Why do non-Catholic Christians gather on sunday?

[benidict]

I want to know why people gather if not to celebrate the Eucharist?

FELLOWSHIP. it is written, not to forsake the assembling of ourselves, as some are in the habit of doing. as a very wise protestant said, when he was trying to convert me. " we dont have a Eucharist." i said to him, “bingo!” i was a new Catholic at the time, and that discussion, with him and a pentacostal, really solidified that we had the Truth. Peace

 

[benidict]

I think the OP wants to know why would you like to do it on a Sunday especially. Is it because you’re free or convenient on that day or what? Or is it something you just want to do on a Sunday and not on any other days? So what about the other days then? Then there are the questions about reading your Bible, worshipping and offering your sacrifice to the Lord at home. So why do you have to do it on Sunday?

great question. may have to start another thread on this, in case off topic. but why do protestants worship on sunday? if they truly are sola scriptura, they should be worshipping on the Jewish Sabbath. sundown friday to sundown saturday…Peace

 

[benidict]

I think the main point of comparison between the Catholic mindset and the Protestant mindset is that for Catholics, there’s punishment involved if you don’t go. To some extent (even if it’s not your main motivation), you have to go in order to avoid damnation, judgment, falling into mortal sin, etc. There is no aspect of punishment for Protestants. We go because it’s something we want to do and it’s a means to an end. Gathering with like-minded people and the joy that’s associated with the whole situation are probably a little more like direct, day-to-day kinds of experiences. I don’t really see either of those things as the “end,” though. Those things are there along the way, but as we are fond of saying, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Meeting and working with other Christians at any time of the week (though our most reliable gathering time is usually Sunday mornings), worshiping God in a half-dozen different ways, serving and loving Him and each other…all of these things are joyful, all are enjoyable, they tend to happen most reliably on Sunday mornings, and all of them are a means to an end.

Glorify God. Enjoy Him forever. Something along those lines. Put another way, you could say the end goal is to come together and help one another “work out your salvation in fear and trembling.” And then we add a little bit of enjoyment to the equation and emphasize the fact that there’s nothing we’d rather be doing. What it really comes down to is this is how we help each other live out an authentically Christian life in joyful obedience to God. Provided that you don’t just fill a seat for an hour and go home, this is where it can begin.

Yeah, that’s part of it.
Hee hee…“offering your bodies as living sacrifices” as a reasonable act of worship is consistent with the end goals I mentioned.
Yeah, that’s about the same thing.
Sacramentally? No. Although it depends on the Protestant church. Other ways, maybe.

really? thats funny. when i was not in the military, i would go everyday to Mass. depending on what was going on, twice. this is not to brag. i did not go out of a sense of duty, or a fear of hell. i truly love being in the presence of the Lord, and celebrating what he has done is doing, and is going to do, with his Church, his bride. dont know if you are married or not. but when you were engaged, did you not want to spend as much time with your future bride to be as possible? this is how it is with me and the Church. i love it. i also loved the opportunities, to serve Christ and the community. i really miss these days. when i get out of the army, i will Lord willing be back at Mass at least once a day. and finding ways to serve full time. not for any reward. just out of love for God, and my fellow man. just about all the Catholics i know, have the same motivation. its about love. Peace to you and yours. and i hope you had a Blessed Christmas. you and yours.

 

[benidict]

and oh yes my friend. growing up in a christian reformed home, if you missed sunday, you were going to hell. if you rode your bike on sunday, if you went for a boat ride, if you listened to the wrong kind of music…hell and damnation were every where in my nice calvinistic upbringing. so there is that mindset in at least some protestant movements.lol! peace

 

[cooterhein]

I think the OP wants to know why would you like to do it on a Sunday especially. Is it because you’re free or convenient on that day or what? Or is it something you just want to do on a Sunday and not on any other days? So what about the other days then? Then there are the questions about reading your Bible, worshipping and offering your sacrifice to the Lord at home. So why do you have to do it on Sunday?

