The Power of The Mass: Why I Remain Catholic

Eucharist, Jesus, communion, host, the Real Presence

eucharist, jesus, communion, hostLearning Empathy From the Cross

When I was little, I remember sitting in the pew at church gazing up at the huge crucifix that hung on the wall behind the altar. I never heard a word the priest said, nor did I pay any attention to what he was doing. I was just drawn to the man who hung on the cross. I was intrigued, even as a child. Jesus spoke to my heart from that cross. He was teaching me about compassion, even then. A short time later I was diagnosed with Perthes Disease. It was my first real struggle and I was only a little girl. They placed a brace on my leg and I walked with crutches for three years. It wouldn’t be until third grade that I walked on my own once again. But Jesus pierced my heart with a gift through that disability, the gift of empathy.

Healing From a Miscarriage

When I was married with two children, my parents still attended the same church and the kids and I would meet them every week for Mass. One Sunday was different, though, I had recently suffered a miscarriage in the second term of my pregnancy. It was a sorrow I shared with no one because I felt no one would understand what it was like to lose a life you had carried inside of you. I would wait for my husband and children to fall asleep, and then I would cry.  Only a woman who has lost a child through miscarriage really understands. During the consecration that Sunday morning, God healed me. Suddenly, I was overcome with grief and my body slumped towards the kneeler in an effort to hide from the others. Then it just poured out of me; I sobbed from my gut and I could not make it stop. Jesus was healing me. That was the first time I remember feeling the Lord in my soul and experienced His compassion in a tangible way.

Daily Mass

It would be several more years before my journey with the Lord really began, mainly because I was still selfish. Yet Jesus was preparing me to experience Him in a whole new way. When I met a woman who invited me to go to daily Mass, I thought it was a bit strange, but something told me I should go. I’ve been going ever since and the Lord has completely changed me. Now we have a relationship, a love that surpasses all others. Jesus is my solace, my everything. He is the strength that carries me throughout my day because He is my peace, my joy, and my greatest love.

One of the priests at my parish, Father John, recently said, “Wisdom is the grace to see through the eyes of God.” Well, now I see the Mass in a new way; the Mass is everything because Jesus is everything. Being Catholic is who I am. I get up every morning and go to Mass because I know it is the only place I can receive the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, in its fullness. When I go to Mass I know I am entering into a heavenly realm where we all join together, not only with the people here on earth but also with the saints and angels in heaven and the souls in purgatory. Everyone comes together to worship the one true God, to honor the One who died for us, so we could live with Him forever in heaven. Praying the Mass truly is the most incredible thing a person can do on this earth.

Worshipping as a Family

We all join together at Mass as a family to worship our Lord, but it is also a personal encounter for each one of us. Jesus speaks to us through the scripture readings, and then again through the reflections of the priest. I cannot tell you how many times the Lord has spoken directly to me through the homily. Words that correct and confirm, encourage and give hope, even words that inspire new writings. Words that speak directly to what is transpiring in my life at the time. I walk into Mass each day wondering what the Lord has in store for me, and I never leave empty handed.

Without the Mass, I would be lost. For me, it is an escape from the turbulence of this world. A place where God enters into my soul, and restores my peace. He revives and empowers me every day through the Mass. I have always been thankful to be Catholic, even before I really understood what the Church had to offer. I still have a great deal to learn, but now that God has given me a better understanding of the Church and the sacraments, there are not enough words to describe my gratitude. Through the gift of the priest, Jesus comes to me veiled in a tiny, little Host and nourishes me.

The Mass is the highest form of prayer. There is a seriousness to the Mass, an order that is often misinterpreted by those who are not familiar with the Catholic faith. The Mass is a prayer of praise and thanksgiving. But more than that it is the continuation of Calvary. The unbloody sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father for the remission of sin. It is a place where heaven meets earth and our deepest prayers rise to the heart of God. And because of our openness, He then showers us with grace so that we may be assisted in this life. Years ago, there was a little blurb in the bulletin (no author was cited) that read:

“There is a huge room in heaven filled with boxes of brightly wrapped packages. Many, many gifts for each of us. God will take us to that room when we get to heaven. In surprise we ask God, “Why now?” God will answer us, “They were the gifts I prepared for you while you were on earth. They were waiting for you every weekend at Mass. These are the ones you didn’t pick up. They contain answers to prayers, encouragement, and many of the things you asked for. I had to wait until now to gives them to you.” Don’t miss your weekly gift.

This passage struck me so strongly, I have saved it for more than twenty-five years now. I usually make a copy, among a few others I have saved, and put them in a Christmas card for my kids just as a reminder that God always has something beautiful waiting for them each week at Mass. God is so gracious, all He wants is for us to come to Him so He can shower us with His infinite love. He continues to sacrifice Himself at every Mass throughout the entire world. That is almost incomprehensible. You can only experience that in the Catholic Church. I give this analogy if someone told you Jesus was at Walmart, would you drop everything and go there to see Him?  Well, Jesus is alive in the tabernacle of every Catholic Church in the world, and He is waiting for us to come and receive the gift of Jesus Himself.

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7 thoughts on “The Power of The Mass: Why I Remain Catholic”

  1. Pingback: How to Fight a Spiritual Attack: The Church and The Sacraments – Conquer the Devil

  2. Thank you for sharing your experience! God keeps moving hearts and guiding people to find Him in the CONSACRATED bread.

  3. Pingback: FRIDAY EDITION | Big Pulpit

  4. Laurence Charles Ringo

    Hmm…While I don’t discount what Roman Catholicism teaches inre the so-called mass/transubstantiation, the Word of God doesn’t teach any such thing as Jesus the Christ continually sacrificing Him; the Letter to the Hebrews nullifies both the so-called continued”re-sacrifice”of Christ Jesus and the concept of purgatory,so…

    1. Perhaps we do not find ‘continual sacrifice’ in Scripture, but we do read that whatever we do to the needy we do to Jesus. If Jesus is present in humanity’s suffering in this way, then it is not incomprehensible that He is present in the sacrifice of mass to this day.

      As to purgatory, we have to decide how it is that we obtain the kingdom of heaven. Revelation teaches that we must be unblemished and without deceit to enter the kingdom, and the Old Testament loves the image of being purified by fire. We may believe that this purification is done in an instant, but Scripture dispels this notion, notably in the story of Job and even in the life of Jesus, who does not begin His ministry until age 30, spends 40 days being tested in the desert and ministers for 3 years before suffering His martyrdom. Are we to enter directly into the kingdom without any such preparation or suffering?

      If someone is to repent of their sins just before they die and accept Christ as their saviour, does not purgatory offer the only solution for the means by which that person may obtain salvation? Without it, the only conceivable solution for such a person would be hell; for a repentant, yet impure person could not enter directly into heaven. Is this something that is consistent with God’s mercy? Such matters are certainly difficult to prove definitively, which is why the Church relies on its Tradition and the witness of the saints who have always affirmed the existence of purgatory.

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