My name is Michael, and I’m a lazy Catholic. Something tells me I’m not the only one. Taking Mass for granted, vaguely remembering to follow the rules during Lenten fasting, surely not taxing myself by abstaining from meat EVERY Friday. Praying EVERY day, WHO does THAT. And I don’t even know where my rosary is currently (can y’all ask Saint Anthony to help me with that).
I’ve long said the Prodigal Son could’ve been written about me, I like leaving home to see what’s going on out there in the world, only to realize that I’m empty, unfulfilled, and hungry, so I go shuffling back to Dad, apologizing, begging to be let back in. He always lets me come home, He’s always happy I returned, but I’m always lazy and frustrated by the “rules”, so I wander off.
And I take Mass for granted, and I skip it, and I miss out on the Eucharist. And the person I should be slouches downward, and reaches for baser things. I’m currently sitting here having not been to Mass in several weeks, unsure when I’ll be able to go thanks to the suspension of public Masses in light of the pandemic. I miss Jesus, I miss the Eucharist, I miss the simple beauty of Mass.
I can’t be the only one in that boat either. I wager quite a few of us miss it. I’m hoping that this dark situation leads to a bit of an awakening, that we all find that we’ve missed Mass, missed Him. That we all return to our Father’s house, seeking His love and forgiveness. That we all seek to fill the holes we have with that which is missing, our need to remember we aren’t made for this world, but for the next.
And as we remember the world we were made for, let us strive to be examples of the love of Jesus. My heart and soul ache these days, as I struggle to find my way to God, and I watch people behave selfishly, and not take care of their fellow pilgrims.
