If you were to explain to someone why Catholics go to Sunday (or weekday) mass and receive communion how would you put it? I ask because many people my age think mass is boring. And while I’m not christian just yet, I still find mass and more, receiving the Eucharist to be fascinating.
Here’s how I would try to put it:
Catholics receive the Eucharist because it is a spiritual ‘TONIC’ of some sort. When you partake of the blood and body of the Christ, the divinity and blessings of the lord are with you for the rest of the day (or week) and you share in a part of the Christ . . . . Is this enough? I don’t feel it is. Please add on.
Why? Because God commanded us to keep the Sabbath Holy.
I receive the Eucharist because Jesus commanded “Take My Body and eat It.” Jesus is actually physically present in me, just as I am sitting next to a friend or my husband. Why wouldn’t you want that?
For me, personally, Communion is the high point of Mass for me. Maybe it’s because I’m selfish, and the ‘receiving’ of the Body of Christ is more important to me than giving to Him. But maybe that’s the way it is supposed to be. No matter how much we worship, honor, praise, thank, Him, He will always give us infinitely more than we give Him, more than we deserve! I missed part of the beginning of Mass once, though, and had always thought myself ‘Liturgy of the Eucharist’ centered; but missing the Liturgy of the Word made me feel almost as empty.
Songs/Hymns: Anytime
Reading the Bible: anytime
Thanking, praising, worshiping God: anytime
Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ our Lord and Savior: only during Mass (or the rare Communion service)
Mass
can be boring, if you make it about ‘you’. When I started making Mass an hour of prayer, of honoring and worshipping God, it got a LOT less boring. When I realized I wasn’t there to be entertained, but to give to God, to receive from God, it changed Mass for me greatly. That attitude has also helped me during those times when I’m upset, annoyed, distracted, at Mass. When I look at all the hours of my life, and God has asked me for 1/7th of it to honor Him, why should I do any less? During moments like the Gloria, or Lamb of God, I ‘feel’ or think about all the Angels and Saints in Heaven joining us in song and prayer. What a choir that is!!
And, sadly, Mass (or worship services for Protestants) is sometimes the only hour that someone thinks about God. However, on the bright side, those people at church on Sunday are at least there, and thinking about God one more than hour than they would have if they weren’t there. (Two sides of the same coin; different viewpoints)