Sitting in the pew; Entertains me or Initiates me!

Sitting in the pew; Entertains me or Initiates me!

Somehow the expectation of what to experience when attending church services has become either an hour of listening and singing or inspiring us to take the message and utilize its promotion.  

Attending a Broadway production such as “The Phantom of the Opera” where each moment has you sitting on the edge or your seat waiting to see what new adventure will occupy your greatest attention is captivating.  After leaving the show you are inspired to at least share with others the great talent and overtures of the actors.  It is something to remember.

Unfortunately there are quite a few church members who may see the hour’s attendance as a production of different people in the Sanctuary going through the movements in their particular roles to keep you on the edge of your seat fulfilling some type of satisfaction for the time you’ve spent watching and listening.  When the expectation of being entertained does not appear, you become disgruntled and perhaps say “this is the last time I come here.”

Throughout the years many have lost the reason why we gather our families and collectively share with our neighbors a little commonality of finding God through our connection with each other. Jesus began his church by choosing apostles who would become our pastors and share the message Jesus gave them, to inspire and prepare each congregant to carry the message throughout the world.  

God doesn’t need us to make him happy, but desires each of us to extend his love and forbearance with those who are not here as well.  It is very difficult, as a Christian, to extend God’s complete expectations when we choose to remain at home and think that is enough when saying they are believers.  

Taking on the task of becoming an evangelizer does not mean we must become preachers or writers regarding the essence of Christ’s existence.  Read the depth of Paul’s 2nd letter to the Corinthians where he exhorts the message of love.  Go and do the same to a person with whom you have a serious problem which keeps both of you at odds with each other.  That manner of reaching out to another is one way we are initiated through the message from the altar.  That alone becomes a non-entertaining element of an hour of your time.  

If indeed you have received an inspiration from being at Church do not place that as a tangible paper in your pocket or purse and forget about its very purposeful adherence to evangelize someone with God’s presence.  What we hear or see we are to give to someone who needs the same grace filled gifts of our Savior.  

One more attribute of being a giver of beliefs in our faith is the supernatural aspect of our Catholic faith when it includes our adherence to the Real Presence of Christ in the holy Eucharist.   Herein is the most acute reason to be a Roman Catholic and the utmost essential example of our faith and the sign of who a Catholic is.  It is a living entity that sometimes separates us from other denominations.  We are not to wave our doctrines in front of others, but to stand in strength that this belief has endured 2,000 years of doubt.  

Even the Satanic followers believe in the Real Presence since there are those who secretly remove the Host from the Church to be used in Black Masses where they desecrate the host of Christ.

This gives complete adherence to what Catholics hold sacred with irrevocable beliefs.   

Ralph B. Hathaway