Why go to Mass?

Why, indeed, go to Mass? One of the most important and visible signs that someone is a Catholic is that they take seriously the obligation to go to Mass on a Sunday. For many years Catholics were told that if they did not go to Mass on a Sunday, this was a sin so grievous as to warrant eternal punishment. However, whilst there does remain a serious obligation to attend Sunday Mass, a great deal of Church thinking has changed since this particular dictate was prevalent amongst the faithful, and Catholics are, at last, going to Sunday Mass because they want to.

Why was it so important for the Church to ensure that people went to Mass every week, to the point where eternal punishment was threatened if they failed to attend? It was seen as crucial because, since the beginning of the early Church, the Mass was seen as the central and key part of the life of the universal Church, the re-enactment of the story of our healing and redemption; a memorial of what Jesus went through for our sake, and a crucial opportunity to keep the faithful well-versed in moral truths.

It was important because, of all the sacraments of the Church, this was the one in which the very person of Jesus Christ is made truly present. Present in such a way that we, like the many people in the bible who flocked to him and who found their healing, can come to him also.

Thankfully, as I have said above, Catholics now go to Mass because they want to. They want to because they recognise that it is in the Mass that we come together, as a loving community, to hear what God has to say to us and to receive him, personally and intimately into our lives.

The Mass always starts with the priest welcoming the faithful who have gathered together, as a community, under one roof, and inviting them to make the Sign of the Cross, a clear statement of in whose name everyone has gathered.

Given that it would be unthinkable to be preparing to come into the true presence of Jesus without first giving thought to how we may have offended him, we then enter into the Penitential Rite. In this part of the Mass we reflect upon our faults and failings, and the ways in which we may have offended God and others in our lives, expressing our regret, openly and verbally, and asking God to have mercy upon us and to heal those aspects of our past and present which stand in need of his healing hand.

In the Readings which follow, we hear from the various books of the Old Testament or from the letters written by, among others, St Paul, to the many Christian communities springing up in places such as Corinth, Ephesus and Rome. Above all, we listen to a passage from one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John). It is an incredible thought that God, the great Creator of all that exists, the almighty ‘I Am’ of all eternity, has actually spoken to us. We can hear what he has to say to us, directly, through everything that Jesus said and did whilst he was with us on earth. Catholics therefore believe that in listening to these Gospels, we are listening to Jesus speaking to us, for it is in these Gospels that we hear about the life, work and words of Jesus. The Gospels are central, they are the hinge, in terms of learning how to put Christian life and love into practice in our everyday lives.

The readings end with an explanation, a Homily, given by the priest of what we have just heard, and then, standing, the community is joined as one in its declaration of what it believes, in the recitation of the Creed. Still standing, we turn to God with our Bidding Prayers, lifting up before him the many and varied needs of the world, our more immediate community and our own particular needs.

In the Offertory part of the Mass the faithful bring gifts of bread and wine to the altar. In this act, the whole community gives thanks, firstly, for the fact that God will shortly make himself present to us through the miracle of the Eucharist. It is also a moment in which we express our thanks for all the goodness which God pours out upon us, an expression made perfect by the personal offering of ourselves to Him.

Then, at last, we embark upon that part of the Mass which was instigated by Jesus himself at the Last Supper: the gift of himself in the form of bread and wine, the Eucharist.

What can one say about this? How is it possible to adequately put into words the enormity and beauty of such a miracle as Jesus amongst us again? How can one quantify such a love for humanity that Jesus felt unable to leave us, unable to abandon us? A love which demanded and continues to demand to be made present amongst us, thousands of times a day in churches all around the world. A love which so yearns to come to us in order that we too, like the people who flocked to him in the many stories of the New Testament, may also find healing and strength.

This is why Catholics go to Mass! We flock to Mass because we long to be with the Lord; because we know how much we need him in our lives; because we long for his love and mercy; because we long to hear him speaking to us; we long to express our sorrow about all manner of things, and we long for his healing.

It is as simple as this ….. we long to be with the Lord.

Of course, there are many Catholics who choose not to go to Mass, often for reasons such as they don’t like the music, or they don’t like the priest, or Mass is boring, or whatever. I imagine there are many Catholics who can relate to one or all of these at some time in their lives! Sadly, this is more often as a result of our failure to grasp the meaning of the power of the Mass in our lives, and is also a reflection of our failure to understand that in order to get the most out of Mass, the onus is on us to enter, fully and freely, into the miracle of the Mass, always miraculous regardless of whether we like the priest or the music or not.

The Mass is a truly ancient form of liturgy, and before I leave you I must share with you the words of St Justin, one of the early martyrs (he died about AD165) of the infant Church, in which he describes the worship of the faithful of the newly-born Church …

In that day which is called after the Sun, all who are in the towns and in the country gather together for a communal celebration, and then the memoirs of the Apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits. After the reader has finished his task, the one presiding gives an address, urgently admonishing his hearers to practise these beautiful teachings in their lives. Then all stand up together and recite prayers for ourselves, for the newly baptised, and for others all over the world. After finishing the prayers we greet each other with a kiss. Then bread and a cup of wine mixed with water are brought to the one presiding over the brethren. He takes it, gives praise and glory to the Father of all in the name of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and gives thanks (eucharistises) at length, as much as in him lies, for the gifts that we were worthy to receive from Him. When he has finished the prayers and the thanksgiving, the whole crowd standing by cries out in agreement, “Amen!” After the presiding official has said thanks, and the people have joined in, the deacons distribute as food for all present the bread and the wine-and-water-mixed, over which the thanks (eucharist) has been offered, and which they carry to those not present. No one may partake of it unless he is convinced of the truth of our teaching, and has been cleansed in the washing of baptism and is living as Christ taught us. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but as Jesus Christ our Saviour, made flesh by the Word of God, took flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is consecrated by the prayer of His words is the Flesh and Blood of that Jesus who became flesh and blood. And they who have wealth and are of good will, give what each one thinks fit, and what is collected is deposited with the one presiding, who therewith helps widows and orphans and those who through sickness or any other cause, are in want. (From the Writings of St Justin)