Why go to Mass? God is everywhere

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atassina

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I was thinking about this frequent reply when parents ask their children to go to Mass. I came up with this answer:

Would you rather be kissed over the phone or kissed in person?

Use it and let us know how successful you were.

a
 
atassina said:
I was thinking about this frequent reply when parents ask their children to go to Mass. I came up with this answer:

Would you rather be kissed over the phone or kissed in person?

Use it and let us know how successful you were.

a
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Don’t underestimate what children can understand about Eucharist.
Bless them with the truth. They can handle it.
Peace.
 
They need to learn why we go to Mass so I would use the opportunity to teach them. Not sure I would go with the reply with kissing.
Just my opinion.
 
The child should be thoroughly catechized in regard to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. If they make a remark such as that, it is due to a lack of understanding of what the Mass is and poor catechesis in general.
 
atassina said:
I don’t quite understand. If you 17 year old said, “God is everywhere.” You would say that a simple blessing would do?
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Every place is not consecrated a sacred place for worship, though you’re right, God is indeed everywhere. As for blessing, I was referring to being blessed over the phone vs in person. Sorry for the confusion.
 
pianistclare said:
Don’t underestimate what children can understand about Eucharist.
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They probably understand it better than I. I drive by a Liberal Catholic Church, half a block from a diocesan church, which posts a “Eucharist” service on its sign. As it is on the corner of a 3-way stop, it’s hard to miss. How do you explain this to a child?
 
I tell my one-year-old son on Sunday morning that we’re heading out to see Jesus. He gets excited, cause he loves the mass (especially he loves seeing the processional cross, I think it might be his favourite part!) Does he necessarily understand what’s going on? I doubt it. But, as he gets older, going to ‘see Jesus’ is certainly different than staying at home and ‘feeling’ Jesus.
 
I hope this will clarify the situation to which I am referring.

A rebellious 16 year old says, “God is everywhere. Why do I hav ta go to Mass? I’m staying staying home and talk to Suzie Q on the phone and watch TV. You go. I’ll think about God.” He refuses to go.

What are you going to say?

This happens thousands of times across America every Sunday.

(And yes she is a popular girl and takes all those calls.)
 
atassina said:
I hope this will clarify the situation to which I am referring.

A rebellious 16 year old says, “God is everywhere. Why do I hav ta go to Mass? I’m staying staying home and talk to Suzie Q on the phone and watch TV. You go. I’ll think about God.” He refuses to go.

What are you going to say?

This happens thousands of times across America every Sunday.

(And yes she is a popular girl and takes all those calls.)
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Well, one of the commandments of God is to keep holy the Sabbath Day and the Catholic Church tells us that we keep this commandment of God by going to Mass on Sunday and worshipping Him there. In the Mass, we offer the infinite sacrifice of the body and blood of Jesus to God and we also partake of the eucharist for Jesus said “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you." (John 6: 53). If we want to have eternal life, then we need to go to Mass and eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus . For catholics are followers of Christ who is God and we do what Jesus has commanded us to do. God just does not want us to serve and worship Him in private but in public functions too such as the Mass just as the Jews in the Old Testament were wont to go to the synagogues on the Sabbath Day.
 
atassina said:
I hope this will clarify the situation to which I am referring.

A rebellious 16 year old says, “God is everywhere. Why do I hav ta go to Mass? I’m staying staying home and talk to Suzie Q on the phone and watch TV. You go. I’ll think about God.” He refuses to go.

What are you going to say?

This happens thousands of times across America every Sunday.

(And yes she is a popular girl and takes all those calls.)
Click to expand...
I would pull out the Baltimore Catechism, which he would be familiar with if he were my son, and I would teach him the Mass. I would tell him that since God is everywhere, He will know that you disobeyed Him by not going to Mass and therefore will have committed a mortal sin. I’d ask that if he thinks he doesn’t need to receive Holy Communion to nourish his soul and partake of our greatest privilege, to tell me how he was conceived immaculately and how he thinks he can dare to refuse the greatest gift God has given man. I would stress our duty to adore God in a worthy manner through sacrifice and merely thinking about Him as if that is enough is demeaning to God and the glory due to Him. If he still doesn’t want to go, I would say that since he is my son and living in my house, he is going to obey my rule and that is to hear Mass every Sunday whether he wants to or not.
 
This question is almost asking for what I’m about to say:

Why do anything at all beyond just believing that Jesus is our Saviour, and the Messiah and died for our sins? Thats all it takes. Why even bother being a good person, reading the Bible and all that?

In reality, such a question is rhetorical. The Eucharist is perhaps one of the biggest reasons why we go to Mass, as it is Jesus himself. And Jesus ought to be the centre of our faith, in whatever means that happens to be.
 
Seems to me most of you do not have children by your responses. Rebellious 14 year olds most likely will not respond to the Baltimore Catechism or theological explanations dealing with the reasons why we worship each week.

How many of you have tested your answers on rebellious or resistant children?
 
atassina said:
Seems to me most of you do not have children by your responses. Rebellious 14 year olds most likely will not respond to the Baltimore Catechism or theological explanations dealing with the reasons why we worship each week.

How many of you have tested your answers on rebellious or resistant children?
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If a child rejects Mass due to rebellion, if they reject Church teachings, and the word of the Sacred Scriptures, then by that stage parents and education become more and more irrelevant (although they help).

By this point: The Child NEEDS to have some sort of intimate encounter with God, whether in Prayer, when the pass or visit a Church, during the Mass they so passionately “loathe.” God will make that choice to call them back.
 
CM,
You still have not responded to the question I asked. What would your response be to a 12, 13, 14-17 year old teen ager if the became rebellious one Sunday and refused to go to Mass?
 
atassina said:
CM,
You still have not responded to the question I asked. What would your response be to a 12, 13, 14-17 year old teen ager if the became rebellious one Sunday and refused to go to Mass?
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If they have they have a good upbringing, and are aware of what they are doing, and what it is wrong, then its rebellion.
Forcing a child to do one thing or another always seems to backfire, at least by the teens age. You force them to go, they won’t be receptive to the messages in the Scriptures, or the Priest’s homily. They won’t acknowledge Jesus in the Eucharist; if they harden their hearts so. So forcing them to go could well “force” them into a state of mortal sin. Catch-22?

In such a case, you have to play with them for a bit. Ask what is good about NOT going, what benefits does it have now, and for eternity. I know young teens (like anyone) cannot comprehend their eternity well. But they at least consider God vs. No God. Then you have to decide whether or not taking them to Mass is really going to be of benefit.
As I said above, if they harden their hearts, they could well be committing a mortal sin anyway (i.e. Sacrilege). If they don’t go, you perhaps burden yourself with sin, but also them.

In the end, it may be beneficial to let them choose between God and the world. If they fall away, then we are accountable, but we have to make sure this doesn’t happen - in such a case, what I said in the previous post, the personal encounter, is what will (hopefully) cure their rebellion.
 
atassina said:
CM,
You still have not responded to the question I asked. What would your response be to a 12, 13, 14-17 year old teen ager if the became rebellious one Sunday and refused to go to Mass?
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My house, my rules.Get ready for Mass. We are leaving in 15 minutes

Although my kids are grown now I never found much success in arguing with teenagers.
 
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