A question - and a response

At a discussion site, I was asked the following:

Your Morning Mass Thingy--

I never understood the people who go to church merely for the fact that they believe if they do not go then they will go to hell.

I go to hear an informational, maybe uplifing, homily and to listen to the readings.

I usually try and take the message of the week and apply it in my world.

Never do I feel bd when I do not go.

What's your take??

I responded:

I go to Mass not because it's an obligation, or a rule, or a sin if I don't go. I go to be with the one I love and the one who so loved me He created me and was willing to die for me. I WANT to be there, just as I wanted to be with a girlfriend or my wife - only more so! I want to spend time with Him, to thank Him, to talk to Him, just to be with Him. Yes, I can be with Him in the woods, or on a mountainside, or while walking the dog, but Mass is a special time - a "date" of sorts. I go to hear a homily, to be with like-minded people, to feel a sense of community, to sing, true. But even more I go to be with my Lord, and so even a lousy homily, terrible music, irreverent people can't ruin it. I'm with HIm. When I miss Mass, I feel a sense of loss, just I have in the past when away from my family, my wife, my loved ones.

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My response was hurried, and perhaps not worded in the best way. Someone said some positive things about it, noting though that it was a bit "over the top."

I replied:

Over the top? Perhaps - but then, don't we celebrate passionate love?

Litany of the Love of God

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us. Christ graciously hear us.

God, the Father of heaven,

Have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world,

Have mercy on us.

God, the Holy Ghost,

Have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, one God,

Have mercy on us.

Thou Who art Infinite Love,

Have mercy on us.

Thou Who didst first love me,

Have mercy on us.

Thou Who commandest me to love Thee,

Have mercy on us.

With all my heart,

I Love Thee, O My God

With all my soul,

I Love Thee, O My God

With all my mind,

I Love Thee, O My God

With all my strength,

I Love Thee, O My God

Above all possessions and honors,

I Love Thee, O My God

Above all pleasures and enjoyments,

I Love Thee, O My God

More than myself, and everything belonging to me,

I Love Thee, O My God

More than all my relatives and friends,

I Love Thee, O My God

More than all men and angels,

I Love Thee, O My God

Above all created things in heaven or on earth,

I Love Thee, O My God

Only for Thyself,

I Love Thee, O My God

Because Thou art the sovereign Good,

I Love Thee, O My God

Because Thou art infinitely worthy of being loved,

I Love Thee, O My God

Because Thou art infinitely perfect,

I Love Thee, O My God

Even hadst Thou not promised me heaven,

I Love Thee, O My God

Even hadst Thou not menaced me with hell,

I Love Thee, O My God

Even shouldst Thou try me by want and misfortune,

I Love Thee, O My God

In wealth and in poverty,

I Love Thee, O My God

In prosperity and in adversity,

I Love Thee, O My God

In health and in sickness,

I Love Thee, O My God

In life and in death,

I Love Thee, O My God

In time and in eternity,

I Love Thee, O My God

In union with that love wherewith all the saints and all the angels love Thee in heaven,

I Love Thee, O My God

In union with that love wherewith the Blessed Virgin Mary loveth Thee,

I Love Thee, O My God

In union with that infinite love wherewith Thou lovest Thyself eternally,

I Love Thee, O My God

My God, Who dost possess in incomprehensible abundance all that is perfect and worthy of love, annihilate in me all guilty, sensual, and undue love for creatures. Kindle in my heart the pure fire of Thy love, so that I may love nothing but Thee or in Thee, until being so entirely consumed by holy love of Thee, I may go to love Thee eternally with the elect in heaven, the country of pure love. Amen.

His Holiness, Pope Pius VI, for private use

And then I cited:

How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for right. I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.

Ah, but I only wish I could be conscious of that love every time I go to Mass!

Pax et bonum