Defending the Faith 5
Opening Prayer
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ,
You call us to worship the Father in spirit and truth.
You gather Your Church on the Lord’s Day,
You speak to us in Your Word,
and You feed us with Your Body and Blood.
Open our hearts to the gift of the Mass,
renew our love for Sunday,
and teach us to worship You with faith, reverence, and joy.
Amen.
In our first session, we asked:
Why be Catholic?
And we said that Catholic faith begins with Jesus Christ. We are Catholic because Jesus is Lord, because He founded a Church, and because in that Church He gives us His truth, His mercy, and His Body and Blood.
In our second session, we asked:
Did Jesus really found the Church?
And we saw that the Church is not a human invention added on later. Jesus gathered disciples, chose the Twelve, gave authority, gave Peter the keys, commanded the Apostles to teach and baptise, gave the Eucharist, gave the power to forgive sins, promised to remain with His Church, and sent the Holy Spirit.
In our third session, we asked:
Is the Bible enough?
And we saw that Catholics love the Bible as the inspired Word of God, but we do not separate Scripture from the Church, Sacred Tradition, and the apostolic faith in which the Bible was received and handed on.
In our fourth session, we asked:
Who has authority in the Church?
And we saw that all authority in the Church belongs first to Jesus Christ. The Church’s authority comes from Him, stands under Him, and exists to keep us faithful to Him.
Now we come to a question that touches ordinary Catholic life very directly:
Why do Catholics go to Mass every Sunday?
Many people ask this.
They say:
“I believe in God, but I do not go to Mass.”
Or:
“I pray at home.”
Or:
“I am a good person.”
Or:
“Surely God does not mind if I miss Sunday Mass.”
Or:
“Mass is boring.”
Or:
“I am too busy.”
Or:
“I do not get anything out of it.”
Some of these questions come from indifference. But many come from confusion, tiredness, habit, or simply never having been taught what the Mass really is.
So tonight we need to ask:
Why does Sunday Mass matter so much?
Why does the Church say that Catholics are obliged to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days?
Is that just a rule?
Is it about keeping numbers up?
Is it about guilt?
No.
The Sunday Mass obligation only makes sense if the Mass is truly a gift.
The Church does not say, “Go to Mass every Sunday” because she wants to burden us.
She says it because Christ has given us something necessary for our life.
Sunday Mass is not merely a religious meeting.
It is not merely a community gathering.
It is not merely a time for reflection.
It is not merely a sermon with prayers.
At Mass, Christ gathers His Church, speaks His Word, offers His sacrifice, and feeds His people with His Body and Blood.
That is why Sunday matters.
1. Worship comes before everything else
To understand Sunday Mass, we must begin with worship.
Human beings were made to worship God.
We were not made merely to work, consume, achieve, worry, survive, and entertain ourselves.
We were made for God.
The first commandment teaches us that God alone is God.
We must not make idols.
We must not put created things in the place of the Creator.
But the human heart is always tempted to worship something.
If we do not worship God, we will worship something else.
We may worship money.
We may worship success.
We may worship comfort.
We may worship control.
We may worship reputation.
We may worship family in a disordered way.
We may worship our own opinions.
We may worship the self.
Sunday Mass places God back at the centre.
It says:
God is first.
God is Lord.
God is worthy of worship.
My life does not belong to me as absolute owner.
My time does not belong to me as absolute owner.
My body, my work, my family, my gifts, my plans, my future — all come from God and are meant to return to God.
This is why worship is not optional decoration added to life.
Worship is the right ordering of life.
When we worship God, we become more truly human.
We remember who God is.
We remember who we are.
We remember that we are creatures, not gods.
We remember that we are beloved, not self-made.
We remember that our destiny is heaven, not merely earthly comfort.
That is why the Mass matters.
The Mass teaches us, every week, to put God first.
2. Sunday is the Lord’s Day
Catholics go to Mass every Sunday because Sunday is the Lord’s Day.
It is the day of the Resurrection.
Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week.
From the beginning, Christians gathered on the Lord’s Day to break bread, hear the apostolic teaching, pray, and worship.
Sunday is not merely the weekend.
It is not merely a day off.
It is the weekly celebration of Easter.
Every Sunday says:
Christ is risen.
Death has been defeated.
Sin does not have the final word.
The world has been made new.
This is why Sunday is different.
The Church does not gather on Sunday because Sunday is convenient.
She gathers because Sunday belongs to the risen Lord.
That is also why missing Sunday Mass is not a small thing.
It is not merely missing an event.
It is refusing, neglecting, or forgetting the day Christ rose from the dead and gathers His people.
