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Hello, fellow pilgrims! My name is Amy Thomas. In 2009, I converted to Catholicism and I started writing to share the Faith. I’m a military spouse and my lifestyle has afforded me the opportunity to travel all over, exploring Catholic places. I have since expanded my writing to include a podcast and videos. My goal is to travel with fellow pilgrims and help them to discover the richness of the Catholic Church and grow closer to Christ. If interested in having me speak at your event or ask me a question, please click below.
We've got more excellent things to discuss from "The Diary of a Country Priest." Years ago, I was acquainted with a woman who had stopped going to Mass. She was mad at God for taking her mother too soon. She loved her mother very much and I can understand this kind of anger. The pain of losing someone "too soon" can make us feel gipped. What I wanted to caution this woman about was the fact that she was in serious danger of not being able to see her mother in eternity. I didn't know her well enough to have that conversation and I had just overheard her saying that she had essentially turned her back on God. In the book, the priest goes to visit the mom of Mlle Chantal, the bratty girl I spoke of last week. She is a neglectful mother who has been mourning her son for 11 years. He died when he was 18 months old and since that time she has ignored her daughter and only caved in on herself. As the priest is talking to her, she makes it known that she really wants nothing to do with God, but she's sure that her love for her son will help her get to Heaven. She wants very little to do with God because of her anger and hatred towards Him, but she still expects Heaven. The priest warns her that she is in danger of Hell and in Hell, she won't even be able to love her son. He says, "Hell is not to love any more. As long as we remain in this life we can still deceive ourselves, think that we love by our own will, that we love independently of God. But, we're like madmen stretching our hands to clasp the moon reflected in water." There is always pain in this life: Loved ones gone before we are ready, tragedies happen. I once cut myself off from the Source of Love because of my anger. If we truly love someone, Catholic Pilgrims, we don't display our love by hurting ourselves and potentially severing a chance to love them in Heaven. They wouldn't want Hell for us; they would want us to do everything we can to hang on and stay close to the One that is Love. Live the faith boldly and travel well this Thursday.
Continue ReadingI was talking with my husband about the post I made on Monday about the lack of participation at Mass. He said, "Well, the best you can say is that they are there, at least, out of obligation. But, to truly live the spiritual life well you have to couple obligation with passion. Obligation by itself is just okay. Passion by itself is just okay." I said, "Okay, I know what obligation by itself looks like. It's showing up to Mass just to warm the seat, but not fully participating. What does passion by itself look like?" "Look at it this way. One's the rudder, the other's the engine. A rudder with no engine keeps you on the path but you don't really go anywhere. An engine with no rudder speeds off with zero direction. Obligation with no passion means you just show up. Passion with no obligation means you are driven purely by emotions and you only do things if you *feel* it. We need them coupled together. Sometimes, we just need to show up even if we don't feel like it. We can't always be guided by our emotions. But, doing things purely out of obligation with no heart it in, leaves you just puttering along down the path--a rudder with no engine." I responded, "That makes a lot of sense. I would say that in order to help with the passion at Mass, we need to prepare ourselves. Externally, we need to come looking like we care. We need to participate in the gestures. We need to speak and say the prayers and responses. Internally, we need to think about what is going on. Maybe read the readings ahead of time. Silence phones. Meditate on the why of each part of the Mass." In no other relationship, Catholic Pilgrims, do we want people to love us purely out of obligation. We want our spouses, relatives, and friends to love us because they desire to. Neither do we want to be loved only by purely emotional guidance, because that means the second someone doesn't "feel" it anymore, they drop us. Obligation and passion together makes us feel secure and wanted. If we want to be loved that way and, hopefully, we want to love others that way, our worship and love of God should be guided by obligation and passion, as well. Live the faith boldly and travel well.
Continue ReadingWhen sports fans go to watch a game, they want to participate. They want to yell, cheer, soak in the atmosphere, and take it all in with their senses. If you really love the game, you want to be immersed in what is going on. If I saw a person in the stands just sitting there the entire time staring off into space or scrolling on their phone, I would think this person was brought there against their will, because why come if you aren't going to participate? When you go to a concert, you want to participate. You want to sing along to your favorite songs, watch the artist in real life, and be joined together with thousands of other fans. If I saw a person in the crowd just sitting there the entire time either half asleep or looking utterly bored, I would wonder why in the world they were there if they weren't going to participate? Why do anything you claim to love if you aren't going to participate? What is the point? To just be a warm body in the seat? To just get a picture to share to make others think your life is cool? If you go to Mass with no intention of actual participating, what is the point? There are no brownie points for warming the seat. Before someone says it, I'm not speaking about parents with young children who struggle to fully engage because little ones beg their attention. I'm talking about intent. If you come to Mass ill-prepared in body, mind, and soul to participate, you do yourself no favors and God is not honored by your mere presence void of any desire to worship. The Mass is always glorious, holy, and splendid simply because God has come to our altars. We have to act in such a way that shows this is a reality because it is. We need to say the prayers. We need to use our bodies to genuflect, cross ourselves, bow, kneel (if possible), and sing. I know you may not be a good singer, but when you shut your trap and refuse, others see it and then refuse, as well, and before we know it there are only five people singing. Participation is our job at the Mass; it's not just to be a crowd of bored faces for the priest to talk to. We participate, Catholic Pilgrims, just as we would at any other thing we claimed to love.
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