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)

The man believed ...

Then Jesus went back to Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. A government official was there whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to go to Capernaum and heal his son, who was about to die. Jesus said to him, “None of you will ever believe unless you see miracles and wonders”. “Sir,” replied the official, “Come with me before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go, your son will live!” The man believed Jesus’ words and went. On his way home his servants met him with the news, “Your boy is going to live!” He asked them at what time it was when his son got better, and they answered, “It was one o’clock yesterday afternoon when the fever left him.” Then the father remembered it was at that very hour that Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So he and all his family believed. John 4:48

A government official, anxious that Jesus should follow him straight away to Capernaum where his son lay dying, approaches Jesus knowing that Jesus alone can bring the healing that he is seeking. He wants him to come and lay his hands on his son because he knows that this is how Jesus has brought healing to others. Jesus, in what may have been a slightly exasperated tone and probably a little fed up that people refuse to believe in him unless they can see tangible proof of his miracles exclaims, not perhaps so much to the official but to the crowd, "None of you will ever believe unless you see miracles and wonders!"

Jesus then turns to the official and tells him: “Your son will live". The official can do nothing but accept these words in faith, as he is a full day's journey from home. He must have faith in a miracle unseen. It isn't until the next day, as he arrives home, that he discovers that his prayer has been answered - his servants confirm that the healing took place at the exact hour that he was having his conversation with Jesus the previous day.

I often think about his journey home … did he walk that full day’s journey firm in the belief that his son was cured? … did he secretly harbour niggling doubts that his son might still be unwell? Was he astonished by the news that his servants brought to him, or did he greet the news without a flicker of surprise? Despite the fact that I like to think that he was completely normal and therefore did have small doubts, I suspect that in reality his faith in this unseen miracle and on this occasion was rock solid. Faith in Jesus’ power over our lives and in our prayer life is so important: indeed, in so many places in the Gospels Jesus reminds us of the necessity of faith in order to bring about the miracle. In Mark’s gospel, for instance, we hear of a visit Jesus made to Nazareth – his own home town – where ‘he could work no miracle … he was amazed at their lack of faith’ (Mark 6:5). Just imagine that for a moment … such was their lack of faith that could actually work no miracle!

But, going back to the official in this passage, we are told that “The man believed Jesus’ words and went”.

One of the difficult things about faith, especially in our current world which demands answers and explanations, is that we are required to believe in things unseen. Actually, it was much the same in Jesus’ day: in Matthew 16:4 we hear that Jesus castigates the Pharisees and Sadducees who have asked for a sign, “It is an evil and unfaithful generation that asks for a sign!” The official’s request for a miracle was witnessed by an entire crowd but the actual fulfilment of this miracle was hidden from them all: it was witnessed only by the servants, a whole day’s journey away.

This is therefore an account which should challenge our attitude to Jesus and his power. The whole Gospel is calling us to have faith in things unseen. We are living here and now in the 21st century and the faith that is being asked of us is no more than what was asked of the man in this story. He knew of Jesus and he met him. So far, that is no different for us, for we know of him through the Bible and we meet him in so many ways but, primarily, of course, in the Eucharist. But, do we believe? Do we have faith?

We need to ask ourselves, to what extend do I know that Jesus is powerful? To what extend do I know that Jesus can work miracles in my life? Do I approach him, as the man in this story approached him, with faith in what he can do for us?

The faith of the official is the sort of faith which is required of us if the full potential of God’s healing hand over our lives is to be completely realised. And this passage, above all, serves to remind us of the omnipotence of Jesus: His power cannot be confined in any way or by anything whatsoever. It is not confined by location or time, it transcends all and is absolute.

This should be a great encouragement for us to have faith in Jesus' power over not only our own lives but the lives of those for whom we pray. It may be that those for whom we pray are at a distance from us, either physically or spiritually.

Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. Matt 7:7.

Angel sent by God to guide me, be my light and walk beside me.

On 2nd October the Church remembers and celebrates our Guardian Angels. For many, the whole idea of angels, let alone our own personal angel, is like something out of a fairytale and not altogether believable. However, both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible are positively littered with references to angels and the Church takes up and confirms what we hear about the angels, that ‘From infancy to death human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading them to life’ (CCC 336). We therefore ignore angels at our peril!

What is the purpose of angels? Angels live in the constant presence of God and are his messengers, his workforce. Throughout the Bible we hear of how they act for God in many ways, often being the direct method by which important messages are delivered to humanity. They warn and they protect and, on God’s command, have the power to act on his behalf sometimes in quite shocking ways as revealed in the Book of Revelation.

However, for the most part, angels are given to us as helpers and intercessors. The psalmist tells us that “God will put his angels in charge of you to protect you wherever you go” (Ps 91:11). Certainly, the Israelites experienced the direct help and intercession of the angels in their flight from Egypt, for we hear that God tells Moses “Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you.” (Ex 32:34). And again, we are told that an angel acted very forcefully to clear the way before them, “I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites” (Ex 33:2). The Israelites themselves said, “We cried out to the Lord, he heard our cry and sent an angel” (Num 20:16)

In the New Testament, one of the very first references to angels is when we hear that God sent Gabriel, one of his three Archangels (the others being Michael and Raphael), to deliver the message to Mary that she had been chosen to bear the Son of God into the world. We hear that Mary not only saw the angel but was engaged in a conversation with him about what was being asked of her, and that she posed questions to him to which he had to respond on God’s behalf (Luke 1:11). Very soon after that we hear that, twice, an angel visited Joseph in a dream. In the first instance it was to encourage the very discouraged and disappointed Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife (Matt 1:20) and, secondly, to warn him to flee from Bethlehem to Egypt as Mary and Jesus were in mortal danger from the threats of Herod to destroy all young baby boys in the area under a certain age: “Get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him” (Matt 2:13)

Later, we see the adult Jesus alone in the desert being tempted by the devil, though being assisted and strengthened by the angels (Mark 1:13). In John we hear Jesus positively affirming to Nathanial that he will one day see, with his very own eyes, angels ascending and descending, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending” (John 1:51)

In the Acts of the Apostles, written to describe the lives and work of Jesus’ followers after his death, we hear exhilarating stories of how, twice, angels led the apostles miraculously out of prison (through many locked doors) and to their freedom (Acts 5:19); we hear that Cornelius and his family are called to Christianity by the appearance of an angel who comes to them in their house (Acts 10:1); we hear of an angel confirming to Paul that, although he and his travelling companions are about to be shipwrecked, none of them will lose their lives (Acts 27:23). Indeed, it is Paul who points out in his letter to the Hebrews that “The messages given to our ancestors by the angels was shown to be true” (Heb 2:2)

Right at the end of the New Testament, when John is relating the visions he has had about the end of all things, he talks of very powerful angels who are more than just messengers, but actively empowered by God to undertake the processes of reward and destruction:

“After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or any tree” … “Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea.” (Rev 7:1-3) “All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God” (Rev 7:10). “After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendour (Rev 18:1-3). Finally, John tells us that “the angel said to me, ‘These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits and of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must take place’” (Rev 22:6)

We should be in no doubt whatsoever as to the reality of angels. Neither should we have any doubt that they act directly on God’s orders and behalf and that they do so for the benefit of humanity.

Included in these tremendous ranks of angels (and there are very specific rankings!) there are a number of references in the Bible to the fact that God has assigned a special and personal angel to protect us as we move through life: “I am sending an angel ahead of you. The angel will protect you as you travel and will bring you to the place I have made ready. My angel will always be with you.” (Exodus 23:20-23).


Bless the Lord, all you angels, mighty in strength and attentive, obedient to every command (Psalm 103:20)