Of course, there can be real reasons why someone cannot attend Mass: illness, serious caring duties, dangerous travel, lack of access, or other grave reasons.
God does not ask the impossible.
But when we can go and choose not to, something is wrong.
Not because God needs our attendance.
God is perfect and lacks nothing.
But because we need worship.
We need Sunday.
We need the Lord’s Day.
We need to be gathered again and again into the death and Resurrection of Christ.
A Catholic who freely and habitually abandons Sunday Mass is not simply breaking a rule.
He or she is drifting from the centre of Christian life.
3. Mass is not mainly about what I get out of it
One of the most common phrases people use is:
“I do not get anything out of Mass.”
We should listen to that with some sympathy.
Sometimes people have not been taught.
Sometimes the preaching is weak.
Sometimes the music is poor.
Sometimes children are difficult.
Sometimes people are tired.
Sometimes the heart feels dry.
Sometimes Mass feels hard.
But the phrase “I do not get anything out of it” can also reveal a misunderstanding.
The Mass is not first about what I get.
The Mass is first about what God is owed.
God is owed worship.
God is owed thanksgiving.
God is owed adoration.
God is owed obedience.
God is owed love.
We do not go to Mass first to be entertained, inspired, affirmed, or emotionally satisfied.
We go to worship God.
And often, when we stop asking only, “What did I get?”, we begin to see what God is giving.
He gives His Word.
He gives forgiveness.
He gives grace.
He gives the sacrifice of Christ.
He gives the Body and Blood of His Son.
He gives the communion of the Church.
He gives us the chance to offer ourselves with Christ.
Those gifts are real even when I do not feel much.
A person may say, “I did not feel fed,” while standing before a banquet.
The problem may not be the absence of food.
It may be that I have lost my appetite for holy things.
That is why we need conversion.
Sometimes the Mass changes us not by giving us a strong emotion, but by slowly reordering our loves.
Week by week, we learn to show up.
Week by week, we learn to listen.
Week by week, we learn to offer.
Week by week, we learn to receive.
Faithfulness forms us.
4. The Mass is the sacrifice of Christ made present
Now we come to the heart of the matter.
The Mass is not merely a reminder of Jesus.
It is not a repetition of Calvary.
It is not a new sacrifice added to the Cross.
It is the one sacrifice of Christ made present sacramentally.
On the Cross, Jesus offered Himself once for all to the Father.
That sacrifice is perfect.
It cannot be repeated.
It cannot be improved.
It cannot be replaced.
But in the Mass, that one sacrifice is made present to us.
We are brought into it.
The Church does not sacrifice Christ again.
Christ’s one sacrifice becomes present under sacramental signs, so that we may be united to it.
This is why the Mass is so much more than a service of words.
At Mass, Christ is both priest and victim.
Christ offers Himself to the Father.
The ordained priest acts in the person of Christ the Head, but Christ Himself is the true priest of every Mass.
This means that at Mass we stand at Calvary, not physically as though time-travelling, but sacramentally.
We are drawn into the saving offering of Jesus.
This is why the altar matters.
This is why reverence matters.
This is why silence matters.
This is why the Eucharistic Prayer matters.
This is why the Mass cannot be reduced to music, welcome, preaching, community, or personal feeling.
All those things have their place.
But the heart of the Mass is the sacrifice of Christ.
And if that is true, then Sunday Mass is not optional.
If Calvary is made present, if the risen Christ gathers His Church, if heaven touches earth, then to be there is not a casual extra.
It is the centre.
5. The Mass is the Church’s worship, not my private prayer
Private prayer is good.
Every Catholic should pray at home.
We should pray in the morning, at night, before meals, in difficulty, in thanksgiving, and in silence.
But private prayer does not replace Mass.
At Mass, I do not worship alone.
I worship as a member of the Body of Christ.
The whole Church worships.
The Church on earth.
The saints in heaven.
The angels.
The souls being purified.
The poor, the sick, the hidden, the faithful, the struggling, the joyful, the grieving.
At Mass, my small prayer is taken up into the prayer of Christ and His Church.
That is why Mass is bigger than whether I personally like the hymns, the priest, the building, or the people around me.
Of course these things can help or hinder.
But they are not the centre.
The centre is Christ.
And because the Mass is the worship of the Church, I am not there only for myself.
I am there for God.
I am there with others.
I am there to strengthen the Church.
I am there to pray for the world.
I am there to intercede for the living and the dead.
I am there to be joined to Christ’s offering.
This is why the regular Sunday congregation matters.
A parish is not built mainly by events, projects, newsletters, or committees.
A parish is built around the altar.
A parish becomes a parish by gathering for the Eucharist on the Lord’s Day.
