A Key Element of Being a Catholic

by David Lins  |  10/13/2019  |  (Being) Catholic Matters

One of the key elements of being a Catholic, is that we know that there are two, equally important aspects to our relationship with God. One is our individual relationship with the Lord.

Most denominations emphasize only the “personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” The natural result is less of an emphasis on the need to attend every Sunday. ‘Sure,’ they will say, ‘You should join us for the worship and the fellowship, but if you don’t, it certainly isn’t a sin.’

This makes sense, given the context. ‘As long as you have a relationship with the Lord and you take some time with him, even if it is one-on-one, you’ve done your duty to keep the Sabbath holy. Thus, no sin has been committed. And yet the Catholic Church has always maintained it is a sin. The Catechism clearly states in paragraph 2181, that those who do not attend Mass on Sundays unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor...commit a grave sin.

Is this just some manipulation to get people to attend and put money in the collection plate? I’ll do you the courtesy of being real - the people who would accuse the Church of this are people who aren’t giving much anyway, so this unholy strategy wouldn’t be very effective.

There are many reasons attending Mass is an obligation, but I’ll share two uniquely Catholic ones here.

The Eucharist is actually the Body and Blood of Christ. We, as Christ’s body should crave Christ’s Body to sustain us. The Eucharistic feast is the consumption of our Lord. I’ll put it this way: if you believe anything is more important than complete and total physical union with the Lord, I’d love to hear what it is.

The second reason takes us back to the beginning of this week’s column. I said there are two aspects to our relationship with the Lord. One is the individual relationship. But the other aspect Catholics focus on is the family relationship. God didn’t create you alone.

He created a family. His family. He longs for us to be together. If we understand Mass is a foretaste of heaven, it all makes sense. Heaven is a place where we will join every member of God’s family who has chosen to be there.

Questions? Comments? Email David at dlins@oloj.org.

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