When Protestants first started doing this, Sunday was already blocked off as a day of worship. Everyone had their schedules worked out and there wasn’t really any need to change what was working. So yeah, Sunday mornings were wide open.

Other days, I do different things some evenings. No church in the morning, though. You gotta work, ya know?

We don’t have to do it Sunday morning, really. There’s always some exceptions. One of my roommates goes on Sunday nights. Some churches that do multiple services will do Saturdays and Sundays. It doesn’t really matter what day you go as long as you’re consistently staying connected, but it does tend to be on the weekend, at least. That’s the way the work week tends to be organized.

 

[benidict]

When Protestants first started doing this, Sunday was already blocked off as a day of worship. Everyone had their schedules worked out and there wasn’t really any need to change what was working. So yeah, Sunday mornings were wide open.

Other days, I do different things some evenings. No church in the morning, though. You gotta work, ya know?

We don’t have to do it Sunday morning, really. There’s always some exceptions. One of my roommates goes on Sunday nights. Some churches that do multiple services will do Saturdays and Sundays. It doesn’t really matter what day you go as long as you’re consistently staying connected, but it does tend to be on the weekend, at least. That’s the way the work week tends to be organized.

do you have like a bible study on Wednesday, or a praise and fellowship hour?

 

[JustaServant]

Not to insult our Protestant brethren, but it was this question that led me back to the Catholic Church.
No amount of praise music, fellowship, strong preaching, or deep Bible study can replace the Eucharist. Preaching and music I can listen to at home or in the car. Teachers come and go. But the Body and Blood of Christ remains.

 

[cooterhein]

really? thats funny. when i was not in the military, i would go everyday to Mass. depending on what was going on, twice. this is not to brag. i did not go out of a sense of duty, or a fear of hell. i truly love being in the presence of the Lord, and celebrating what he has done is doing, and is going to do, with his Church, his bride. dont know if you are married or not. but when you were engaged, did you not want to spend as much time with your future bride to be as possible? this is how it is with me and the Church. i love it. i also loved the opportunities, to serve Christ and the community. i really miss these days. when i get out of the army, i will Lord willing be back at Mass at least once a day. and finding ways to serve full time. not for any reward. just out of love for God, and my fellow man. just about all the Catholics i know, have the same motivation. its about love. Peace to you and yours. and i hope you had a Blessed Christmas. you and yours.

I’m glad you enjoy it. I already mentioned that the threat of mortal sin may not be a primary motivator, and I should have said it’s a good thing if it’s not. I may have implied otherwise. Even if it isn’t a primary motivator, though, the threat still exists.

I’m not married, but I assume you are? Ok, it’s like this.

Before you were married, you were engaged. Before that, you were dating. Somewhere in there, you fell in love.

Before that, though, you weren’t in love with that particular woman. If your relationship were analogous to your experience with the Catholic Church, there would have been a time in your life where there was the Catholic girl, the Orthodox girl, the Anglican girl, the Lutheran girl, the non-denominational girl…all very nice girls, in their own ways. At this point, you’re not in love with any of them. Maybe you’ve spent more time with one than another, maybe you’ve gone on some casual dates. But you haven’t really made a commitment.

There’s something about the Catholic girl, though, that makes her a little different from most of the other ones. Instead of just asking you to fall in love with her (which you could do with any of them), this girl says God will damn you to hell if you don’t fall in love with her, and the only thing that can save you is ignorance of the terrible mistake that truly is. Even if (through ignorance) you find happiness with another girl, you’ve only found imperfect happiness and it somehow came to you through the Catholic girl. Somehow.

In the event that you do initially choose the Catholic girl, if you fall out of love with her and start dating any of those other girls, you are definitely in a state of mortal sin and in desperate need of reconciliation in order to avoid hellfire.

I’m sure you’re quite happy in your relationship with the Catholic girl, but it doesn’t change the fact that this is the girl you’re dating. I don’t doubt that a lot of other factors were far more important in your decision to start dating her, and I know that your main reasons for staying with her have very little to do with this.

Nevertheless.