Sunday Mass is the heart of parish life.
Everything else flows from it.
6. The Mass gives us the Word of God
At every Mass, God speaks.
We hear the Scriptures.
Not as ordinary literature.
Not as ancient history only.
Not merely as moral examples.
We hear the living Word of God proclaimed in the Church.
The first reading, the psalm, the second reading, the Gospel — these are not filler before the Eucharist.
They are part of the one act of worship.
Christ speaks to His people.
The Word of God corrects us.
Comforts us.
Warns us.
Teaches us.
Calls us to repentance.
Reveals the Father.
Shows us Christ.
Forms our conscience.
Gives us hope.
This is why listening matters.
A Catholic should come to Mass ready to hear.
Not simply waiting for Communion.
Not merely watching.
But listening.
Sometimes a sentence from Scripture will remain with us.
Sometimes a reading will challenge us.
Sometimes the Word will quietly take root without our noticing.
The homily is meant to help us receive that Word and live it.
A weak homily does not make the Word of God weak.
A distracted listener does not make the Word of God silent.
At every Mass, Christ still speaks.
And the Catholic heart should say:
“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
7. The Mass gives us the Eucharist
Part 6 of this series will look more fully at the Eucharist.
But tonight we must say this clearly.
At Mass, Catholics receive not merely bread and wine.
We receive Jesus Christ Himself.
His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.
The Eucharist is not a symbol only.
It is not a reminder only.
It is not merely a shared meal.
It is the Real Presence of Christ.
The same Jesus born of Mary, crucified on Calvary, risen from the dead, and seated at the right hand of the Father, gives Himself to us under the appearances of bread and wine.
This is why Catholics genuflect.
This is why the tabernacle matters.
This is why the altar matters.
This is why we prepare for Holy Communion.
This is why Confession matters if we are conscious of grave sin.
This is why reverence matters.
If the Eucharist is truly Jesus, then Sunday Mass is not merely helpful.
It is essential.
Christ gives Himself to His Church as food for the journey.
He says, “I am the bread of life.”
He says, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”
We cannot improve on the gift of Christ Himself.
So when someone says, “I do not get anything out of Mass,” the deepest answer is:
Christ gives Himself.
There is nothing greater to receive.
8. Obligation is not the enemy of love
Now we must speak about obligation.
Many people dislike that word.
They think:
“If I loved God, I would go freely. If I am obliged, it is not real love.”
But that is not true.
Obligation and love are not enemies.
A parent is obliged to feed a child.
That does not make the love false.
A husband and wife are obliged to be faithful.
That does not make the marriage cold.
A priest is obliged to pray, preach, and celebrate the sacraments.
That does not mean his vocation is loveless.
Some obligations exist because love is serious.
The Sunday obligation is like that.
The Church obliges Catholics to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days because worship is not optional in a Christian life.
The obligation protects love when feelings are weak.
It protects worship when life is busy.
It protects the soul when faith is dry.
It protects Sunday from being swallowed by everything else.
There will be Sundays when we feel fervent.
There will be Sundays when we feel nothing.
There will be Sundays when going to Mass is easy.
There will be Sundays when it is a sacrifice.
The obligation says:
God is still God.
Christ is still risen.
The Mass is still the Mass.
My soul still needs grace.
Love sometimes needs a rule to protect it.
That is not legalism.
That is wisdom.
9. What if Mass feels boring?
We should be honest.
Sometimes Mass feels boring.
Sometimes people are distracted.
Sometimes children are restless.
Sometimes the music is not inspiring.
Sometimes the preaching is not strong.
Sometimes our own hearts are dull.
But boredom does not mean nothing is happening.
A hospital may feel boring, but healing may be taking place.
A meal may feel ordinary, but nourishment is being given.
A marriage may involve routine, but love is being kept alive.
The deepest things in life are not always exciting.
They are faithful.
The Mass is not meant to compete with entertainment.
It is not a show.
It is worship.
And worship requires something from us.
It asks attention.
It asks reverence.
It asks patience.
It asks humility.
It asks us to come out of ourselves.
If I am bored at Mass, I can ask:
Did I prepare?
Did I arrive in time?
Did I listen?
Did I pray?
Did I offer myself?
Did I ask God for grace?
Did I come as a consumer, or as a worshipper?
That does not excuse poor celebration, weak preaching, or careless liturgy.
Priests and parishes should celebrate Mass reverently and well.
But even when Mass is simple, quiet, or ordinary, Christ is there.
The angels are not bored.
The saints are not bored.
Heaven is not bored.
Perhaps the question is not only:
“Why is Mass boring?”
