The effect of Holy Mass

[Boreas]

Hi all,

I have been wondering about this question. Christ becomes present at every single mass; innumerable graces are received by the attendance of mass; and the offering of mass for intentions is among the best things you can do.

You would imagine that if someone were to attend mass daily, they would be considerably blessed.

Is it possible to attend mass without actually being affected by the power of the mass?

 

[Dorothy]

Hi all,

I have been wondering about this question. Christ becomes present at every single mass; innumerable graces are received by the attendance of mass; and the offering of mass for intentions is among the best things you can do.

You would imagine that if someone were to attend mass daily, they would be considerably blessed.

Is it possible to attend mass without actually being affected by the power of the mass?

It would seem to me that if a person is not properly disposed they would not receive the full benefit of the Mass. If they fail to pray at home before even arriving at Mass, and do not focus on what is about to happen at Mass, then there will only be a shallow understanding of the powerful event of the Mass. I know I need to make an effort to be aware of what an extraordinary event it is.

 

[oldgraymare2]

Hi Boreas,

That’s a really great question.

I will answer your question by saying that I think so.

I agree with how Dorothy put it, when she stated it when she says that, “if a person is not properly disposed, then they would not receive the full benefit of the Mass.”

 

[jenna1983]

I attend daily mass and I consider it the greatest gift. Its part of my daily routine and I am so grateful to attend. I definitely feel the holy spirit working within me when I attend.

 

[Yago]

What I learn in CCD
Many signs and symbols are used at Qurbana.
The grace we recieve from them depends on ou knowledge and faith.

There are 3 ways to recieve Jesus,
Spiritual communion
Spiritual and sacramental, ie recieving a consecrated host without the stain of mortal sin
Sacramental but not spiritual, ie with mortal sin, in it sacrilege is done and no grace is recieved from Holy Communion.

 

[jenna1983]

Thank you for the info.

 

[Yago]

Thank you for the info.

You’re welcome.

 

[Duane1966]

Hi all,

I have been wondering about this question. Christ becomes present at every single mass; innumerable graces are received by the attendance of mass; and the offering of mass for intentions is among the best things you can do.

You would imagine that if someone were to attend mass daily, they would be considerably blessed.

Is it possible to attend mass without actually being affected by the power of the mass?

My first thought was to say yes, but now I would say no. Here is my uno centavos worth. You can attend daily Mass, and from your own perspective get nothing out of it. If this is happening you are probably attending as a show for others. This is what I did every Sunday for years. My thought process was: let’s do my duty and get this over with. My mom dragged me to daily Mass for years before school at a local convent ( I sometimes also had all school Mass that day so would have twice the FUN).

Even though for years I went through the motions, I believe God gives Graces every time to keep the spark alive. In the past year I have had a renewal of faith. I feel like a desert flower that is blooming after choosing to remain closed for years. I look back at attending daily Mass with fondness. Even though I paid no attention during that time of my life, and others may do the same, God still gives Graces to be potentially acted upon later in one’s life. This is what happened with me. Even though I went through dark times (of my own choosing) I never doubted that the RCC was the true Church, and never stopped going, as friends that I went to school with did. I have no doubt that God gave me Graces whether I wanted them or not.

Hope this made sense.

p.s. I am sure the many prayers my mi madre said for all her children didn’t hurt either.

p.p.s. should the g in Grace be capitalized? If not will confess my punctuation errors next time.

 

[CB_Catholic]

Hi all,

I have been wondering about this question. Christ becomes present at every single mass; innumerable graces are received by the attendance of mass; and the offering of mass for intentions is among the best things you can do.

You would imagine that if someone were to attend mass daily, they would be considerably blessed.

Is it possible to attend mass without actually being affected by the power of the mass?

People stood in the presence of Christ, watched him perform miracles, watched him die on the cross and then rise from the dead, and were unaffected by his power. So I would presume it would be possible to attend Mass without actually being affected by it’s power. One can refuse God’s graces.

 

[Juliet512]

I cannot speak with any authority, only my own experience.

I was raised a Catholic… my parents baptized me in the Catholic church as an infant. I attended Catholic Schools through the 8th grade where we attended mass daily. I made my First Communion at at 7, etc.

When I was about 14, my mother wanted to divorce my father. Her family (Catholic) sort of turned against her and she stopped taking us to Church. For almost 30 years, I didn’t attend Mass with the exception of family-related events like weddings and funerals and occasionally because it was awkward not to go if other extended family were going at Christmas, etc.

