As mentioned in this post my home parish is please to welcome Fr. Oscar Lukefahr (”Father Luke”) to our Lenten parish mission/week of renewal (read revival if you’re a protestant.)

I’m always up for freely available blogging material, especially when there’s free food involved (again, see the post referenced above,) so I will be posting a few thoughts from each night’s lecture this week.

Tonight’s lecture was called “Jesus didn’t say, ‘Go take a hike!’” Fr. Luke explained how in the totality of it, there are those who might ask us why we go to Mass, why we spend the time there, and we might grumble about why we should have to take the time, etc. Well, to put it in perspective, if we live to be 80, we’ll spend 6.5 years getting our education, 27 years sleeping, 4 years eating, and if we go to Mass every Sunday and spend 5 minutes in the morning and evening in prayer, we’ll spend 6 months on God. Seems like He doesn’t ask all that much as far as time dedicated specifically to Him (not counting, of course, many hours spent on charity with others in His name.) In addition, we know that because God created each of us special in this enormous universe he created, He loves us more that anyone else possibly can.

Finally, we should go to Mass because it’s the only thing Jesus told us to do for Him. When he took the bread and broke it, and gave it to his apostles, He said, “do this in memory of me.” There are those who say, “I can worship God anywhere, not just in Church. I can see the beauty of His creation outside the Church. I can commune with God just as well out in nature. I can go on a hike and see a great deal more than I can see inside a Church…” Hence the title of tonight’s talk. Jesus didn’t command us to take a hike. He commanded us to go to Mass. Again – it’s the only thing Jesus told us to do for him.

Tomorrow, “Praying the Mass with your friends in heaven.”