Mass Exodus: Leaving Mass After Receiving Holy Communion
written by Fr. Lawrence Adamczyk:While not as bad as missing Mass, leaving Mass immediately after receiving Holy Communion is still very disrespectful to your Spouse. Again, let’s use the analogy of Jesus the Bridegroom and the Church as His spouse. Leaving immediately after receiving Holy Communion, screams that you really do not understand what has just happened.
You have just received the God of the Universe, the One who created you, the One who died on the cross for you, the Eternal, the Almighty God into your heart and soul and you don’t even stop to say “thank you” to your spouse. You cannot have a deep personal intimate relationship with the one who loves you more then you can ever know, if you leave as soon as YOU get what YOU want. I have fallen madly and passionately in love with the God of the universe.
I have been a priest for about 8 years. You know what breaks my heart? For more than 8 years now, I have been standing at the back of the church greeting people as they leave Mass. It breaks my heart when people leave Mass right after receiving Holy Communion; and it is not because as St. Paul says that “we must render an account.” It breaks my heart because of the Book of Wisdom, “I…deemed riches nothing in comparison with her, nor did I liken any priceless gem to her; because all gold, in view of her is a little sand.” Maybe it is because I am a priest, that I feel so heart broken that people do not reverence the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. Do they not know that after receiving Holy Communion, they are a walking tabernacle? What can be so important that one would not spend a few moments in thanksgiving for receiving the Almighty God into your very being?
But the rich young man, “went away sad, for he had many possessions” which were apparently more important to him that following Jesus. By our Baptism, we are all called to that intimate and personal love that God has for each one of us, it cannot be that only the priest has a deep and personal relationship with God. Fr. Pedro Aruppe, one time superior General of the Jesuits is quoted as saying, “Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything.” Remember love is not about feeling or emotions; love is not about sex.
Love is about the choice to sacrifice for the good of the other.
THE HOLY MASS -- OUR LADY of MEDJUGORJE IN HER MESSAGES SAYS,
THE MASS IS THE GREATEST PRAYER OF GOD.
"Mass is the greatest prayer of God. You will never be able to understand its greatness. That is why you must be perfect and humble at Mass, and you should prepare yoursleves for it." (1983)
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"Dear children! Today I call you to renew prayer in your families. Dear children, encourage the very young to prayer and the children to go to Holy Mass. Thank you for having responded to my call." March 7, 1985
.
"Dear children! I am calling you to a more active prayer and attendance at Holy Mass. I wish your Mass to be an experience of God. I wish especially to say to the young people: be open to the Holy Spirit because God wishes to draw you to Himself in these days when Satan is at work. Thank you for having responded to my call." May 16, 1985
.
"Dear children! I wish to call you to a living of the Holy Mass. There are many of you who have sensed the beauty of the Holy Mass, but there are also those who come unwillingly. I have chosen you, dear children, but Jesus gives you His graces in the Mass. Therefore, consciously live the Holy Mass and let your coming to it be a joyful one. Come to it with love and make the Mass your own. Thank you for having responded to my call." April 3, 1986
.
"Dear children! God wants to make you holy. Therefore, through me He is inviting you to complete surrender. Let Holy Mass be your life. Understand that the church is God's palace, the place in which I gather you and want to show you the way to God. Come and pray. Neither look at others nor slander them, but rather, let your life be a testimony on the way of holiness. Churches deserve respect and are set apart as holy because God, who became man, dwells in them day and night. Therefore, little children, believe and pray that the Father increase your faith, and then ask for whatever you need. I am with you and I am rejoicing because of you conversion and I am protecting you with my motherly mantle. Thank you for having responded to my call." April 25, 1988
.
"Dear children! These years I have been calling you to pray, to live what I am telling you, but you are living my messages a little. You talk, but do not live, that is why little children, this war is lasting so long. I invite you to open yourselves to God and in your hearts to live with God, living the good and giving witness to my messages. I love you and wish to protect you from every evil, but you do not desire it. Dear children, I cannot help you if you do not live God's commandments, if you do not live the Mass, if you do not give up sin. I invite you to be apostles of love and goodness. In this world of unrest give witness to God and God's love, and God will bless you and give you what you seek from Him. Thank you for having responded to my call." October 25, 1993
.
"Dear children! Today again I call all of you to prayer. Only with prayer, dear children, will your heart change, become better, and be more sensitive to the Word of God. Little children, do not permit Satan to pull you apart and to do with you what he wants. I call you to be responsible and determined and to consecrate each day to God in prayer. May Holy Mass, little children, not be a habit for you, but life. By living Holy Mass each day, you will feel the need for holiness and you will grow in holiness. I am close to you and intercede before God for each of you, so that He may give you strength to change your heart. Thank you for having responded to my call." January 25, 1998
.
"Dear children! Today I call you to renew prayer in your families. Dear children, encourage the very young to prayer and the children to go to Holy Mass. Thank you for having responded to my call." March 7, 1985
.
"Dear children! I am calling you to a more active prayer and attendance at Holy Mass. I wish your Mass to be an experience of God. I wish especially to say to the young people: be open to the Holy Spirit because God wishes to draw you to Himself in these days when Satan is at work. Thank you for having responded to my call." May 16, 1985
.
"Dear children! I wish to call you to a living of the Holy Mass. There are many of you who have sensed the beauty of the Holy Mass, but there are also those who come unwillingly. I have chosen you, dear children, but Jesus gives you His graces in the Mass. Therefore, consciously live the Holy Mass and let your coming to it be a joyful one. Come to it with love and make the Mass your own. Thank you for having responded to my call." April 3, 1986
.
"Dear children! God wants to make you holy. Therefore, through me He is inviting you to complete surrender. Let Holy Mass be your life. Understand that the church is God's palace, the place in which I gather you and want to show you the way to God. Come and pray. Neither look at others nor slander them, but rather, let your life be a testimony on the way of holiness. Churches deserve respect and are set apart as holy because God, who became man, dwells in them day and night. Therefore, little children, believe and pray that the Father increase your faith, and then ask for whatever you need. I am with you and I am rejoicing because of you conversion and I am protecting you with my motherly mantle. Thank you for having responded to my call." April 25, 1988
.
"Dear children! These years I have been calling you to pray, to live what I am telling you, but you are living my messages a little. You talk, but do not live, that is why little children, this war is lasting so long. I invite you to open yourselves to God and in your hearts to live with God, living the good and giving witness to my messages. I love you and wish to protect you from every evil, but you do not desire it. Dear children, I cannot help you if you do not live God's commandments, if you do not live the Mass, if you do not give up sin. I invite you to be apostles of love and goodness. In this world of unrest give witness to God and God's love, and God will bless you and give you what you seek from Him. Thank you for having responded to my call." October 25, 1993
.
"Dear children! Today again I call all of you to prayer. Only with prayer, dear children, will your heart change, become better, and be more sensitive to the Word of God. Little children, do not permit Satan to pull you apart and to do with you what he wants. I call you to be responsible and determined and to consecrate each day to God in prayer. May Holy Mass, little children, not be a habit for you, but life. By living Holy Mass each day, you will feel the need for holiness and you will grow in holiness. I am close to you and intercede before God for each of you, so that He may give you strength to change your heart. Thank you for having responded to my call." January 25, 1998
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