Experience, the better teacher

 

  "The Mass is the most beautiful thing this side of heaven."

~ Fr Frederick W Faber

 

"There were years I wandered around exploring other expressions of faith, other churches, and other ways of taking up the spiritual life.   I don't regret them; God is merciful, and I learned while wandering.  But eventually I missed aspects of the church that could not be replaced elsewhere, namely, the sacraments.  More than all others, I missed Holy Communion, or the Eucharist.  There is simply no substitute for the real presence of Jesus.

If you earnestly wonder about the Mass, I recommend first that you actually go to Mass.  You can read about it all you like, but the experience of it is the better teacher.  Go, ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and ears and eyes, and then trust what comes."

Excerpt from May Crowning, Mass, and Merton and Other Reasons

I Love Being Catholic, pg 159 (Loyola Press, 2006) by Liz Kelly

(The whole book is fantastico!)