Bring ‘Em Back! Part 9

This is the ninth in a series of articles aimed at helping you to get your lapsed Catholic loved one going to Church again and once again becoming a practicing Catholic. 

Excuse #3

Excuse #3 (“I don’t have to go to church to keep the Lord’s Day holy”) is, to put it bluntly, wrong-headed.  The Mass has been the method by which Catholics have kept the Lord’s Day holy for over 2,000 years.  It is not some clever method cooked up to fill the collection plate.

Mass

The basic form of the Mass has been in place for a really, really long time!  St. Justin Martyr wrote to Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius around 155 AD, explaining how Christians worship (CCC 1345):

“On the day we call the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place.

“The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as time permits.

“When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things.

“Then we all rise together and offer prayers for ourselves . . . and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation.

“When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss.

“Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren.

“He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and for a considerable time he gives thanks (in Greek: eucharistian) that we have been judged worthy of these gifts.

“When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying: ‘Amen.’

“When he who presides has given thanks and the people have responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the “eucharisted” bread, wine and water and take them to those who are absent.”

(More information on how Sunday replaced “the Sabbath” can be found in an excellent article entitled “From Sabbath to Sunday” by James P. Guzek at Catholic Answers.)

It’s Obligatory

The individual that employs Excuse #3 needs to be helped to understand that as Catholics we are obligated to go to Mass on Sunday.  And because the Church obligates us, so too does God.  When we willfully miss Mass on Sunday we commit a mortal sin.

Jesus told Peter in Matthew 16:19, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” [Emphasis added].

So just like God let Moses and the priests decide how the Hebrews would keep holy the Sabbath, the Magisterium – the successors of Peter and the Apostles – binds us to go to Mass. And so, God also binds us to go to Mass.  Regardless of what one’s poorly formed conscience may be saying, we have to go to church to keep the Lord’s Day Holy.

Not a good choice

When the church is just a few blocks or even only a couple miles away, choosing not to go to Mass each week by offering up Excuse #3 not very smart.  God will render judgement of course, but Jesus’ words to Peter are clear.

You should also point out that only by attending mass can we participate in the Paschal Mystery and receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.  As the “Catechism of the Catholic Church“ says:

1323 “At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet ‘in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us’.”

God is indeed present everywhere throughout His creation, but He is physically present at Mass in the Eucharist.  And only at Mass can we receive Christ Himself into our bodies!

Pig-Headedness

If the person still insists, “It’s a man-made rule, and it’s hogwash,” you are probably dealing with someone who is pig-headed!

Ask the individual, “So just how do you keep the Lord’s Day Holy?”  Chances are the person may stammer a bit before mumbling something about taking time to think about God and what He has given us.

Then ask him or her a simple question: “Where in the Bible does it say we are each allowed to decide how to keep holy the Lord’s Day?”

If the individual is quick-witted, he or she may respond with something like, “Nowhere, but it also does not say in the Bible that we have to go to Mass on Sunday.”

If this is the response you get, you could point out to the person that he or she is thinking like a Protestant!  You could also point out that Scripture is not the only source of God’s teachings.

Apostolic Succession

As Catholics we believe in the precept of Apostolic Succession.  This is clearly affirmed not just once but twice in the Gospel of Mathew: in Mathew 16:19 (as already noted) and again in Mathew 18:18.

It may also be worth pointing out that Jesus was pretty clear that those who reject what His Apostles say reject Him as well:

“Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me” (Luke 10:16).

The Church has been given the power by Jesus to decide how to fulfill the Third Commandment.

The Eucharist

Also remind the person that Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist for us, and if we are not going to Mass, we cannot partake of what is the greatest of all the Sacraments – the gift to us of Jesus Himself.

There’s actually a logical progression at work here.  There are more than a dozen references in the New Testament to Jesus being the bread of life.

Jesus tells the Apostles in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”  Then a little later in John 6:53-56 Jesus is even more emphatic:

“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.  For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”

Protestants have cut themselves off from the Bread of Life.  Only Catholics are able to partake of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Jesus intended for us to be nourished by His Body and Blood, and we can only do that at Mass.  Not going to Mass cuts us off from Him, His nourishment, and the tremendous graces we receive from the Eucharist.

You Can Lead a Horse to Water . . .

If the person still insists the obligation to go to Mass is a man-made rule that can be ignored, you have still planted a seed.  With any luck the individual will continue to think about the points you made and may come to realize that his or her thinking is wrong.

But don’t let the seed go dormant.  Make the seed grow over the course of the next few weeks.  Maybe ask the person if he or she has given any more thought to the conversation you had.

You might also say, “If you’re right and it’s just a man-made rule, I’ve only spent an hour per week in church worshipping God.  But if I’m right, you are breaking the Third Commandment, and possibly the First Commandment as well, you’re in big trouble.  Do you want to take that chance?  An hour per week versus eternity in pain and anguish. Think about it.”

While this may not be a very theological argument for going to Mass, it may get the individual thinking!

Next Monday, Part 10:  Excuse #4.

Part 1 is here; Part 2 here; Part 3 here; Part 4 here; Part 5 here; Part 6 here; Part 7 here; Part 8 here.