Be that as it may.

In spite of that.

The Catholic girl is the same as she ever was. She never stopped doing those things. They don’t bother you anymore, but she never stopped doing them. It doesn’t stop you from loving her and enjoying every minute you spend with her, but she’s still the same girl.

And…I knew I’d get to the point eventually…my girl is quite a bit different from that. I’m sure we have different ideas on which character traits are preferable, but at the very least, we should be able to agree on this: These are not the same kinds of girls, and while our relationships with them are not as different as they possibly could be, they really are quite a bit different.

Oh, one other thing, too. I very much doubt that the aforementioned Catholic girl accurately depicts your wife’s personality. If it is accurate, I’m very sorry.

I had a very nice Christmas; thanks for asking! I hope yours was quite good as well.

 

[Cat]

I think the OP and several other posters on this thread need to examine the tone of their posts. There is a decided loftiness in some of the posts and a “superior tone” that will turn Protestants away from the Catholic Church. God will hold us accountable for turning people away from His Church.

I would like to remind Catholics that most Catholics attend Mass because they were taught from infancy to attend Mass. Yes, there are many Catholics, including the OP and several Catholics in this thread, who have internalized what Mass is and who know personally the august Lord Jesus Christ Who is Truly Present in the Blessed Sacrament. *But there are even more Catholics who have no idea why they bother to attend Mass, and they continue attending only because of fear of hell and fear of their parents. *

Instead of baiting Protestants and then smirking at their customs and criticizing their beliefs, perhaps the OP and other Catholics would like to please consider taking on the gargantuan and very discouraging task of catechizing their fellow Catholics as to why we gather on Sunday.

My husband and I are converts to Catholicism from Evangelical Protestantism. It is none of our doing, it is the Lord’s work.

The main reason non-Catholic Christians gather on Sunday is that the Bible says so.

Most non-Catholic Christians use the Bible as their source of authority, and the Bible makes it clear that Christians gathered on the first day of the week.

But the Bible also makes it clear that Christians gather not just on Sundays, but continually. Acts 2: 42-47 describes many gatherings of believers which occur throughout the week. Protestant churches continue to do this as they meet throughout the week in Bible studies, prayer circles, various classes, youth groups, and children’s activities and clubs, as well as in social settings in homes.

Yes, Catholic parishes celebrate Mass daily, and some offer many opportunities outside of Mass for meeting through the week. I have actually seen Catholics on CAF scoff at this practice and label “Bible studies” and “prayer circles” as “Protestant.” Well, that’s really too bad. These Catholics need to realize that the era is ended when all parishioners lived in the same neighborhoods, attended the same (Catholic) schools, and all knew each other. I believe that Catholic parishes do well when they act “Protestant” and offer many opportunities for meeting together outside of Mass.

It would be helpful for Catholics in this thread to realize that many non-Catholic Christians interpret the passages about “breaking bread” to also mean breaking open the Word of God. Therefore it is appropriate for Christians to meet on Sundays to “break open the Word of God.”

I would suggest that all Catholics on this forum take the time to read through I Corinthians 12-14 (three chapters). These chapters describe how the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to believers, and makes it clear that these gifts are to be used to edify the church.

I Corinth. 12: 7 says “to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” And I Corinth 14: 14 says, “Since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church.” I Corinthians 12: 28 lists the gifts, and describes how they are “appointed in the church.”

Many Evangelical Protestant Christians approach “church” as a place where they can develop and use the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit has given to them. It is in a church setting that preachers can preach, teachers can teach, and administrators can administrate.

Another passage that I would suggest that Catholics read is the entire book of Ephesians, but especially chapter 4. This passage also describes how the Holy Spirit gives gifts in order to build up the church.

**This is why non-Catholic Christians don’t just stay home and read the Bible for themselves (although quite a few do this). The Bible makes it clear that the Holy Spirit has gifted some men and women to be teachers, preachers, evangelists, and prophets, and we are to listen to these gifted people and learn from them. ** That means joining together with other Christians.

