On Timothy Radcliffe’s Why Go to Church
by Barbara Haddow

I often pondered over why one should go to church, and for a long period of time in my life, I did not attend church. It is now a very important and meaningful part of my life. Reading the book Why Go to Church: The Drama of the Eucharist  by Timothy Radcliffe has deepened my desire to attend.

For Radcliffe, asking why one should go to church is really asking why one should attend the Eucharist. He believes that the Eucharist is a fundamental drama of all human existence. It forms us as people who believe, hope and have charity. These are the three acts of the Eucharist: faith, hope and charity. They share in God’s life and they touch us with God’s dynamic grace, making us strong for our journey to happiness in God. By listening to the word of God, we grow in faith, become ready to proclaim the creed and ask for what we need. In the second act, belief leads to hope. In the final act, our hope culminates in love.

When I first started going to church, I attended Christmas services. I found them very much filled with the Christmas spirit, but they did not lead me to regular church attendance. Church still did not have a lot of meaning for me. It did not provide a lot comfort for my needs. Then many life experiences resulted in suffering for me. I started to yearn for the faith, hope and charity in the Eucharist. I was drawn to church. Initially, I found just sitting in the church calm and peaceful, like a lot of weight had been taken off my shoulders. When I take part in the Eucharist consistently and when I developed a good understanding of it in “Why Go to Church”, my faith deepens as I listen to the word of God. I am on a journey of spiritual maturity, leading to becoming a stronger person of the love of God, of increasing compassion, forgiveness and gratitude. I am acquiring strength to deal with my suffering and am experiencing healing. I am becoming a person of hope for myself and for others through prayer.

 

Note: St. Peter's studied Why Go to Church: The Drama of the Liturgy by Timothy Radcliffe as part of our fall 2015 Adult Christian Education.