Posted on 02/05/2015 2:50:39 PM PST by NYer
Most Catholics know we are supposed to attend Sunday Mass every week and observe various holy days of obligation throughout the year. It’s an obligation, however, that many do not observe. As my parish priest joked years ago when the pews of our sleepy rural parish were unexpectedly full, “There must be nothing going on in Tweed [Onterio] today.”
I suspect part of the reason so many Catholics ignore the Sunday obligation is, counter intuitively, the very word “obligation.” Our culture is not one that deals well with concepts like duty and obedience. The words “I was just following orders” is synonymous with mindless compliance, while the character of the “dutiful wife” or “obedient child” tends to be the subject of ridicule or pity.
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As a result, we end up with a divide within the Church. On the one hand, there are those who attend Mass only when there is an important event, when it happens to be convenient or when they are especially in need of divine help. On the other, you have Catholics who dutifully obey the precepts of the Church — but who too often look down on those who don’t.
For a long time, I was a member of the latter camp. When I was first received into the Church, I was an enthusiastic, often daily recipient of the sacrament. I went to Mass because I loved the liturgy and found great consolation in receiving Christ in the Eucharist.
Over time, however, I become scrupulous about ever missing Mass even for the best of reasons, and my perfect attendance record increasingly became an opportunity for self-congratulation. Worse, it became an opportunity to judge others who attended only on occasion.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church acknowledges that there are conditions that validly excuse a person from their Sunday obligation. Illness, isolation, lack of access to transportation, the obligation to care for ailing relatives, and the care of infants are among the reasons why a person might be unable to attend (cf. No. 2181).
If we think of Mass attendance as a kind of spiritual badge of honor, these excuses can seem to be just that: excuses. Loopholes for the lax. After all, any really dutiful and faithful Catholic would find a way to get to church unless they were taken hostage on a Saturday night or found themselves unconscious in the back of an ambulance Sunday morning.
Only when I found myself in a situation where attendance at Mass every Sunday become a practical impossibility did I realize how absurdly presumptuous my judgment had been. In a subtle way, I had come to see my reception of Christ’s gift as a personal accomplishment, almost as a favor I was doing God.
The Sunday obligation is not a chore the Church exacts from her faithful children but a manifestation of her maternal concern. We are called to Mass every Sunday in much the same way children are called to the dinner table every evening.
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| * The shift in attendance between 1995 and 2000 reflects a change in the method used to collect the data. |
When the Church tells us that we are obliged to attend, she is telling us how often we need to receive sacramental nourishment in order to remain spiritually healthy. Choosing to skip Mass for trivial reasons is a mortal sin because it is a kind of willful self-neglect. It’s like a businessman who chooses to deprive his body of adequate food because meals cut into the time he has to maximize his profits. Being unable to attend for good reasons is not sinful, but it is a privation, like a mother who skips meals because she only has enough to feed her children.
Christ’s body is true bread, and the sustenance which we receive in the Eucharist is even more important to our well-being than physical food. Indeed, physical hunger is ultimately a sign that helps to illustrate our spiritual needs.
After Christ feeds the multitudes in John 6, the people he has fed go looking for him the next day. When they finally track him down, Christ reveals their motives: “You are not looking for me because you have seen the signs, but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat” (Jn 6:26).
The experience of being satisfied with food after a long day clearly made a deep impression. No doubt some of these people were poor and rarely had enough to eat. Others were dreaming of a world in which the Jewish people would once more be fed directly by the hand of God, as they were in the wilderness under Moses (cf., Jn 6:31). For them, the multiplication of the loaves did not merely point toward the relief of physical hunger but also toward political liberation from the power of Rome. The manna of Exodus had freed the Jewish people to escape the flesh-pots of Egypt. Thus, bread represented both nourishment and freedom.
When Christ answers them, he tries to guide their thinking away from short-term physical and political hopes. “Do not work for food that perishes,” he tells them, “but for the food that endures for eternal life” (Jn 6:27). Later, he clarifies: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51).
Everyone knows it is necessary to eat in order to stay alive, and if we don’t have enough food, it causes health problems. It is the same with the Mass. This is where we come in order to receive the life-blood that nourishes our souls and prepares them to be born to eternal life.
When a person misses Mass for serious reasons, Catholic Tradition offers ways of observing the Sabbath until it is possible to return to the sacraments — emergency rations for the soul, if you will. Individuals and families are encouraged to participate in the Liturgy of the Word and to set aside time for Sunday prayer. An act of spiritual communion can also be made anywhere and at any time by turning one’s heart toward the tabernacle and inviting Jesus’ real presence in the sacrament to spiritually nourish and sustain the soul.
Parish communities should also help absent parishioners return to the Mass. One of the risks of seeing attendance as a personal accomplishment is that it can blind us to the fact that access to the Eucharist is achieved through community.
Consider, for example, the story of the Wedding at Cana — a Gospel passage redolent with Eucharistic symbolism. Here we find that there isn’t enough wine to go around. Some of the guests are going to be excluded from full participation in the joy of the wedding celebration.