Romans 12 is another passage that makes it clear that Christians are to live out their faith in fellowship with other Christians. The phrase “group up” is insulting, as is the phrase “to feel more secure in their faith.” I sincerely hope that the poster will never again use these condescending phrases to describe Christians, either Protestant or Catholic.

The Bible is full to the brim of passages that describe Christian fellowship, and it is not just a “feel good, hand-skaking, neck-hugging, bless-your-heart” type of touchy-feely-singy fellowship. The fellowship that the Bible describes is deep and real, and I fear that in their quest to make sure that the “liturgy” is correct or that the “traditions” are maintained that many Catholics utterly miss out on this type of fellowship that makes Christians willing to both LIVE and DIE for EACH OTHER for the Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

No wonder so many Catholics end up leaving the Catholic Church–they see this kind of deep fellowship in Protestant circles and long for it, and it is right and proper for true Christians to long for fellowship with each other, not just with God. Even though some Catholics scoff at the idea of “fellowship” and state that we only need Jesus, not each other, it is not wrong for Christians to long for fellowship with their fellow Christians. It’s a shame, a heartbreaking shame that more Catholic parishes don’t get beyond card parties and kegs and learn how to make Ephesians 4, Romans 12, and the three chapters in I Corinthians a daily reality. Some do, but many Catholics still miss out on all this fellowship and come to Mass only because they are afraid of going to hell.

 

[Eric_Hilbert]

I’ve had to delete several posts already. I highly recomend respect and charity toward each others faith traditions. No soapboxes or emotional tirades.

 

[Stephen168]

We gather to praise and worship our Lord and savior.

See the Eucharist is the main part of your services and I respect that.
Just because we don’t have the Eucharist as our main part of our services don’t mean we don’t keep the sabbath holy. We keep it holy in a different way through song, prayer and worship.

Yes I think you are wrong because what you are saying is just because we don’t have services the way you do we don’t deserve or need to go to our church to hear the word of God, to fellowship with other Christians. to go to Bible Study Classes.

Now I can’t speak for all but I confess everyday. See our confession is different then your’s.We don’t go to a priest and tell him our sins. We go directly to God and ask forgiveness of our sins through his son Jesus Christ.

Some celebrate, what we call the Lords Supper once a month, but we celebrate it once every quater.

Ya its me South Bend. Good memory
Well its not manditory, we can’t force anyone to do something if they don’t want to. They have free will, they are free to attend or not to attend.

We leave our homes and go to church to hear the word of God, to fellowship with other like Christians. to praise our Lord and Savior with song, worship, and prayer, to study the Bible in Bible Study Classes or for our younger members Sunday School. The pastor or preacher just don’t read verses out of the Bible, its much more than that they have a message that goes with a passage or with a chapter from the Bible. See the reason you go to church is because its celebrating the Eucharist, to take the Body and Blood of Jesus who is, as you believe, present in the host and wine. And to miss that would be a sin and I understand that. We do things different. Its not about the Eucharist or the death of our Savior its about his life, his teachings, his ministry. Its about praising and worshiping him. Its showing our reverence to the Lord in song and prayer.

I’ve have also been curious why a Protestant would bother to go to church, so I do appreciate your answers.
What I do find odd about your answers is your need to tell Catholics what they believe, and why they practice what they practice, as part of your answer. It can blur the distinction between a rant against Catholicism or an answer to the question. Your description of Catholicism is not very accurate for someone who claims to have been Catholic, so answering what you believe and only what you believe would help us understand why you go to church on Sunday.

 

[Brywan]

**Well its not manditory, we can’t force anyone to do something if they don’t want to. They have free will, they are free to attend or not to attend. **

I think if you reflect on this statement you’ll see that Catholics and Protestants are in the same boat here. That’s why lots and lots of Catholics (sorry, I don’t have the exact statistics here) will not attend Mass this morning. Free will. There’s no Catholic gestapo, holding the guns to our heads to make us go…

That said, I think it is difficult for Protestants to see WHY Mass is obligatory for Catholics because Protestants do not believe that Jesus Christ is substantially present in the Eucharist.

