This is an important question that I’m sure many parents have heard from their children. Unfortunately, many Catholics (even good Catholics) don’t know how to answer it. Suffice it to say that many know that it is what they
should do, but don’t necessarily know
why. So why is it that we have to go to Mass every Sunday (and every holy day of obligation)?
In order to answer this question, we need to consider what the Mass is and its Old Testament prefigurement. In the Old Testament, we learn that the Third Commandment is “Remember the sabbath day – keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). The reason for this is that in the first story of creation God rested on the seventh day (Ex. 20:11). Deuteronomy gives us further information: “Remember that you too were once slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD, your God, brought you out from there with a strong hand and outstretched arm. That is why the LORD, your God, has commanded you to observe the sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:15). What we see here is that the Jews are being commanded to observe the Sabbath as a “memorial” of what God has done for them. In fact, had the Jews not observed the Sabbath, we can plainly see how they would have easily forgotten what the Lord had done for them as the years went by.
But there’s more! The Jews had a very interesting conception of what “memorial” meant. The Jews had the idea that when they carried out a memorial that the original event was, in some sense, present. At the same time, the Jews would recall that not only had God liberated their ancestors from slavery in Egypt, but that God had also liberated them
, even though they were born many years later.
On this point, we remember what Jesus said to his Apostles on Holy Thursday. Having instituted the Eucharist, he says “Do this in memory of me.” In the Eucharist, we have a memorial of what Christ has done for us, but rather than remembering liberation from slavery in Egypt, we remember that Christ has liberated us from sin. Also, this memorial makes the sacrifice of Christ (the perfect act of worship offered to God the Father) present before us (remember that we actually receive his body and blood in the Eucharist).
On top of that, we also hear from Scripture at each Mass, which is the inspired Word of God. And, what does Scripture do for us? It reveals to us who God is and what he expects of us (among other things). If we want to grow in holiness, we would do well to listen to and read from Sacred Scripture.
Lastly, we might ask ourselves, “Why Sunday?” (and, consequently, Saturday evening). First, the weekly celebration of Mass on Sunday was the practice of the Apostles themselves (Acts 20:7). Why did they do this? Because Christ had risen from the dead on Sunday, hence Sunday has become a new Sabbath.
So, why do we go to Mass on Sunday? Because we NEED it. We need it for our own holiness and for our salvation. If we do not go to Mass every Sunday (and, yes, missing Mass on even one Sunday is a mortal sin) we effectively forfeit our salvation. When we miss Mass on Sunday, we are essentially telling God that the sacrifice and resurrection of his Son are not important (on this point it is important to remember that the sacrifice of Christ is re-presented in the Eucharist, and my own personal prayers cannot provide a substitute for it).
Let us always remember that when we come to Mass, we come to offer the perfect worship to a God who loves us.
Fr. Greg Luger is parochial vicar at the Churches of St. Joseph in Williston, St. John the Baptist in Trenton and St. Boniface in Grenora. If you have a question you were afraid to ask, now is the time to ask it! Simply email your question to [email protected] with the “Question Afraid to Ask” in the subject line.