Mary’s solicitude at Cana shows us that we can enable others to participate by being aware of their needs and offering assistance. The hosts of the wedding know they are running out of wine, but they don’t know who to ask for help. They have no idea Christ is on hand, able to work a miracle.
People within a parish community might want to attend Mass regularly, but they might be unsure how to ask for the support they need. An older person who has lost their driver’s license might feel uncomfortable asking for a ride. A single mother caring for a chronically ill child might be embarrassed to admit she can’t afford a babysitter Sunday mornings.
Parishioners can imitate Mary by taking a friendly interest and getting an idea of what obstacles are preventing folks from attending more regularly. People who are afraid of asking for help are often grateful for a simple, gracious offer of assistance.
If we see the sacrament as a gift, and ourselves as conduits through which others are enabled to receive it, we can both avoid the silliness of spiritual pride and also help to build vibrant Eucharistic communities where everyone is able to enjoy the bounteous generosity of God.
Ping!
I pray constantly that the scales of the Roman Catholic cult (biggest scam in history!) will be removed and God will arise and the enemy be vanquished!
John 6: ... 26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” ...
Well, we're glad you're back", he said....and in the same breath, handed me a box of little envelopes. I never went back again.
Thanks for posting. We discussed this in RCIA last week. Tonight the topic is sex and sexuality. It’s a very conservative group, so it should be a great discussion.
For me, Mass is cleansing. After Communion, I pray the Anima Christi, reflecting particularly on the phrase “water from the side of Christ, wash me.”
A tired and overused joke. I’m use to hearing it about Methodist or Baptist churches and the minister.
PFL
Are you calling obeying the Commandment “Keep holy the Lord’s Day” a work.
Strange take on obedience.
You are always welcome to come back. I don’t think the priest was too “with it” in what he did.
If there is a Catholics Can Come Home Again at your church or a neighboring one, please attend it.
We welcome you with open arms.
For Christians, EVERY DAY is the Lord's day!
Trying to do anything to gain God's favor and grace is beyond the requirements set forth in Scripture. The cult of roman Catholicism tries to add more and more to God's Holy Word... and with those additions, they take away the simplicity of the Gospel.
Matthew 11: 27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. ...
Your comment is offensive in the extreme to those of us Christians who prefer a Catholic format for our worship of God and His Son. It also reflects an very un-Christian attitude toward certain fellow Christians and a complete lack of understanding of actual Catholic doctrine.
Rather, it appears to me to be based upon various aspersions cast upon the Church by certain denominations seeking to build up their "churches" at the expense of others with little regard for His teachings.
I'm asking for a zot. Probably won't get it, but the request is hereby submitted.
There is no such thing as a "Catholic" form of worship in Script. The form chosen by that religion most often flies in the face of what we see in Scripture. The chosen form by that cult relies on distortions and obfuscations and a reliance on their "traditions", rather than relying on God's revealed Words. Jesus had a lot to say about that...
Mark 7: 6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! ...
How did this action offend you?
I also feel that one gets out of Mass what one puts into it. I prepare by reading the Daily Readings ahead of time, (whether or not I'm able to go- Catholics have Mass available every day of the year except Good Friday) and going early to, as one of my pastors from child hood used to say, "place (my)self in the Presence of God." Time to wind down, talk to Him, bring mine and others' needs to Him; thank and praise Him, and just say, "I love You, Lord."
I like the hymns, and while I can no longer sing as I did, I try my hardest to focus. That may mean closing my eyes to avoid distraction but I do my best with the ability that remains. The point is, this isn't entertainment, but a close, quiet feeling of being touched in my heart by a loving God. Receiving Him in the Eucharist is so many things: at times tears flow uncontrollably as if my head were on His Shoulder; at times just a quiet peace; sometimes simply the knowledge that He's there, and that's enough.
For those who find Mass empty, boring, or don't feel they get anything out of it, maybe it's worth a little research, preparation, and a spirit of giving that time to Jesus- rather than looking to receive- and whether or not one perceives it, He in turn will never be out done in His generosity!
God bless you!
Surely no one is delusional enough to believe the 7th day Sabbath God called to be observed is the same as the Catholic Sunday.
There is nothing in this article to support your assessment. How did you come to this conclusion based on the article?
But you just had to click into the thread anyway and start attacking people who believe differently.
I love going to Mass and feel it is a gift as well as a chance to worship.
I have a good example though of being careful of how you word things. Yesterday the woman who had volunteered to clean the church this month called an said she wouldn’t be able so I told my 4th graders that we were going to go pick up trash and straighten the books. One of the kids objected and said that he didn’t come to Catechism to clean the church. I said that was okay he didn’t have to help but that God had given us an opportunity to serve Him.
That changed everything, we not only picked up the trash, we vacuumed, mopped and even cleaned the bathrooms, not my choice but theirs. Then we knelt before the Tabernacle and thanked Him for letting us serve Him and then they insisted on kneeling before the altar and praying.
So, yeah, words matter.
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