Let’s pretend–just pretend–that today, December 26, Jesus Christ is going to show up in a material body at your place of worship. Not a spiritual presence, but Jesus Christ in His actual body–someone you can touch, hold, see, etc. Would you crawl out of bed to go see Him–even if you’d been planning to sleep in? Or wouldn’t that interest you at all?

For the Catholic–Jesus Christ is substantially present in the Eucharist–this is the core of our belief. To not want to be at Mass where His eternal sacrifice is made present in space and time speaks volumes concerning what my life is centered around.

The Catholic Church asks that her members be present at the Mass because it is FOR OUR GOOD to be present where Jesus is present. Just as ALL of God’s commandments are for our good–not to rob us of free will or happiness…

“For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.” I John 5:3 How could it possibly be burdensome to be in the very presence of Christ in the Eucharist?

 

[4Squarebaby]

do you have like a bible study on Wednesday, or a praise and fellowship hour?

Those times do exist but for the mass of any particular fellowship the secular society is set up so Sundays are free. Saturdays used to be but not as much anymore. Its roots may have been in Christian tradition but governments, unions and employers have keep that day it is still the time when most members can meet together unless they are NFL players are something.

 

[TracyR]

Well as a still Protestant ( Catechumen). I can say that Protestants do hold Sunday as being a Holy Day. Its actually from a combination of the Book of Exodus and the 7days of Creation, and the fact that its the 4th Commandment :
Exodus 2-17 verse 11:
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.

4th Commandment :
Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy

reformed.org/master/index.html?mainframe=/ethics/sabbath/sabbath_Hodge_article.html

Since Protestants take the Bible literally this is their interpretation of why to worship on Sundays ( of course I’ll be refutted as always since other protestants here like to bash me yet I’m able to post proof to what I say).

Anyways Protestant service, the entire service is based on the Bible. Just just any one part of the service.
For example if you go to a Protestant church everyone will be in their pews the entire service. No one gets up to leave unless a little one is being loud, someone gets sick or an emergency arises. Other then that you can go to a Protestant church and know that all of its members are sitting there the entire service because worshipping God is the entire service. It includes (depending on the Protestant faith of course) , reading of scripture, singing hymns, praying, and a sermon on the scripture that was presented.

The Protestant depends on whether that sermon touches them or not. If you have a preacher that does a sermon that doesn’t somehow touch you in some way ,you as a church memeber can leave feeling very unfulfilled by your church service on any given Sunday. So instead of depending on the Eucharist as being the thing that ‘fills’ your heart and soul. Its the sermon of the pastor, or whether you have friends to fellowship in that particular church , that you depend on ‘filling’ your heart and soul.

Children in the Protestant faith go to Sunday School to learn the Bible in their language. They are drilled on the Books of the Bible, listen to stories and learn how to incorporate it into their lives. Some churches have Adult Sunday school before the morning service. This all depends on the size of the church, which branch of the Protestant faith you belong in,etc. Not all churches offer this. Sometimes they may have a Bible group that meets at others homes.Some just allow their memebers to interpret the Bible just the way they want, it just all depends. Remember there are over at least 25,000 different Protestant faiths so there is no possible way I could tell you how each individual one worships on Sunday. Some Protestant churches don’t have Sunday school for the kids. We belonged to one like that many years ago when I had my first daughter. There were maybe a couple of kids that were in the entire congregation so there was no need for a children’s bible school because those kids were really little at the time.

The center for Protestant worship is different. It centers on the fellowship with others and what activities are go on at the time, and the sermon of the pastor.

With that said I’ve seen plenty of Catholics who are NOT in church on Sunday. I find we have a bit of a leg up on that as we’ve always have held Sunday as a day that you do go to church. The Saturday service is very foreign to both my husband and I at the moment. Right now we attend Friday Children’s church for the kids at school (my girls attend Catholic school) and Sunday Mass.
I also see many people just walk in during Communion and walk out after recieving it. That is foreign to us. We could never fathom walking out of church before its over.
It does make the priest and deacon of our church very sad to see people do that. They continue on with the service but it does make them sad to see people leave like that. Heck even our sponors left early one service. We thought maybe something had happened here to find out later on Facebook they went to go get a christmas tree. Something that definitely could have waited.

