The Gospel of Luke, chapter22:19

One of the distinguishing marks of the catholic faith is the celebration of the Eucharistic or the mass every day. The Church considers it a serious obligation for every catholic “to hear Mass” on the Lord’s Day and for every Pastor to have a Mass celebrated “Pro Populo” (i.e. for the people) each Sunday.

Now, why does the Church consider Mass attendance, once a week, a serious obligation for every Catholic? Well, there are compelling reasons for this practice. Firstly, the Eucharist is the central sacrament of our faith. When Jesus celebrated the first Mass during the ‘Last Supper,’ He asked His followers to “do this in memory of Me.” We proclaim our faith in Jesus and show our love for each other as members of the body of Christ whenever we celebrate the Eucharist in His memory.

Secondly, the Mass is a powerful community prayer. The opening part of the Mass is concerned with the prayer of Reconciliation. The ‘Confiteor’ or ‘I confess’ calls on the community to forgive each other and to ask for God’s forgiveness. This is followed by the prayer of Thanksgiving – ‘The Gloria.’ Then, there are the readings from Scripture, the main source of our prayer life. This is followed by the Homily or Sermon; a kind of prayerful meditation given by the priest on the meaning and application of the Scriptures to our daily lives. The prayers of the faithful succeed the sermon. After that, there is the celebration of the sacrament proper: ‘the last super’ with the recitation of the Eucharistic prayer. This is followed by communion which joins Christ’s faithful together as members of His body.

Thirdly, the Mass is a family gathering. If a family fails to break bread together, it will disintegrate and lose its identity. The Mass brings the active Catholic family together. During the course of the Mass, Catholics are bonded in the faith; they are reminded of what they have in common; and they are challenged to fulfill the mission of the gospel. During the offertory of the Mass, Catholics not only bring up gifts of bread and wine to the altar; they also bring to the altar their own gifts of money to support the work of the gospel. It is natural, given the above reasons, that the Church should consider it a serious obligation for Catholics to attend Mass once a week. After all, it is not asking a lot to give one hour out of one hundred and sixty eight to God a week.

May we as Catholics glow in the love and appreciation of the Mass, and may “the spirit and truth” of what we celebrate influence our lives and the lives of those we touch.

Fr. Hugh Duffy

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