Interesting question

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lilred5

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My friends father posed an interesting question to her the other day.

-If we go to church every Sunday does God love us more?

What do you say to that?
Personally, I would say no because God’s love is perfect, infinite and he loves the worst sinner as much as the greatest saint.
 
lilred5 said:
My friends father posed an interesting question to her the other day.

-If we go to church every Sunday does God love us more?

What do you say to that?
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No, but if we go to Mass every Sunday, then we will come to love Him more. :love:
Personally, I would say no because God’s love is perfect, infinite and he loves the worst sinner as much as the greatest saint.
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Right. And the reason the worst sinners won’t make it to Heaven isn’t because God doesn’t love them, but because they don’t love God.
 
lilred5:

Are you suggesting that the amount of love He has for us will determine the extent of His punishment for our sins? Did it ever occur to you that a father might punish his children for misbehaving BECAUSE he LOVES them?

We don’t go to mass to win His love. We go to mass because we love and respect Him! And the more we do this with all sincerity of heart, the more we understand ourselves and the true meaning of the life we have been freely given.

Does a father love his child more because that child is polite, honourable, hardworking and generous? Maybe not, but at least he knows his child loves him! 😉
 
AngloCatholic1 said:
lilred5:

Are you suggesting that the amount of love He has for us will determine the extent of His punishment for our sins? Did it ever occur to you that a father might punish his children for misbehaving BECAUSE he LOVES them?

We don’t go to mass to win His love. We go to mass because we love and respect Him! And the more we do this with all sincerity of heart, the more we understand ourselves and the true meaning of the life we have been freely given.

Does a father love his child more because that child is polite, honourable, hardworking and generous? Maybe not, but at least he knows his child loves him! 😉
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I think you took my post out of context. I in no way suggested that we go to Mass to win his love nor that the amount of love He has for us will determine the extent of His punishment for our sins. And yes, it has occured to me that a father might punish his children because he loves them. This question was posed to my friend (a pentecostal) by her father (a pentecostal) and I thought it was an interesting thing to ask. If you read my post you will know that I do not agree with the question and find God’s love to be perfect, infinite, and all reaching.
 
I agree, it’s a way to further your relationship with God! But when you don’t go to mass, you no doubt offend Him, but He still loves you all the same.
 
lilred5:
I think you took my post out of context. I in no way suggested that we go to Mass to win his love nor that the amount of love He has for us will determine the extent of His punishment for our sins. And yes, it has occured to me that a father might punish his children because he loves them. This question was posed to my friend (a pentecostal) by her father (a pentecostal) and I thought it was an interesting thing to ask. If you read my post you will know that I do not agree with the question and find God’s love to be perfect, infinite, and all reaching.
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Sorry. I guess my defensive shields were on full power, because I was reading way too much into the question! 😃
 
As we grow, we are able to perceive God’s love more and more and are able to return it.

In the next life, God’s love will be exquisite torment, burning like coals of fire, to those who have not learned to love Him in this life.
 
lilred5 said:
My friends father posed an interesting question to her the other day.

-If we go to church every Sunday does God love us more?

What do you say to that?
Personally, I would say no because God’s love is perfect, infinite and he loves the worst sinner as much as the greatest saint.
Click to expand...
Gabriel of 12;

My answer would of been, “it is not a question of God’s love for me, but I go to Mass every Sunday and when ever I can because Iam a sinner and have the fear of losing God”, besides Church keeps me sane.
 
lilred5 said:
My friends father posed an interesting question to her the other day.

-If we go to church every Sunday does God love us more?

What do you say to that?
Personally, I would say no because God’s love is perfect, infinite and he loves the worst sinner as much as the greatest saint.
Click to expand...
Perhaps you are asking if we can make God love us more by doing certain things? No, I don’t think we can.

But that is not how I think about your question. I hear that question and I think that the reason I have gone to mass all these years each Sunday is because God and his grace has enabled me to do so. How can I not look upon his gift to me as better than not having received his gift? So, indeed, I have received much. Does not God give to those whom he loves? Thus he has loved me very much.

I will give you a quote from St. Thomas Aquinas, since you are listed as Catholic:…It must needs be, according to what has been said before, that God loves more the better things. For it has been shown [in a previous portion of the http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1020.htm”]Summa] that God’s loving one thing more than another is nothing else than His willing for that thing a greater good: because God’s will is the cause of goodness in things; and the reason why some things are better than others, is that God wills for them a greater good. Hence it follows that He loves more the better things.
 
ljubim said:
But when you don’t go to mass, you no doubt offend Him
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I don’t understand. One of the problems I have with many manifestations of Christianity is that they ascribe to God human impulses. The concept of God being “angry” or “happy” or “offended” is troubling to me. I know that Scripture is replete with these descriptions but I’m not sure it is the same thing. The problem with the gods of the Pantheon was that they were exaggerated humanity who did all the same things people do except with great power.