In the end , no one is perfect. Those who are Protestant have the right to worship on Sunday just like those who are Catholic. Until everyone gets worshiping God right at least…

 

[TEPO]

“offering your bodies as living sacrifices” as a reasonable act of worship is consistent with the end goals I mentioned.

This was one of the answers I was hoping for, thank you. The Holy Church believes in a two-fold sacrificial Mass -one being the sacrament at the altar where Jesus becomes present in flesh and blood for us all…

the second sacrifice is our sacrifice to God through praise and thanksgiving, which we pray upon at the Mass, and then go into the world practicing it -carrying our daily crosses.

 

[JohnnyReb]

This was one of the answers I was hoping for, thank you. The Holy Church believes in a two-fold sacrificial Mass -one being the sacrament at the altar where Jesus becomes present in flesh and blood for us all…

the second sacrifice is our sacrifice to God through praise and thanksgiving, which we pray upon at the Mass, and then go into the world practicing it -carrying our daily crosses.

All Christians should offer songs of praise, the fruit of lips, as an ongoing sacrifice (see Hebrews 13:14-16) One reason I am Anglican is that we get the best of everything. Our parish has excellent preaching, teaching, music, and a Eucharistic centered worship. Its complete.

 

[JustaServant]

I think what the mods are trying to avoid is both Catholics and non-Catholics using this to sling mud. In fairness to NCs, there are Catholics who have a kind of triumphallism when it comes to our separated brethren. And that is not the message that should be sent.
Catholics gather on Sundays to recieve the Eucharist. NCs gather for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons I left the Church 20 years ago was that I had a desire to be taught the Bible. Those years after Vatican 2 were not exactly filled with that. The touchy-feely religion classes I recieved in a post-Vatican 2 Catholic school did not give me that.
20 years later I am happy to see that has changed. Many Catholic parishes have Bible and Catechism studies for adults, which will make stronger Catholics.
Anyway, I don’t think this should be used to denigrate Protestant services. “God is a rewarder of those who dilegently seek Him”.
If they are truly seeking, God will reward them.

 

[pablope]

We offer praise to God in the form of song and prayer.
What kind of sacrifices are you talking about?
We put our life in the hands of God, We give him charge over our lives. We lay our life down for God?
We receive God at every service just not in Eucharist form. We receive him in our hearts when we worship him. He is present at every service, when we gather in his name he is there with us.

We go to church to worship also, some may do it on their knees, we stand and worship him. You stand, kneel and sit. We stand and sit.

Just wondering, do you see anything wrong with kneeling?

And as you said, since He is present at every service, don’t you think you should at least do some kneeling as a sign of reverence or humility in God’s presence?

 

[pablope]

Not to insult our Protestant brethren, but it was this question that led me back to the Catholic Church.
No amount of praise music, fellowship, strong preaching, or deep Bible study can replace the Eucharist. Preaching and music I can listen to at home or in the car. Teachers come and go. But the Body and Blood of Christ remains.

Justaservant…your post kind of reminds me of a conversion story I read. His wife started asking if listening to a sermon for about an hour really constitured worship, so the couple searched and searched till they came to the CC Mass.

 

[jrose90]

Hi rev, I remember you from some time ago, but haven’t seen you in awhile… South Bend right?

Anyways, I’m just trying to understand whether it’s acceptable for Baptists or any other non-catholic religion to attend services whenever they want, or whether they are obliged to attend every sunday. You see, I’m just trying to understand why Christians need to leave their homes to hear the word of God when all they have to do is read it out of their bibles.

Maybe they prefer someone else to read it to them?

Matt 18:20 --For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

That’s why we gather together, to be with God.