Weekly Mass Discussion Thread #1

hello !dramneurodivergents (!dramatards is the legacy term), !catholics, and !christians.

We like to have weekly discussion threads of many things: vidya, movies, books, animu... but not something that already is on a weekly basis: the Sacrifice of the Mass!

Let's rectify this.

Here are the readings from today's Mass:

Reading 1

You duped me, O LORD, and I let myself be duped;

you were too strong for me, and you triumphed.

All the day I am an object of laughter;

everyone mocks me.

Whenever I speak, I must cry out,

violence and outrage is my message;

the word of the LORD has brought me

derision and reproach all the day.

I say to myself, I will not mention him,

I will speak in his name no more.

But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart,

imprisoned in my bones;

I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it.

-Jer 20:7-9

Reading 2

I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God,

to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,

holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.

Do not conform yourselves to this age

but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,

that you may discern what is the will of God,

what is good and pleasing and perfect.

-Rom 12:1-2

Gospel

Jesus began to show his disciples

that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly

from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,

and be killed and on the third day be raised.

Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,

"God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you."

He turned and said to Peter,

"Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.

You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

Then Jesus said to his disciples,

"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,

take up his cross, and follow me.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world

and forfeit his life?

Or what can one give in exchange for his life?

For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory,

and then he will repay all according to his conduct."

-Mt 16:21-27

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Today's readings center around the theme of God's plan. Something that all of us must realize is that however good we are, God is better. Whatever plans we hold for ourselves are inferior to God's. Since He is all-knowing and all-good, His designs put ours to shame. Not only that, whatever God desires is good for us. To be Christian is to follow Christ's way. It is to be humble and admit that to do the will of God is better than anything you could do independently. To sin is to go against God's will because you believe your own to be better. In this way, pride is the root of all other sins: in order to sin, you must believe that your way is better than God's way. Uhhh yeah that's what I have, I'm not quite a preacher (yet) but I think doing this will be good for my faith and hopefully can help yours too.