"Sundays are mandatory"

I've been taught that Sundays are for church.  Church is for God and you owe everything that happens in your life to Him.  It's fate.  I believe we all have a purpose in life, but not a predetermined one.  For some reason my parents cannot wrap their head around that.

When I told them that I wasn't going to mass today, they were baffled.   

"But it's Sunday...you have to!  What's gotten into you?"

No I don't.  Going to God's house is supposed to be a sanctuary.  It's supposed to be a home that I can share with 60 other people.  It doesn't feel like a home.  The one in Irvine is.  My brothers and sisters all reside there and we're a family.  And going to mass shouldn't be an obligation.  It's free will.  We're all entitled to how we pray and communicate with Him. 

"Your personal problems have nothing to do with God.  No matter what, you're supposed to be there in church to pray for your troubles."

It's such a contradiction.  I think she meant that my personal problems aren't larger than the church.  Prayer is a personal thing to me and where I do pray shouldn't matter.  It's not like a computer being plugged into the modem, I'm not going to get a better communication line with God if I'm in the church.

And the last statement that just annoyed me.

"If you pray enough, things are going to change."

God isn't Santa Clause, just because we all try to be good little boys and girls, He's not going to give us what we want.  We're human-- we make mistakes and when we make those mistakes, there are consequences.  It's our responsibility to cope and fix ourselves.  Prayer's a supplement, not the antidote.