(First published in the West Nebraska Register, March 22, 2019)
When I was in high school I taught first grade CCD with my friend Cleo. Our freshman year of teaching, we were broken in quick with a fun, rambunctious group of a dozen kids. The second year, we had about three to four kids who showed up consistently each week.
That’s the year I’ve been reflecting on most recently. That year of teaching, I was lazy in my faith. I’ve mentioned in previous columns that I have always been proud of my faith and I have never fallen away from being Catholic, and that’s true, but my sophomore year of high school, I slipped.
That year I distinctly remember my friend and her brother inviting me to go to Mass with them after we finished teaching on Sunday morning, and I distinctly remember me turning them down so I could go home instead. I don’t remember my reasoning but my explanation was that I read the Bible on my own so I was OK to skip Mass.
Cue the narrator, “She was not OK to skip Mass.”
At the time I didn’t think much of it, but years later, I regret that time of my life and I regret missing Mass all those times. I still wonder if my arrogance of skipping Mass a lot of that year related to the tougher year of teaching my friend and I had. I have since learned the importance of going to Mass and I realize the error of my ways.
Going to Mass has since become my favorite part of every week, and I only want all of my friends and family to experience the same joy, peace and comfort I get from spending that hour with our Lord in that special way each week.
Intentionally skipping out on Mass is a direct violation of what God asked of us, which makes it a sin.
I’m not here to point out everyone’s sin; I am just explaining as a sophomore I didn’t realize my skipping Mass was me sinning and I don’t want anyone else to fall into the trap that I was in back then.
The Third Commandment is to keep the Sabbath Holy. A simple and easy way to follow that commandment is to go to Mass on the weekend, to allow God into your weekend and to dedicate an hour (or sometimes a little more when the priest has a lot to say) to Him.
Going might not always be the easiest, it might take a lot of willpower to make ourselves walk into that church, but nonetheless, going is the most important thing we can do each week because God told us to, because He asked us to give Him that time to be with Him.
We should spend that time on our own reading His word, talking to Him, and all those other excuses I made for myself to avoid Mass. Going to Mass to receive Jesus in the Eucharist is necessary to be considered a practicing Catholic.
I mentioned in my last column that Catholics are special in the way that we get to receive Jesus in a way that is different from other religions. We are lucky in the way that we have the Eucharist.
The number one reason for going to Mass is the Eucharists; we can’t get that anywhere else. When we experience Mass and take part in the Eucharist, we are directly following the guidelines Jesus gave us when He celebrated the Last Supper and said, “Do this in memory of me.”
The Eucharist is the epitome of the Catholic Mass and fortunately for Catholics, no matter where we go in the world, no matter which priest is present for us at Mass, the Eucharist is the same, always. The consecration always happens and receiving Jesus into ourselves in that special way happens every Mass, even if the host and win taste different from place to place.
The words said at Mass and the actions the priest and we perform at Mass are important and we do them for a reason, but the Eucharist is still the most important and it is THE reason for the Mass.
Catholics are special because we have the Eucharist, but unfortunately, many Catholics don’t realize how special and lucky we are, so they miss out on how blessed we are. Many of us are missing a vital piece of ourselves and our faith because we aren’t worshiping God in the unique and special way we get to as Catholics.
Even when the priest isn’t the most funny and doesn’t keep our attention as much as we think he should; even when the singers are off key and singing our least favorite church songs; even when the homily comes across as boring; even when the aesthetics aren’t the most beautiful; it doesn’t matter because we are getting to participate in the gloriousness that is the Mass. We get to experience heaven on Earth, literally.
The Eucharist is special. It’s something magnificent we get to experience each week, or more often if we go to daily Mass. Unfortunately, we tend to gloss over the magnificent and consider it ordinary and take it for granted. We fail to see the wonder in the simple act of love displayed on that altar at every Mass.
That’s why it is important for us to pray for each other, so we can remind ourselves and others how lucky we are, and pray for those fallen away Catholics, so they can find their way back home, especially during this Lent and leading up to this Easter.
A year ago around this time, the Eucharist was leading my now fiancé to find his home in the Catholic Church.
It’s an important time to pray for all Catholics and all working to become Catholic to come home, to experience the Eucharist in a new way, and to make an extra attempt this Lent/Easter season to recommit ourselves to becoming better Catholics.
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