But this past Spring I came back to the Church quite unexpectedly or planned. I agreed to accompany my boss to the noon service on Ash Wednesday when we were on an out-of-town business trip. The experience was rather profound for me and I decided to return to the Church and bring my 7-year-old daughter. She is currently enrolled in RCIA classes and I’m hoping she will make her sacraments this upcoming Easter Vigil.

The church I attend is only two blocks from where I work downtown and I have been going to mass almost every weekday at lunch break and on Sundays with my daughter. After I made my first Confession after 30 years and started receiving Communion, I experienced Mass MUCH MUCH differently than I ever did before! I’ve started praying the rosary daily also. I cannot explain it any other way than to say I feel like my eyes are open for the first time and I am awake.

 

[Dorothy]

I cannot speak with any authority, only my own experience.

I was raised a Catholic… my parents baptized me in the Catholic church as an infant. I attended Catholic Schools through the 8th grade where we attended mass daily. I made my First Communion at at 7, etc.

When I was about 14, my mother wanted to divorce my father. Her family (Catholic) sort of turned against her and she stopped taking us to Church. For almost 30 years, I didn’t attend Mass with the exception of family-related events like weddings and funerals and occasionally because it was awkward not to go if other extended family were going at Christmas, etc.

But this past Spring I came back to the Church quite unexpectedly or planned. I agreed to accompany my boss to the noon service on Ash Wednesday when we were on an out-of-town business trip. The experience was rather profound for me and I decided to return to the Church and bring my 7-year-old daughter. She is currently enrolled in RCIA classes and I’m hoping she will make her sacraments this upcoming Easter Vigil.

The church I attend is only two blocks from where I work downtown and I have been going to mass almost every weekday at lunch break and on Sundays with my daughter. After I made my first Confession after 30 years and started receiving Communion, I experienced Mass MUCH MUCH differently than I ever did before! I’ve started praying the rosary daily also. I cannot explain it any other way than to say I feel like my eyes are open for the first time and I am awake.

Thank you for sharing that!

 

[ProVobis]

It would seem to me that if a person is not properly disposed they would not receive the full benefit of the Mass. If they fail to pray at home before even arriving at Mass, and do not focus on what is about to happen at Mass, then there will only be a shallow understanding of the powerful event of the Mass. I know I need to make an effort to be aware of what an extraordinary event it is.

OTOH, perhaps one will get attain more graces and achieve higher spirituality by doing something that’s perhaps more inconvenient, yet obligatory. Just thinking out loud here.

 

[ProVobis]

What I learn in CCD
Many signs and symbols are used at Qurbana.
The grace we recieve from them depends on ou knowledge and faith.

There are 3 ways to recieve Jesus,
Spiritual communion
Spiritual and sacramental, ie recieving a consecrated host without the stain of mortal sin
Sacramental but not spiritual, ie with mortal sin, in it sacrilege is done and no grace is recieved from Holy Communion.

Indeed. Straight from the Catechism of Trent.

 

[Vico]

Hi all,

I have been wondering about this question. Christ becomes present at every single mass; innumerable graces are received by the attendance of mass; and the offering of mass for intentions is among the best things you can do.

You would imagine that if someone were to attend mass daily, they would be considerably blessed.

Is it possible to attend mass without actually being affected by the power of the mass?

The power of the Holy Spirit is twofold, through actual graces and sanctifying grace, such that even those that do not receive an increase in sanctifying grace still receive actual graces:2000 Sanctifying grace is an habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by his love. Habitual grace, the permanent disposition to live and act in keeping with God’s call, is distinguished from actual graces which refer to God’s interventions, whether at the beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification.

2024 Sanctifying grace makes us “pleasing to God.” Charisms, special graces of the Holy Spirit, are oriented to sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. God also acts through many actual graces, to be distinguished from habitual grace which is permanent in us.

Baltimore Catechism

Q. 475. What is actual grace?
A. Actual grace is that help of God which enlightens our mind and moves our will to shun evil and do good.

 

[Boreas]

Thank you all for the answers that you’ve given. Your personal reflections have caused me to think about things all the more, and I really appreciate the openness with which you replied.

Perhaps it may have been surmised, but I asked the original question on behalf of myself, because this has been my experience. Of course there are always highs and lows, but I believe my inability to truly participate in the mass has deeper roots than mere attention span.

For many years of my life I attended mass and received communion while conscious of mortal sin. I went for show, to maintain a way of life that I knew was expected of me, and because I didn’t want to be seen as somehow more fallen than I was truly. However, shame can be a helpful feeling. I would make an effort to go to confession prior to communion if I had the stain of mortal sin on my soul. Yet shame without discipline is a feeble ally.