The God of the universe is not merely exaggerated man. He transcends all this. So I can’t quite get my brain around God being “offended”. That’s just me.🤷 Your mileage may vary.
 
a_priori said:
I don’t understand. One of the problems I have with many manifestations of Christianity is that they ascribe to God human impulses. The concept of God being “angry” or “happy” or “offended” is troubling to me. I know that Scripture is replete with these descriptions but I’m not sure it is the same thing. The problem with the gods of the Pantheon was that they were exaggerated humanity who did all the same things people do except with great power.

The God of the universe is not merely exaggerated man. He transcends all this. So I can’t quite get my brain around God being “offended”. That’s just me.🤷 Your mileage may vary.
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I think you are right to be concerned that we not ascribe human impulses to God. Ditto emotions. However God, in the person of Jesus, showed us He could be sorrowful, even tearful in grief, indignant and a range of other things. Of course perhaps that was the “fully human” side of Jesus ;).

But ascribing emotions or impulses to God, I think, does not answer the opening question ~ which was ~ “If we go to church every Sunday does God love us more?”

Eucharisted answered it best and most concisely saying “We go to Mass to love the God who has loved us first”

Here’s the thing ~ we are in one place, living our lives, and God is somewhere else. God’s ways are not (generally) our ways. Many people will go through life picking and choosing a faith or a belief system that appeals to them, that conforms with what they already think or believe.

But that’s not how it works. Our job is not to move God closer to us, to transform God into our image of what God should be. Instead, our job is to move ourselves closer to God, giving up our own, often selfish, ways and live our lives according to God’s will, not our will. Going to Mass on Sunday, or any other day, helps bring us closer to God, helps us deepen our relationship with God, helps us, as Eucharisted said, to love God. The more we love God, the more the rest of all of this falls into place.
 
MelanieAnne said:
I think you are right to be concerned that we not ascribe human impulses to God. Ditto emotions. However God, in the person of Jesus, showed us He could be sorrowful, even tearful in grief, indignant and a range of other things. Of course perhaps that was the “fully human” side of Jesus ;).

But ascribing emotions or impulses to God, I think, does not answer the opening question ~ which was ~ “If we go to church every Sunday does God love us more?”

Eucharisted answered it best and most concisely saying “We go to Mass to love the God who has loved us first”

Here’s the thing ~ we are in one place, living our lives, and God is somewhere else. God’s ways are not (generally) our ways. Many people will go through life picking and choosing a faith or a belief system that appeals to them, that conforms with what they already think or believe.

But that’s not how it works. Our job is not to move God closer to us, to transform God into our image of what God should be. Instead, our job is to move ourselves closer to God, giving up our own, often selfish, ways and live our lives according to God’s will, not our will. Going to Mass on Sunday, or any other day, helps bring us closer to God, helps us deepen our relationship with God, helps us, as Eucharisted said, to love God. The more we love God, the more the rest of all of this falls into place.
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I completely agree that we should do what we do as Christians because of our love for Him. It’s just that the concept of God being torqued because we miss Mass seems very “human” to me. I don’t think that our relationship with Him is quite that quid pro quo. But yes, I agree that we should honor Him because He made us and saved us.
 
a_priori said:
I completely agree that we should do what we do as Christians because of our love for Him. It’s just that the concept of God being torqued because we miss Mass seems very “human” to me. I don’t think that our relationship with Him is quite that quid pro quo. But yes, I agree that we should honor Him because He made us and saved us.
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Father Corapi talked about this in one of his talks. What God wants from us is an intimate relationship. Not “intimate” in the sense of a married couple, but “intimate” in the sense of a close, personal relationship, one where one loves the other completely and wants to know everything about them. God is already “on record” on His part, we need to do ours.

God doesn’t want us to simply worship Him from some respectful distance, He wants to be intimately involved in our lives. The more we love God, the more we naturally would want to be with Him, experience Him and do as He has commanded. That would, among other things, naturally include us going to Mass, because we WANT to, not because we’re worried that if we don’t we’ll somehow offend.
 
a_priori said:
I completely agree that we should do what we do as Christians because of our love for Him. It’s just that the concept of God being torqued because we miss Mass seems very “human” to me. I don’t think that our relationship with Him is quite that quid pro quo. But yes, I agree that we should honor Him because He made us and saved us.
Click to expand...
It is not my experience in relationship with God that He is angry with me for missing Mass. If I miss Mass I am the one who misses out what is freely given for love of me.
 
lilred5 said:
My friends father posed an interesting question to her the other day.

-If we go to church every Sunday does God love us more?

What do you say to that?
Personally, I would say no because God’s love is perfect, infinite and he loves the worst sinner as much as the greatest saint.
Click to expand...
The very reason sabbat was established so that we would devote one day exclusively to Thank and Praise God for all He has done for us. We Christians do it on Sundays, now does it mean that those who cannot go for Mass on Sunday for some reason or other are condemened? Oh no, as you have siad God is perfect and its He who loves us irrespective of who we are, but when we have time on our hands and dont utilize it to Thank God, to talk to Him as a friend, as a father, as someone very close, than we treat Him as a stranger, inspite of taking all things from Him. Which gradually will help us distance ourselves from His love ad Blessings.
 
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