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Click here for full listing of announcements »Why going to Mass is worth the effort (Part I)
Getting to Mass on Sundays feels optional to many
families. After all, if we don't show up for work, we may lose our
job; if our children miss school, they'll have make-up work;
skipping a practice means you don't play in a game. But missing
Mass? Will anyone even notice! Is there a consequence!
Since the very early years of our church, Christians have
gathered on the Lord's day, Sunday (which early on was a
workday), to praise God. Attending was never optional; members
were expected to be there, but they also wanted to be there, to have
the privilege of participating that Baptism gave them.
Today the church teaches that attending Mass is so
important that we look upon it as an obligation for Catholics,
barring a grave cause for absence (illness, for example).
But why? Shouldn't we go to church because we want to,
not because we have to?
Our one constant: Weekly Mass grounds a family. We
know that, in any given week, both wonderful and terrible things
happen. Kim aces her biology test; Stephen's team loses in the
quarter-finals; Mom gets a promotion; Dad gets a questionable
report from his doctor. Going to Mass every Sunday, no matter
what, reminds us that amid all of the uncertainty and changes, we
gather to give our week to God, to praise and thank God for all the
gifts we've been given. We return to the Eucharist because this is
who we are and what we do.
More to come in the future.
