THE CENTRAL IMPORTANCE OF SUNDAY MASS IN THE LIFE OF A CATHOLIC

Ever since the first days of Christianity, the Eucharist has been front and center in Catholicism. Yet sadly today all too many baptized Catholics absent themselves from our Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. If for some reason you do not come to mass on a regular basis, I invite you to prayerfully reflect on the following quotes from Holy Scripture, Church Tradition and the lives of inspiring Catholics.

  • Half of our family goes to one Mass and half to a second Mass. In this way if a bomb goes off in church then at least half of the family will survive.
    A     young Catholic adult in Iraq on a recent “60 Minutes” interview

  • Do not stay away from the meetings of the community, as some do, but encourage each other to go: the more so as you see the Day draw near (Hebrews 10:25)

  • God gave a great dinner to which he invited many…but one by one they made excuses why they could not attend. (Luke 14:15-20)

  • Exhort the people to be faithful to the Eucharist. Let them not fail to attend, but let them gather faithfully together. Let no one deprive the Body of Christ of one of its members. A Bishop in Syria in the early years of Christianity

  • You cannot pray at home as at church where there is a great multitude and where sacred songs are sung to God as from one great heart, and where there is something more: the union of minds, the accord of souls, the bond of charity and the prayers of the priest. St. John Chrysostom – fifth century

  • Participation in the communal celebration of the Sunday Eucharist is a testimony of belonging and being faithful to Christ and his church. The faithful give witness to this by their communion in faith and charity…..They strengthen one another under the guidance of the Holy Spirit…….Those who deliberately absent themselves from the Sunday Eucharist commit a grave sin.
    Catechism of the Catholic Church #2181 & 2182

  • A mother prayed for several years for her two sons to return to church. One Sunday she looked up and saw them sitting across the aisle from her. Later she asked her sons what brought them back to church. They said while vacationing in Colorado, they picked up an old man one Sunday. It was pouring down cats and dogs, and he was limping along in the rain. He told them he was on his way to Mass three miles from his mountain home. It was the courageous example of this old man that brought them back. How aware am I of the immense power my example can have on others? How am I using it? E. C. McKenzie writes: The worst danger that confronts the younger generation is the example set by the older generation.

    (From a Daily Devotional by Fr. Mark Link, S.J.)

  • I attend Mass regularly on Sunday out of habit. It is part of my life, just like brushing my teeth and cooking dinner. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy going to Mass. It just means that Mass is a part of me. But I also go to set an example for my children. I want them to know God and to learn how to become Christians who serve a community. In order to do this, they must have repeated experiences of Mass attendance. And I am not the only role model they have in this regard: their friends who attend Mass and Sunday school with them also are models of what it means to be a part of the Catholic Christian community.

  • We are teenagers and come from a strong Catholic family, and we go to Sunday Mass because: (1) it’s expected, (2) we don’t want to let our parents down, (3) we want to be an example to our younger brother and sister, (4) attendance is the rule of the house as long as we live with our parents, and (5) sometimes it’s fun.

  • When we were married in the Catholic Church and again at each child’s baptism, we promised God and all those present that we would raise our children in the Catholic Church. We believe that includes attending Mass every Sunday.

  • We want our children to experience our parish community as family. This happens when they see the same people each week as we sit in the same section of church and when they visit with their friends in the doughnut hall after Mass. It happens when they bring their gifts of food to the altar and when they see the twinkle in the eyes of our parish seniors as they come back to our seat or ask one of them for help getting more juice in the hall.

  • Children learn most of their faith by living it daily, but especially by participating in Mass on Sunday. It grows in their hearts and becomes a way of life. We are frequently reminded of this when one of our girls walks through the house singing a song from church.

    I pray for all of you regularly and I care about you very much, even if I do not know you by name or sight. The highlight of my week is celebrating Eucharist with all who all who choose to come to the Lord’s Supper.