#MyMassTakeaway

My Mass Takeaway is inspired by Rosie Hill from A blog for my mom, and her #MySundayBest linkup.

Sunday is the Lord’s day… but how do we set it apart from every other day of the week?  Sometimes, just by going to Mass for an hour in the morning, then business as usual.

But I decided I want more.

I don’t want to walk away from Mass and forget the readings, the homily, the grace I’ve been given through God’s Word and His very Body.  I want to carry Him with me in my heart, truly devoting the day to loving Him.

Join me every Sunday on Instagram or Facebook to read #MyMassTakeaway: a summary of the thoughts and reflections I bring home from Mass.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, too.  Use hashtag #MyMassTakeaway to join the conversation! And tag me @tojesussincerely so I don’t miss you!

This Sunday’s Takeaway:

#MyMassTakeaway: "The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion." . This response gave me all the good feelings today. Until it hit me who was doing the talking. It was David, the Psalmist, an Old Testament character. . He lives in a different world than I do. His understanding of the "Lord" is not quite the same as what comes to mind for me. . I prayed this response with the "I-died-for-you," "forgive-him-seventy-times-seven-times" Jesus on my mind. . But David didn't know Jesus yet. He wasn't revealed at his time in history. No, the "Lord" he was referencing was the first person of the Trinity: God the Creator. . The "kick-them-out-of-Eden" God. The "send-a-flood," "fire-and-brimstone," "forty-extra-years-in-the-desert" God. . THIS is the slow to anger God? . How did such a prayer rise to David's lips? How did he not perceive God as the hot-tempered, quick-to-punish, anger-flaring God I so often see when I read the Old Testament? . Because David is humble. David KNOWS the weight of his own sins. He knows that he owes God an infinite debt. David knew that God's anger was well-deserved. That God would be justified in obliterating every human from the face of the earth to satisfy His justice if He so desired. . But God chose to give His people life. To keep forgiving them and watching over them, despite all their offenses against Him. To promise them the Savior. . This is the reality check I needed today. I need to remember that the ever-forgiving Jesus of the New Testament is the SAME God as the justice-exacting Creator of the Old Testament. The only difference? My place in history. My perspective. . And since forgiveness comes so easy to us today – pop into confession, list my sins, say three Hail Marys, boom – I sometimes lose my healthy sense of guilt. I forget the weight of my sins before God. . Today, I allow David's words to reawaken my knowledge of my infinite offense before God. And my awe at God's infinite goodness and mercy. He is indeed slow to anger and rich in compassion.

A post shared by To Jesus Sincerely (@tojesussincerely) on Sep 17, 2017 at 3:33pm PDT

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