Why Catholics Go To Church Every Sunday

The Main Ceremonial doors leading into St, Mary of Vernon
Church in Indian Creek, Illinois. 

One of the features of being a Catholic is the requirement that we attend Mass every Sunday and holy day of obligation.  For the average Protestant actual attendance at Church is not a requirement although there are many Protestants that attend both on Sunday and come back on Wednesdays, but this is not a requirement that binds under sin.  For a Catholic Sunday is the most important day of the week and attendance at mass is mandatory. Failure to attend is considered a very serious sin.  But, why is this so? Why is it considered so very important? There are any number of excuses that can serve to allow us to blow off Sunday Mass.  For example, we might just not feel like going, or we may feel that it is boring, or maybe we are convinced that we can worship God anywhere and do not need to be so formal about prayer and worship.  Maybe we think that we are too busy, too tired, or any number of other self-serving excuses. But as we will see, none of these excuses work very well. 

With thanks to Our Sunday Visitor here are ten reasons why Catholics believe attendance at Sunday Mass is so very important. 

• God asks us to make one day holy. We are to set aside one day to refocus physically, mentally, and spiritually. Going to Mass allows us to see things from a different perspective. We realize that not every idea that we have about God or how to live a Christian life is exactly on target. We exchange our agenda for God's.  We receive inspiration and strength for the week ahead. 
• Jesus gives us the gift of Himself. When we gather as a community we fulfill the command of Jesus to love and to be loved by God. We receive and are fed by the Word of God, the Scriptures that we hear proclaimed and we receive the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. 
• We need to be part of a community.  Man is a social creature. A human being who keeps themselves away from other human beings can become an authority in themselves in that they begin to believe that their ideas are the only view of the world that are correct. They have no one to answer to but themselves. This is scary. When we are in a Christian community we give each other support, we make each other accountable and we give encouragement to one another, sometimes just by being there.  We see that we are not alone and we are reminded that we are part of the Body of Christ. 
• God has a special message for us.  We come together and listen to the Word of God and the prayers of the Mass and God speaks to us in a special way.  Each Mass should allow us to walk away with one thought that will help us in our spiritual lives. We receive this gift simply by focusing on what is going on around us and we open ourselves to what God is telling us. 
• People need our prayers.  Scripture commands us to pray for one another.  Certainly we can (and should) do this at home but when we pray for others at Mass we pray in a special way.  We pray as part of the Body of Christ, the Communion of Saints, and heaven and earth are united and the bonds of space and time are loosened. 
• We need to stand up for what we believe.  Being a follower of Christ calls us to be counter-cultural. Think back to the early Church. People would attend the Breaking of the Bread knowing full well that they might be arrested and become entertainment for the emperor in the arena. Today too our attendance shows that we are not closet Christians but rather Christians that are testifying to the Truth by being publicly present at public worship. We pray the Nicene Creed and publicly proclaim what we believe and who we are.  
• We need to acknowledge our mistakes.  At every Mass we have an opportunity to review the previous week and see where we have fallen short in word, deed, and thought. We admit that we have sinned in what we have done and what we have failed to do and we seek the forgiveness of God.  This serves as a reality check.  Are we as "good" as we think we are? Before communion we acknowledge that we are not worthy and ask God to heal us. 
• We need ritual in our lives.  Mass is a ritual. This means that through the prayers, movement and the changing of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ we are formed, disciplined and consoled. The sameness of the Mass carries us along the spiritual journey and we pray even if we don't feel like praying. 
• We need to experience something bigger than ourselves.  At Mass we share in the death and resurrection of Jesus and enter into God's great plan for our world to bring the Gospel message to all people. At Mass heaven and earth are joined in expressing praise to God and we join the choir of angels and sing the eternal praise of God when we sing; "Holy Holy, Holy..."  The Mass gives meaning and purpose to our lives and gives us a sense of wonder and awe.  

So you can see that for a Catholic going to church each Sunday while it is an obligation, it also provides many benefits.  I think that regulations, such as the "obligation" to go to Mass every Sunday are written for the people that only want know what the minimum requirements are.  For most Catholics attending Mass on Sunday is the high point of each week and they attend willingly and are very sad indeed when serious circumstances do not allow them to attend. 

May the Lord Jesus Christ brighten your life this week and may you feel a part of the Communion of Saints. 

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