Perhaps the question is:
“Lord, awaken my heart to what is truly happening here.”
10. “Why does Mass take so long?”
Another complaint people sometimes make is:
“Mass takes too long.”
Or:
“Why can’t Father just get on with it?”
Or:
“When the Mass is done properly, it feels slower.”
We should answer this carefully.
Of course, Mass should not be needlessly dragged out. The priest should not be self-indulgent. The homily should not wander. The music should not become a performance. Silence should be prayerful, not awkward. Reverence should not become fussiness.
But there is a difference between Mass being too long because it is badly celebrated, and Mass feeling long because we are not used to giving time to God.
Sometimes what people call “too long” is simply the Mass being celebrated properly, reverently, and without rushing.
The prayers are not empty words to get through.
The readings are not interruptions.
The silences are not wasted time.
The gestures are not pointless details.
The altar is not a stage.
The Eucharistic Prayer is not a formality.
The rubrics are not obstacles to prayer. They are the Church’s way of protecting the sacred action, so that the Mass is not remade according to the personality, impatience, or preferences of the priest or the congregation.
When the Church asks the priest to follow the Missal, she is not trying to make Mass longer for the sake of it.
She is teaching us that the Mass belongs to Christ and His Church, not to us.
A rushed Mass can teach the wrong lesson.
It can teach us that worship is something to fit in quickly before the rest of life.
It can teach us that God may have our attention, but only briefly.
It can teach us that silence is unnecessary, reverence is optional, and the sacred should move at the speed of modern life.
But the Mass is meant to slow us down.
It teaches us to receive.
It teaches us to listen.
It teaches us to wait.
It teaches us to adore.
It teaches us that we are not in control.
That is difficult, because much of modern life trains us to be impatient. We want everything instantly: messages, food, entertainment, answers, results. But worship is not instant. Love is not always efficient. Prayer cannot always be rushed.
If someone says, “Mass is too long,” we might gently ask:
Too long compared with what?
Too long compared with a football match?
Too long compared with a film?
Too long compared with an evening on a phone?
Too long compared with the time we give to shopping, television, travel, or work?
If the sacrifice of Christ is made present, if the Word of God is proclaimed, if heaven touches earth, if the Body and Blood of the Lord are given to us, then perhaps the question is not only, “Why is Mass so long?”
Perhaps the question is:
“Why is my heart so hurried before God?”
That does not mean every Mass must be as long as possible.
It does not mean people’s circumstances do not matter.
It does not mean families with children, the elderly, the sick, or those with caring responsibilities should be ignored.
A priest should celebrate with reverence and good pace.
But good pace is not the same as rushing.
The Mass should breathe.
There should be enough time for the Word to be heard, the prayers to be prayed, the sacrifice to be offered, Holy Communion to be received reverently, and thanksgiving to be made.
A Mass celebrated according to the mind of the Church may take a little longer than a rushed Mass.
But that time is not lost.
It is given to God.
And time given to God is never wasted.
So if we find ourselves impatient at Mass, we can pray:
“Lord, slow my heart. Teach me to worship. Help me not to rush past Your gift.”
Because the aim is not to make Mass as short as possible.
The aim is to celebrate Mass as faithfully, reverently, and lovingly as possible.
11. What if I have missed Mass for a long time?
This is important pastorally.
Some people have been away from Mass for months or years.
Some feel embarrassed.
Some feel guilty.
Some worry they will be judged.
Some do not know how to come back.
The answer is simple:
Come home.
Do not wait until you feel worthy.
Do not wait until everything is sorted.
Do not wait until you understand everything.
Do not wait until you feel holy.
Come back.
If you have deliberately missed Sunday Mass without serious reason, bring that to Confession.
Not because God wants to humiliate you.
Because He wants to forgive you and restore you.
The door is open.
The Church is not a museum for the perfect.
She is a home for sinners returning to mercy.
If you cannot receive Holy Communion yet, still come to Mass.
Listen.
Pray.
Ask for grace.
Speak to the priest.
Begin again.
One Sunday can become two.
Two can become a habit.
A habit can become a way of life.
A way of life can become holiness.
The important thing is to start.
Christ does not say:
“Come back when you are impressive.”
He says:
“Come to me.”
12. How to answer this simply
So if someone asks:
“Why do Catholics have to go to Mass every Sunday?”
You might say:
“Because Sunday is the Lord’s Day, the day of the Resurrection, and the Mass is the centre of Christian worship.”
Or:
“Because at Mass Christ gathers His Church, speaks His Word, makes present His sacrifice, and gives us His Body and Blood.”
Or:
“The Sunday obligation is not about guilt. It protects what matters most: worship, grace, and communion with Christ and His Church.”
