Why Mass?

My parents are constantly bugging me to go for Mass every Sunday. I believe in God and Jesus and pray often. So I'm wondering what's the big deal about Mass…and why every Sunday?

Ruby: To answer this question better, let's take a good look at what going for Mass meant to the early Christians. In the early Church, to be a Christian was a hard choice. Your family could disown you. The Roman authorities could torture and kill you. When you took part in the Eucharist you celebrated Jesus' rising from the dead. This gave you hope when you yourself faced death. You believed that after he rose from the dead, Christ was present with you in the Church. He had offered his own life to God his Father, and been faithful to his call though it led to torture and death. At Mass, you joined him in his offering. When you received the Eucharist, you received Christ within you as your food. By being so closely linked to Christ, you were also brothers and sisters of the other members of the Church. . As you joined Christ as he gave himself to death, you were in touch with the pain of the world. You became very aware of the body's injured members: the martyrs, the sick and the poor. Taking part in the Mass encouraged you to live generously, and to befriend the lonely.

The early Christians did not attend Mass just because they were told they had to. Being a member of the Christian community and taking part in the Eucharist went together. On Sundays people lived out their faith as a community

Coral: Jesus too encouraged the people getting together frequently to pray and worship together. Jesus Himself worshiped at a synagogue every Sabbath day. Sometimes he would be asked to read from the Hebrew Scriptures, as at Nazareth in Luke 4:17-20. He also taught and even performed miracles in the Synagogue. Remember the man with the withered hand who was cured by Jesus in Matt 12:10-13.

Ruby: Now let's take a good, hard look at our world today. In many ways living out your Christian faith is equally tough as it was for the first Christians. The individualism and business of our world make it difficult to follow Jesus, we need the company and the support of other people.

To take God seriously in this world we need to take time out, when we can think about our lives, and to listen to God's word. The Mass is a time for prayer and listening. It is a time to say thank you together for God's gifts. In a world where it seems natural to be self-preoccupied and busy, to makes sense Sunday a free day when we spend time together in prayer offers a space for being in touch with the deep places of our lives.

Ruby: When we do think deeply about our lives and our world, we touch on much pain and loss. At Mass, Christ invites us to join him on his journey, as we touch this suffering in our own lives and in our world. Our world can be a lonely and uncaring place where people do not look out for one another. At Mass, we remember Christ's wounded brothers and sisters who are also part of his body. In the Mass we are with Christ on his journey to death, we are encouraged to ask how we can put our hands and feet where our mouths are.

Coral: Jesus gives us an example by attending the Synagogue every Sabbath. He and His apostles told US to gather together regularly for the worship and praise of God: In Matt 18:20 He said "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them." And St. Paul taught some of his followers in Heb 10:24-25 "…and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, …" And if we were to look at Acts 20:7, we would learn that the early Christians gathered together on Sunday to "break bread."

To take part in Mass regularly shows that our relationship with Christ in the community is part of our everyday lives.

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