Wrestling with Scripture

When I was in my teens I hated going for mass. I spent the hour looking out of the window or at people around me. I was always zoned out, never responding to prayers and never singing hymns. The problem was, I just didn’t understand why I was there and had no clue what was going on during mass. However, things changed over the years as I began to understand why we do what we do during the Eucharist and the more you know, the more you begin to fall in love with it.  Why do we go for mass? Firstly, let us understand why a person of any religion goes to a place of worship. Well, they go for just that, WORSHIP. It is the purpose of any holy place or the foundation on any religion. But who is worship for? Is it for you? Is it important that you feel uplifted, or that you like the preaching or you feel like the hymns touched you? Not at all, worship is for God alone! Hence, it would be important that we worship in a way that is pleasing to God. However, In order to understand how t...

I have been going to church ever since I was a kid and it became more of a habit as I didn't really understand what was happening during the mass. I would stand when the congregation stood, sit when they sat, I wouldn't utter a single prayer, grumble when the sermon was too long and wait for the mass to end. However, it all changed after I read Isaiah 6 which describes the 'call of Isaiah'. When I first read the passage, it didn't really affect me, but standing there during mass, the verses just shot out at me. I began to realize that what Isaiah described in the Old Testament foreshadowed the Eucharist that we celebrate today. Going to church had a whole new meaning for me ever since... What should we look forward to at mass? Isaiah went to the Temple of Jerusalem in 742 BC where he saw a vision of God on a high throne and he felt the glory of God fill the temple. There he saw the Seraphim, meaning 'fiery beings' attending to the one on the throne...

I would be lying if I told you that I always believed in the changing of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. In fact it was only recently, after much reading, it all began to come together for me. I had 4 questions to which I needed answers and here is what I found: Why did Jesus need to give us his body? In order to understand this, we need to go to the very beginning, to Genesis. It was in the garden of Eden that man's obedience to God was tested, Jesus was also in a garden when his obedience to God was tested, the garden of Gethsemane. Adam failed the test and ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, Jesus chose the right tree, he chose the tree of life. The cross was also called the tree in the Bible, "cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree" (Galatians 3:13). Before sin, Adam walked with God in the garden and seen the face of God but after he sinned he hid from God's presence. Sin brought distance between God and man, it also brought death i...

When someone asks me "Why should I go for mass, can't I just pray at home?". I tell them, go for 'The Food'.  Let me explain... There is a shop in my area by the name of Theobroma meaning 'food of the gods' and it is exactly opposite the church, where you get 'food from God'. Which of these are of greater value, an expensive red velvet cake or a simple circular wafer which is given freely, yet at a great price, the COST OF ONE'S LIFE? Who would imagine that a humble wafer has the power to tear the veil that separates the heavens from earth, bringing the Lord of heaven to reside in us? Food from heaven It was by eating the forbidden fruit (disobedience to God) that Adam turned away from God. Jesus bridges the gap between God and man, by offering his own body (Obedience to the Father) so that he may come and live in us. It was manna 'food from heaven' that kept the Israelite's alive in the wilderness. Whether we realize it ...