My Relationship with Daily Mass

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Michael_Mayo

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I started back when I was about 23 and discerning the Trappist vocation. I never went with them but I continued daily Mass for the next 30-35 years. For most of that time it did something for me which I never bothered to explore or articulate. So in my mid 50’s it became routine, habit, and I did not seem to be getting much out of it. I stopped going daily and figured I would stick with some LOTH and Sunday Mass like everyone else.

But recently I have started back because something seems lacking in my life. So after 5-8 years of not going I realize I miss it…or something about it. And I realize that I go now not because I have such great love for God or the Mass (I think) but because my faith is so WEAK! It is a powerful reminder of what I believe, who I am, and what I desire my life to be all about. I come out feeling more empowered, more connected to Christ, stronger, more confident. Still very “me” centered, aren’t I?

I think this movement if from a prayer I made a few weeks ago about loving the Mass. Then on this forum there was a thread about Epiclesis that got me interested. Now I am letting something mystical happen for me. I still do not know exactly the Mass does for me but it is good. It is no longer routine, boring or habit. Today’s reading from 2 Corinthians told us what the Mass is all about:

“All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,
As from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

What glory? Where is it?
The glory is almost invisible but it draws us. It transforms us at a subtle, profound level we sometimes aren’t even aware it is happening or appreciate it. We can be too obtuse. Then things seem superficial, routine, boring. Mass today reminded me of the subtleness of God’s glory, of the presence of Christ in the Sacrament, in me and in each of us.

I need reminding more than once a week. And scripture alone or LOTH isn’t enough for me.

I dont go because of my great faith. I go because of my weak faith which is then strengthened for the day, at least.:crossrc:
 
Michael_Mayo said:
Today’s reading from 2 Corinthians told us what the Mass is all about:

“All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,
As from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
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This is one of the many reasons that I love our Church. Every Catholic, in every place, who attended daily Mass today or read through the daily readings was able to engage with the same Scriptures and be fed with the Word in the same way. In this way, we can cherish our unity and oneness in the Lord.

Thank you for sharing! May God bless you all! 🙂
 
Here is my feeling:

There is something wonderful about going to daily mass, not because I am obligated to, but because I **want **to go. I don’t go every single day, but sometimes 4 extra days. It is both refreshing and inspiring to me.
 
I love this thread.

I agree so much with what everyone has said here. It’s such a gift and I absolutely love it, and I miss it so so much. ( I am too ill now). Going first thing in the early morning was my favorite thing. A beautiful, wonderful, lovely, revitalizing, uplifting, encouraging, energizing way to start a day. You could drag yourself in there first thing, feeling groggy, but when you left your heart overflowed with joy and love, if even just a little. A great way to experience the love of God everyday while the morning sun bathes the church with golden silent promise of a new day. I felt guilty going everyday because I know not everyone can do this, and how much I wish I could have shared the joy of it with others! (Yet I know to most people it would be not too exciting to them). Holidays were the best, just because everyone getting together and sharing in the joy of the day. Miss it so much. Was like family. I miss everyone too.
 
Agree. I also go not because I have to. No one is forcing me to. I go because I want to.

At Mass, you get acts - adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, and supplication. I also remind myself that I not only go to pray for myself, but also on behalf of others - those who can’t go, those who don’t want to go.
Irishmom2 said:
Here is my feeling:

There is something wonderful about going to daily mass, not because I am obligated to, but because I **want **to go.
Click to expand...
 
I certainly don’t take it for granted anymore. In fact, I don’t take faith for granted anymore. Baptized as an infant and going to Catholic schools the faith was just part of life. I guess I owe a debt to the atheists who challenged my faith. I am either living in a fantasy or participating in something more awesome than words could ever express. It really could all be delusional. But, I believe. Was it St Augustine who said we come to know through the will (love) rather than the intellect?

Anyway, starting the day with Mass gives me something to think about and carry with me the rest of the day, “Do this in remembrance of me.” If Jesus actually existed, was crucified and rose from the dead, then he is certainly present and we are connected. This I believe.

Daily Mass is a committment to that belief as well as an affirmation of it. Something mystical happened there (as well as Sunday Mass) that cannot be well explained or proven…only experienced. And only if we let it be for us. I have gone to Mass many times and seemed to get nothing out of it. Only because I was to obtuse and insensitive. How many find it that way? It requires contemplation and true presence on our part.
 
Since retiring, I am also able to attend daily Mass. Of all the good reasons for doing this if one is able to, like the Church’s teaching that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life, one of my main reasons for going to Mass every morning is my general lack of discipline! I know that the Liturgy of the Hours and reading Sacred Scripture are also good daily practices, and through the years I have done both, but only off and on without consistency. Given the option of these faith-affirming devotional practices or frittering away the hours online while listening to the radio and wondering what I’m going to eat next, too often I choose the latter :(.

Daily Mass here is early, 6:30 am, and this is the best time for me. I am the most focused and least likely to give in to distraction. Church is close enough so I can walk there, and I pray the rosary as I do so. I arrive at church about 20 minutes before Mass, and I use this time for silent prayer. Would I give this time to silent prayer if I just stayed home? Of course I could, but more likely I would turn on the computer and get busy. So the way I look at daily Mass in my life, if I do little to nothing else throughout the day to nurture my faith and to acknowledge my dependence on and gratitude to God, at least I’ve done so for that one hour in the morning.
 
Today’s reading from Genesis and Abram’s encounter with God:

As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram,
and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.

Something to think about, deep, terrifying darkness was part of his encounter and covenant with God. I guess it gives me reassurance that my own moments of darkness or dread are not so off the course if Abram has been there.

The word אֵימָה ʼêymâh, ay-maw’; or (shortened) אֵמָה ʼêmâh; means fright, dread, fear, horror, terror.

It reminds me of the Dark Nights of St John of the Cross also.
 
“The Lord delivered me from all my fears”

This morning’s Responsorial Psalm also offers another ray hope for all anxious people. There’s plenty to worry about now, but when has there not been? Most all of us face concerns over health, relationships and finances, or crises of faith, at some time or other in our lives. It was the same in Old Testament times as it is now, and hopefully at some level we too can “taste and see that the Lord is good,” and “take refuge in him.”
 
christofirst said:
“The Lord delivered me from all my fears”

This morning’s Responsorial Psalm also offers another ray hope for all anxious people. There’s plenty to worry about now, but when has there not been? Most all of us face concerns over health, relationships and finances, or crises of faith, at some time or other in our lives. It was the same in Old Testament times as it is now, and hopefully at some level we too can “taste and see that the Lord is good,” and “take refuge in him.”
Click to expand...
That’s right. There has always been plenty to worry about. But he said, “Fear not”. Hard to let it go though.
 
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