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"Going to God's House" by AnneMarie Miller (CatholicMom.com) Image credit: Pixabay.com (2016), CC0/PD[/caption] I sat on the rug, trying to look my sternest as I spoke to my three-year-old. “It’s time to get your Mass clothes on,” I repeated. He looked down from his perch high up on the back of the couch and remained unmoved. Frustrated, I decided to try a different tactic. “We’re going to God’s house,” I said softly. “It’s a very special place. Wouldn’t it be nice if we wore special clothes for God’s house?” My son lowered himself from the couch, disbelief spreading across his face. “God’s house?” he said incredulously. The simple act of getting ready and attending daily Mass had reached a new depth -- because we were going to God’s house. My son has been to many Masses and Adoration hours, and knows that Jesus is in the church, but something clicked in his brain that morning. He still struggled to get ready that day, but for the next several minutes, he kept mentioning that we were going to God’s house. Soon, we found ourselves walking into church, where the sanctuary lamp shone before our eyes, a silent proclamation that: Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, is here! This is God’s house! The gift of the Eucharist is an incredible miracle and a profound reality. We can regularly walk into God’s house. This is tremendous! Yet why am I not awestruck and in disbelief like my three-year-old was? Why do I find myself harried and distracted, thinking about my “To Do” list and what’s for dinner as I sit right in front of the King of Kings? As my son rambled on and on about “God’s house” that morning, I began to realize how much I needed this reminder. When I walk up the steps and through those large church doors, I am entering God’s house -- and I should act accordingly. In Walker Percy’s novel, Love in the Ruins, Dr. Tom More reflects on the common challenge of allowing our beliefs to impact our actions and lives, as he notes: “Suppose you ask God for a miracle and God says yes, very well. How do you live the rest of your life?” As the church bells ring, we gather in God’s house and eat His flesh, drink His blood. Will we allow this miraculous reality to affect our thoughts, clothes, actions, lives, and worship? Will we let our entire existence be impacted by the reality that week after week and day after day, we sit, stand, and kneel in God’s house?
Copyright 2019 AnneMarie Miller

About the Author

AnneMarie Miller

AnneMarie Miller

A bibliophile, wife, mother of young children, and lover of the Liturgy, AnneMarie Miller enjoys exploring the manifold—and quirky—ways in which God speaks. She can often be found reading books to her kids, burrowing her toes in the red Oklahoma dirt, or sipping black coffee. Her reflections on Catholicism, literature, and hope can be found on her blog, Sacrifice of Love.