If someone says:
“I pray at home,”
you can say:
“Private prayer is important, but it does not replace the Mass. At Mass we are joined to Christ’s sacrifice and receive the Eucharist with the Church.”
If someone says:
“I do not get anything out of Mass,”
you can say:
“The Mass is first about worshipping God, not about being entertained. But God gives us more than we realise: His Word, His grace, and Christ Himself in the Eucharist.”
If someone says,
“Mass takes too long,”
you can say:
“Mass should not be dragged out, but it should not be rushed either. If Christ is made present and gives Himself to us, then the time we give Him is not wasted.”
If someone says:
“I have been away too long,”
you can say:
“Come back. Speak to the priest. Go to Confession if needed. The Church is your home, and Christ wants to meet you with mercy.”
Simple answers are often best.
13. What this asks of us
If Sunday Mass is the centre of Catholic life, then we need to examine our own hearts.
Do I treat Sunday as the Lord’s Day?
Do I build my week around Mass, or fit Mass around everything else?
Do I prepare for Mass?
Do I arrive in time?
Do I listen to the readings?
Do I join in the prayers?
Do I offer myself with Christ?
Do I receive Holy Communion reverently and worthily?
Do I let Sunday Mass shape the rest of my week?
This is not about guilt.
It is about conversion.
The Mass is not only something to attend.
It is something to live from.
If I receive the Body of Christ, then I must become more like Christ.
If I hear the Word of God, then I must obey it.
If I offer myself with Christ, then I must live sacrificially.
If I receive mercy, then I must show mercy.
If I worship God on Sunday, then I must not live as though God is absent from Monday to Saturday.
The Mass sends us out.
At the end of Mass, we are dismissed.
“Go forth.”
“Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.”
“Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.”
The Mass is the source and summit of Christian life.
It is the source because grace flows from it.
It is the summit because everything is gathered up into the worship of God.
So the question is not only:
“Do I go to Mass?”
The deeper question is:
“Am I becoming a Eucharistic person?”
A person of thanksgiving.
A person of worship.
A person of sacrifice.
A person of communion.
A person sent out in charity.
That is what Sunday Mass is meant to form in us.
Conclusion
So why do Catholics go to Mass every Sunday?
Because God is worthy of worship.
Because Sunday is the Lord’s Day, the day of the Resurrection.
Because Christ gathers His Church.
Because the Mass is the sacrifice of Christ made present.
Because God speaks to us in His Word.
Because Christ gives Himself to us in the Eucharist.
Because private prayer does not replace the worship of the Church.
Because obligation protects love when feelings are weak.
Because our souls need grace.
Because the parish is built around the altar.
Because the Christian life cannot be lived apart from the source from which it flows.
Sunday Mass is not a burden placed on top of Catholic life.
It is the heart of Catholic life.
It is not merely something we do for God.
It is where God gives Himself to us.
So we do not say:
“I go only when I feel like it.”
We say:
“Lord, You are worthy of worship.”
We do not say:
“I will come if I get something out of it.”
We say:
“Lord, You give Yourself to me.”
We do not say:
“Sunday belongs to me.”
We say:
“Sunday belongs to the risen Christ.”
Remember these three simple answers.
Why do Catholics go to Mass every Sunday?
Because Sunday is the Lord’s Day.
Because the Mass is the sacrifice of Christ made present.
Because in the Mass Christ gives us His Word, His grace, and His Body and Blood.
If you remember nothing else, remember this:
Sunday Mass is not an optional extra. It is the heart of Catholic life, because there Christ gathers, teaches, offers, and feeds His Church.
And perhaps each of us should ask:
Do I treat Sunday Mass as the centre of my life, or as something I fit in when nothing else gets in the way?
Because the Mass is not only something to attend.
It is the place from which Catholic life begins again every week.
Amen.
Q&A after Session 5
- Why is Sunday different from other days?
- Why does the Church oblige Catholics to attend Mass?
- What would you say to someone who says, “I pray at home”?
- What does it mean to say the Mass is a sacrifice?
- What if someone says, “I do not get anything out of Mass”?
- How should we prepare for Sunday Mass?
- How can someone return to Mass after being away for a long time?
- How should Sunday Mass shape the rest of the week?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
You gather Your Church on the Lord’s Day.
You speak to us in Your Word,
You offer Yourself to the Father,
and You feed us with Your Body and Blood.
Renew in us a love for the Mass.
Forgive us for the times we have neglected Your gift.
Draw back those who have been away.
Teach us to worship with reverence,
to receive with faith,
and to live from the grace You give us.
Amen.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
St. Mary's, St. John Bosco and St. Edward's 