Motive ... fear or love?
Have you ever wondered why you go to Church and keep going?  Earlier this week as I entered the Church to attend the Holy Mass, I had this thought: why do you keep coming ..... fear or love?
Yes coming to think of it,  why do we often go to Church and as Catholics daily if possible and as I reflect a  common Hymn came to mind:-
              My God, I love you though there were
              No heaven for me to win
              No hell to punish those who dare
              Against your love to sin..........
Therefore do we go to Church because of gaining something out of it - heaven? or do we go out of fear to prevent going to hell?  By the way,'Heaven is Real and so is Hell', is Vassula's latest book (visit tlig.org)
Fear may not be a good reason for going to Church yet it could be a beginning point. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.... God is love and merciful, but He is also a Judge. His love and justice should go hand in hand. If He will take note of our sins, who will dare stand before Him? We can be tempted to become too familiar with God's love/mercy that we forget He is also a righteous Judge. Therefore holy fear of God will keep us on our toes to be conscious of our nothingness before Him. He is a Holy and Loving Father, but He is not our equal. It's only through the sacrificial love of Jesus on the Cross that has given us access to come into His presence.
                Upon the Cross your wide embrace
                Made me, dear Lord your own;
                The nails, the spear, the long disgrace
                For me should all atone...........
However, the fear of hell below or hope of heaven above are not enough reasons for going to Church. Rather, love should be the key........the underlying motive for going to  Church. The holy fear of God may  bring us to repentance and restoration to a loving God who has been waiting for our coming back home. Like the Prodigal son, we tend to wander away from home and we need to return again and again.......
As we listen to the Word of God, our hearts are filled with hope and assurance. Each part of the Holy Eucharistic Celebration leads to restoration. Unlike the woman with the issue of blood who got healed because she touched the Hem of His garment, we are totally immersed in Him... we become divinized  as He came to share in our humanity so that we can share in His Divinity. We love or must love Him because He first love us. Each time we attempt to love Him we experience abundant love being poured into our hearts. We cannot therefore 'surpass' God in giving or loving. He is the giver without measure and the great Lover without compare.
Like Peter, where can we go to find such tangible love? to whom shall we go? where can we find food that last? food that nourishes? where can the thirsty quench their thirst? where can the soul find rest?
Whether fear or love may drive us to seek the Lord, it's all by His own Grace... His own doing....it is His Love that draws us to seek Him and He allows us to find Him, He opens His Heart that we may enter and listen to His heart-beat, and He nourishes us with His own Self.... Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity .... His total  Self. ......the Holy Eucharist is an invention of Love, for as we commune with Him we are embraced in His Love.
Is there any answer to the question? may be only partially, because nothing remains the same..... my feeble thoughts may change/grow  in the degree I continue to respond to the grace being given. My insight is still blurred..as we see only through darkened glass, ...... knowledge is imperfect.... .that is why we need to go often, daily if possible to recharge our empty batteries, to remain connected to the Vine as apart from Him we cannot bear any fruit,..... fruits that will last. Being part of the Body we  need to be connected to the source of life. The weak being carried by the strong, all drawing nourishment from the True Vine.......
Is it therefore too much to keep going to Church? nothing we do is or can be too much in comparison to what He lovingly suffered on the Cross......... It is an open invitation to all and who will not lovingly  accept such a generous offer from the one who tenderly invites?.....