The frequency of mortal sin is definitively waning – more due to maturity than to sincere contrition; though the latter stirs more frequently.

I often wonder if my ability to enter into the mass, and subsequently to love God, has been so utterly tarnished by the repeated abuse and sacrilege, that nothing short of God (when is it ever anything but God?) can repair it?

I think, ultimately, it comes down to a question of preparedness. To quote a favorite song of mine, “Don’t cover yourself with thistle and weeds”, I think this applies to my life. What sort of life am I trying to cultivate? What fields am I grooming to receive the word of our Lord? Poor fields thus far.

In one of my classes, we read Animal Farm by George Orwell. I am reminded of the scene where Napoleon fills all the food troughs with sand, and then the top most layer with seed in order to give the impression of plenty.

I think that is an apt caption for much of my devout life: “The image of plenty, the lack of substance”.

Prayers would be appreciated! I would like to imagine that I’ll someday hear the footfalls of the Hound of Heaven chasing after me.

umilta.net/hound.html

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the midst of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.

 

[Boreas]

The power of the Holy Spirit is twofold, through actual graces and sanctifying grace, such that even those that do not receive an increase in sanctifying grace still receive actual graces:2000 Sanctifying grace is an habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by his love. Habitual grace, the permanent disposition to live and act in keeping with God’s call, is distinguished from actual graces which refer to God’s interventions, whether at the beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification.

2024 Sanctifying grace makes us “pleasing to God.” Charisms, special graces of the Holy Spirit, are oriented to sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. God also acts through many actual graces, to be distinguished from habitual grace which is permanent in us.

Baltimore Catechism

Q. 475. What is actual grace?
A. Actual grace is that help of God which enlightens our mind and moves our will to shun evil and do good.

Thank you for providing this!

 

[Yago]

Indeed. Straight from the Catechism of Trent.

Oh, i never knew it was from the Council of Trent! Anyway, i feel happy that I know some of it!

The power of the Holy Spirit is twofold, through actual graces and sanctifying grace, such that even those that do not receive an increase in sanctifying grace still receive actual graces:

Yes, that is true. But I would like to add 2 things.

1, This should not mean that Catholics should start going to Qurbana without any preparation.

2, The grace of God is actually more plentiful to grave sinners.

I am sure, however, that you agree with me here.

Thank you all for … laughter.

Praying for you…

 

[ProVobis]

Oh, i never knew it was from the Council of Trent! Anyway, i feel happy that I know some of it!

This is what it says:

Threefold Manner Of Communicating

That the faithful may learn to be zealous for the better gifts, they must be shown who can obtain these abundant fruits from the Holy Eucharist, must be reminded that there is not only one way of communicating. Wisely and rightly, then, did our predecessors in the faith, as we read in the Council of Trent, distinguish three ways of receiving this Sacrament.

Some receive it sacramentally only. Such are those sinners who do not fear to approach the holy mysteries with polluted lips and heart, who, as the Apostle says, eat and drink the Lord’s body unworthily. Of this class of communicants St. Augustine says: He who dwells not in Christ, and in whom Christ dwells not, most certainly does not eat spiritually His flesh, although carnally and visibly he press with his teeth the Sacrament of His flesh and blood. Those, therefore, who receive the sacred mysteries with such a disposition, not only obtain no fruit therefrom, but, as the Apostle himself testifies, eat and drink judgment to themselves.

Others are said to receive the Eucharist in spirit only. They are those who, inflamed with a lively faith which worketh by charity,’ partake in wish and desire of that celestial bread offered to them, from which they receive, if not the entire, at least very great fruits.

Lastly, there are some who receive the Holy Eucharist both sacramentally and spiritually, those who, according to the teaching of the Apostle, having first proved themselves and having approached this divine banquet adorned with the nuptial garment, derive from the Eucharist those most abundant fruits which we have already described. Hence it is clear that those who, having it in their power to receive with fitting preparation the Sacrament of the body of the Lord, are yet satisfied with a spiritual Communion only, deprive themselves of the greatest and most heavenly advantages.

more at: catholicapologetics.info/thechurch/catechism/Holy7Sacraments-Eucharist.shtml

 

[Yago]

This is what it says:

more at: catholicapologetics.info/thechurch/catechism/Holy7Sacraments-Eucharist.shtml

Oh, Thank you!

 

[Joy2day]

I think it is like this. There were 2 thieves crucified with Jesus either side of Him at calvary. One responded, recognising Christ for who He was, & recognising himself in comparison, & entered into Life therefore. The other it would seem, although just as physically present, did not respond to the Grace that was offered.
So be properly disposed & open to Christ. You first have to believe.