Beauty and Power of Mass

From my earliest memories growing up Catholic, I understood attending Mass on Sunday was a serious obligation and a serious sin to miss Mass on Sunday.  

I knew this from my catechism class and, maybe more influential to me, because in my family we never missed Mass on Sunday.  Our whole Sunday was planned only after we first decided which Mass we would attend.  It was unthinkable that a sports event, party or going to a movie would be planned first and then decide if there was any time left to attend Mass.  The (house) of God always was at the center of our family.

The church teaches us the “obligation” to attend Sunday Mass is an essential commitment we are bound to as a Catholic as have Christians from the beginning of the church. We should not be surprised by this.  We read in the Acts of the Apostles, (the first Christians) went to the temple for prayers and then met in their homes for the “breaking of the bread” (the Mass) (Acts 2:46).  It has been this way from the beginning of the church 

For such a beautiful sacrament it may sound wrong to speak of attending Mass as an obligation.  In fact, we bind ourselves willingly to many obligations in our lives.  If you think about it, every commitment to a club or job, or even more illustrative think of commitments of love we make in marriage or loving responsibilities we have as part of a family, they all come with obligations.  

When a man and woman marry, they vow to be faithful, to be open to new life and a family and to live together until death do they part.  They make these vows willingly because to marry is to bind yourself to these vows. Willful omission of one vow out is not a Christian marriage. 

But for the couple in love, these vows are not a burden because it is precisely in faithfully fulfilling these vows they grow in unity and deepen their love.  

We as Catholics attend Mass each Sunday because it is an essential, indispensable part of living our Christian commitment.  In our celebration of the Mass we enter into the mystery of Christ dying and rising. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day” (Jn 6:54).  To miss Mass is like leaving out a vow in marriage.  We are leaving out an essential part of what it means to be Catholic, to be Christian.

For those who are now moving around freely it is time to return to Mass.  Many have been looking forward to this moment and have already begun to return.  Others have created new routines and the decision to return will need to be more intentional.  

Not coming to Mass is not just ignoring one church law but is a reflection on our relationship with God, and we are denying ourselves the graces of a sacrament that draws us deeper into our relationship with Christ.

On Sunday, the power and beauty of the Mass is discovered first when the word of God is proclaimed in the Liturgy of the Word. “The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb 4:12) and has the power to convict us of our sins, of healing our wounds and deepening our understanding of our call to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.  

In Liturgy of the Eucharist, we believe the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is made present to us so that we might join ourselves to Jesus’ offering of himself to the father.  As the priest lifts the host and the chalice, we lift ourselves as an offering to the father. 

Each Mass we should ask “What will I put on the altar today?”  We may offer thanksgiving for our blessings or help in times of suffering and loss.  We might seek divine help and God’s mercy in our efforts to overcome our sinful nature and the grace to be faithful in our efforts to follow Christ.  

The more intensely we live the Christian life the more we know the need for and are inspired to draw strength from the bread of life.

In our reception of Communion together we proclaim that we are the body of Christ. We receive the saving body and blood of Christ and once again, renewed and strengthened, we are sent into the world to live lives of holiness with a heart and love for the poor.

As restrictions from the pandemic are removed and we return to more normal life, commit to coming back to church.  It may alter your present routine and you may not feel like going.  But that is the point, to reorganize your life first around God and then let everything else find its proper place.  Break your routine that had no place for praying with the body of Christ and find your place once again with the church.  You already have a place in the heart of Jesus, now give Jesus a place in your heart and life and join the church at the table of the Lord.