When Going To Church Becomes An Obligation
I would have to agree that going to church was an obligation when we were young. Back in time when we were clueless about faith and God, we followed our way to church as ordered by our parents.
Time will come in a person’s life when faith in God is a choice. Worshipping Him is voluntary and not anymore forced. This should be the time when going to church is not anymore an obligation to fulfill, but a display of love and gratitude to God. Being grateful to Him for everything He has done becomes a person’s way of life.
For whatever reasons, our priorities change in time. We look at things differently. What is important before becomes less essential now. Whenever there are changes, most of the time, our faith in God gets the first blow. We always thought that God will understand.
For some people, going to church is not anymore significant and important, God will understand, we thought. Some people may still go to church, but the reason being is not anymore as it should be. It now becomes and obligation, a religious tradition and duty to fulfill.
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I love this post. Nice insights. Very nice!
I agree, God worship should not be forced. It is something that we choose to do and not enforced on us. Maybe our parents were just preparing us to be familiar with who or what God is when we were young. And that maybe when we group we would choose for ourselves to continue going to church or not.
Cheers! =)
i am reading the "holier" side of wizzdumb..hehehe
spare Him an hour or two...He'll appreciate it...
for me it's kind of. i have to say family pressure is a factor.
@Mr. Scheez, real worship is not forced... otherwise it's not.. thanks for dropping by.
@geek, hahaha... sshhhh... not many people knew..
@Ming Meows, you're right.. and we all hope that our parents got it right too..
at some point, it does feel like an obligation to go to church. it is in fact one of the 10 commandments, right?
but when we consider all the blessings that we received everyday, the talents that He gave us, friends and families who love us, and life itself -- is an hour in one week too much to ask?
@Roy, if you meant worshiping God is in the 10 commandments, yes it is... but going to church is not.. :)
I pray that I may find knowledge and not confusion which could divide the faithfuls on the question of obligation versus choice "in going to Church". But rather let us seek answers for the existence of Churches in our communities.
The Church is a community of people called to recognize and cooperate with that work of God. Jesus set an example for us in everything. He was a devout Jew. Throughout the Gospels, we see many instances of his worshiping in the temple in Jerusalem or in local synagogue services. He flawlessly obeyed all of God's commandments, even that of Sabbath worship.
When Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mk 2:27), he was not giving us an excuse to skip church services when we don't feel like it. Rather, he was telling the Pharisees that the Sabbath should not be encumbered by burdensome laws, but was given to man as a privilege, an opportunity to worship God.
And only within wall of the Church and in its altar, we receive Christ through the Christian communion called the Eucharist.
I agree, we pray to God - praise Him, ask mercy and forgiveness, thank Him and seek blessings in our own room as we digest His Words, but when was the last time we accept and receive Him in its purest form in a Eucharistic rite? I call it a Christian's conscious choice.
I thank you Bro. Elyong, let us continue to serve, we can be candle in darkness or a mirror that reflects the light.
True Elyong, worship should not be forced. It should come from the heart.
@The Pope, you're welcome.. and thank you also for sharing your thoughts.
@Ron Centeno, worship from the heart is true worship... thank you.
do i have to delete or re-phrase my earlier comment? hahaha
@Geek, nope... everybody's clueless and they don't care.. hahaha
nice one rev elyong (hehe). nakaka enlighten naman ito.
@bishop eli, ikaw rin... mas angat ka nga sa akin eh... hahaha..
going to church,just like praying,was kinda like an obligation when i was young.
now it's different.i learned that God is the only source of strength and faith.
i dont go to church for like ten years now.
but i do pray directly at HIM.no traditions and no rules,just me and him.
@flamindevil, stay faithful... God bless you.
@Mac Callister, it's good that you regularly pray to Him, but it is also good to be in fellowship with the faithfuls at church.
hmmm
you did raise a valid point
i was raised catholic by my parents
studied in a catholic institution
i, along with the entire batch, were warned by the dean that we would not graduate if we do not attend the 1st friday masses during the school year
not only was hearing mass made mandatory,
it became a qualification for graduation
that was not a nice way of "enlightening" our spiritual upbringing
hahaha..bigla akong natawa. pano naman ako nakaangat?
seryoso, ang sarap mag-reflect dito sa mga posts mo. parang kung gusto ko i-chek ang sarili ko, punta lang ako dito.
tnx for making this blog..beautiful and meaningful
People have their reasons for going or not going to church.
In my case, perhaps it was the great relationships I had with some other young members of the Church that got me hooked on going to church as a 5 or 6 years old girl na isinasama ng parents ko sa simbahan. Na-enjoy ko kumbaga. So there was really no pressure. In fact, I was always looking forward to it.
Now that I am old, na-strengthen na yung ties ko with the Church and my Faith kaya nai-enjoy ko.
i'm guilty of this..hindi ako masyadong nagpupunta sa church these days..that means i am not obligating myself.. pero hindi ko na rin nabibisita si papa jesus..
salamat sa post na ito..
daan lang ulit.sumilip kung may bago. :p
Well for me, I think God should be no.1 on our priority list.
happy sunday, elyong
time for church!
i have not been to church ever since i arrived new orleans hehehe
tagal naman ng next post. ayan ha, nagsulat na ako ng tagging post.
very nice topic Mr.Elyong, Im 100% agree with you, should not be forced, dapat yung my udyok ng pagmamahal. Pinalaki tayo ng ating mga magulang na may takot at masunurin sa Maykapal (walang masama dun) nagiging masama nalang pag nagiging obligasyon na para satin at napipilitan nalang pero kung ginagawa natin regular dahil sa udyok na rin ng takot ng my pagmamahal e yun walang masama dun.
Im not a religious person though isinilang akong INC at alam naman ng marami kung gano karaming bawal sa INC pero aaminin ko na talagang di lang marami kundi napakarami ko parin nalalabag na tuntunin sa aming relihyon (Argh) pero ayoko din namang gawing excuse na "Sorry tao lang ako mahina, nagkakasala, nagkakamali, di perpekto sana maintindihan nya" dahil at the end of the day I did bad things na alam kong masama di dahil akoy tao lang o mahina kundi nagawa ko dahil ginusto ko din kahit alam kong di tama at diko pinaglabanan.
sigh, alam mo sa totoo lang pag ang topic e tungkol sa Politika at Relihyon e gusto kong makulubong nalang hahahaha ala lang kasi parang medyo complicated e, mahirap na topic diba?lolz.
Hi Elyong!Its been a while..kumusta na po?
I admit na di kami nakakapgsimba regularly dito,a matter of fact,i just found a church nearby recently koz we`ve just moved in here.this is a non-catholic country kasi,minsan,nakakalimutan namin ang mga church events coz we couldnt feel it in the air.anyway,im glad that at least,i can share my faith with the catholic people this lent season.
hope you had a nice weekend!
i seldomly go to church actually but we regularly have bible study every wednesday
pero para sa kin mahalaga if magsisimba ka because you love it and you have faith for it
this is a great post! i completely agree---going to church used to be an obligation for me too, but now, its more of a lifeline ;-)
religion and belief systems do change :)
sumilip,dumalaw at naghanap ng bagong post ngunit wala pa.busy yata ang parekoy.
patawarin mo po ako Fr. Elyong sa mga kasalanan ko. di na ako makasimba. hehehe (litsi magdyodyok sana ako, natakot ako seyo hahaha)
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