest does not have to provide proof with his words and agonize over what he will say to give the people what they need.
We all need God, and at the celebration of the mass God is always present.
Many Catholics fail to understand this and that frustrates me. If Catholics fully understand the miracle that happens at the mass, it does not matter what priest is the celebrant.
God is present. His full body, blood, soul and divinity are there and that is all we need.

Peace all