Sunday Morning Worship Q4 2025 Goal


It's 6:30 AM on Sunday as I begin to write. Last Sunday morning, I watched the Daily TV Mass on YouTube, took my mom to the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center for a walk, and stopped at the grocery store on the way home. It was such a full morning I did not have a chance to write. This week I am determined first and foremost to think and write about my Q4 2025 goal for the Sunday Morning worship block in my emergent horarium. What exactly am I aiming for here?

I see six possibilities:

  1. Progress toward live public attendance at Catholic Mass in fulfillment of the Sunday obligation.
  2. Progress toward live public attendance at Sunday morning worship in some other Christian denomination, with or without a weekly celebration of the Eucharist, in fulfillment of the Sunday obligation.
  3. Virtual attendance at an online Christian worship service, either synchronously or asynchronously.
  4. A flexible response to the movement of the Holy Spirit in my life, anchored in a discipline of Sunday morning contemplative Christian blogging.
  5. A flexible response to the movement of the Holy Spirit in my life, anchored in a discipline of Sunday morning virtual silence.
  6. A flexible response to the movement of the Holy Spirit in my life, without a commitment either way to always blog or always maintain virtual Sunday morning silence.  

Taking a step back, my overarching goals in all of this are threefold:

  • To obtain an eternal reward in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
  • To avoid annihilation or eternal conscious torment.
  • To recover, maintain, and grow in peace, balance, and love in this lifetime.

What must I do to accomplish these three broad goals? On a Catholic view, the terms of my salvation are mediated by the papacy, the episcopate, the priesthood, and the diaconate. I am to put the teaching of the Magisterium above my own individual conscience. On a Protestant view, if I really want to know what I must do for salvation as taught by Jesus Christ, I must prayerfully study the Bible for myself and obey my own conscience as it is informed by Scripture, by reason, by Church tradition, and by the Holy Spirit. I have the freedom, if not the duty, to put my own conscience, duly informed, above that of any institutional Church hierarchy.

This is how it seems to me in conversation with Google Gemini this morning: https://share.google/aimode/v3WgrdwRGEAr3ztjC. 

At this point, for the purposes of Q4 2025, I think it will be best if I pursue a "flexible response to the movement and guidance of the Holy Spirit in my life, without a commitment either way to always blog or always maintain virtual Sunday morning silence."  

This said, I do want to make objective progress toward both my eternal salvation and present peace (distinct and interrelated as these are). I also want to feel that I am a contributing member of the church. This gives rise to three questions I intend to ask myself on Sunday morning at the end of Q4:

  1. Where am I now in the order of salvation, as I presently understand the teachings of the Bible and the nature of theological reality to the best of my own ability?
  2. On a scale of 1-10, or using some other index, how much inner peace do I have with the way I spent my Sunday mornings this quarter?
  3. In what ways did I contribute to the church on Sunday mornings this quarter, and do I feel I should give more, or less, in financial and other terms in the season ahead?    

I am presently giving a modest amount to All-Creatures every month. I stopped monthly giving to A Well-Fed World for financial reasons and I have slipped in giving to the Creation Care Church, Swords to Plowshares, and the Christian Animal Rights Association.    

The Creation Care Church now features this statement on its webpage:

We are currently on sabbatical as we prayerfully navigate a season of internal conflict and discernment. During this time, our regular services and activities are paused so that our leadership can seek healing, unity, and clarity for the future of our church...We deeply value your patience and prayers as we walk through this important process.

I understand the importance of discernment and my prayers are with all concerned.

For further consideration:

Comments

  1. Jonathan Wade MaxsonSeptember 25, 2025 at 9:23 AM

    Earlier this week I put my membership on pause until the Creation Care Church website is back up. Then I will re-evaluate whether it is still a good fit based on the information provided on the restored or revised platform.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment