Is Sunday Mass necessary? REVISITED

[APD]

My son ask, why is Sunday Mass necessary and a must.
He say’s, just because one goes for mass does not mean that they are nice.
He states, that going for mass every week on Sundays is a man (Pope/Vatican/Church) made rule, and he feels (based on his studies in collages, from society and the media etc) Popes have in history been known to make mistakes, or wrong decisions, (anti-popes/ crusades/Spanish Inquisition/burning of witches, etc).
He say’s, how do you know that this teaching of, a must for weekly Sunday mass, won’t at a later date be changed?
Will not a non Catholic, for that matter a non Christian, who does not even believe in Jesus, or even know of him, go to heaven?
Why must he have to go for Mass?
My fault as a father, is not being able to explain in a convincing way why he should go, and in spite of everything, why the need of following the Catholic Church.
Your answer and help would be appreciated.
APD

 

[Augusta_Crowley]

Dear Dad,

Upon reading your question, I wanted to answer you more specifically. Your son has been throwing a lot at you from the Sunday obligation being man-made, to the crusades and the Spanish Inquisition. Obviously, he has been going to sources that generalize over such things from an anti-Catholic bias.

First of all, the obligation to worship God on the Lord’s Day comes from the Ten Commandments. To worship God together as His people derives from the fact that He has given us the knowledge of Who He is! We know that He created us from nothing and keeps us in existence. So He is creating us at every moment. No one is paying Him to do this. He does is out of love. St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us that we owe Him the acknowledgment of who He is (which we call worship or adoration) as a matter of justice.

(With a nod to the Seven Dwarfs’ song: we owe, we owe; it’s off to church we go!)

But actually, we Catholics don’t go the Church merely as an act of justice. We go in response to the blood He shed of Calvary. It is the same blood that is present on the altar. If anyone, gets to heaven it is because of that blood. There are some, though they don’t understand or know about that blood, still try to live loving lives, who will get to heaven. But we who have the gift of faith and know how much He loves us, are obliged to give Him thanks at Sunday Mass for ourselves and for all those who don’t have the gift of faith.

On the cross our blessed Lord showed us how to love. He showed us that love is measured by sacrifice—not simply by good feelings. We know how much others love us by how willing they are to put themselves out for us. And we know how much we love them by the same token. But what is best of all—we have a glimpse into how much God loves us. He suffered and died at the hand of creatures He has created out of nothing. This compels us to ponder just how great His love really is.
 
THIS is why we must be at Mass On Sunday. There is NOTHING on the face of the earth that can compare with the love on that altar!!!

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.