What Have We Been Missing?
*October 2020
This month, with the advent of the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls, we are reminded to reflect on the meaning of our own mortality with the phrase “memento mori,” (remember your death). However, there is another death we are called to frequently, even perpetually, remember: The death of our Lord. We are called to remember His death every Sunday when we celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Soon, hopefully very soon, we are going to be called to return to our normal tradition of attending Mass on Sunday and the dispensations around the world will be lifted. Let me say here that I do not have any inside information. I am simply observing that 1) in our own country, some bishops have already called the faithful back to Sunday Mass attendance, and 2) with the approval of the Holy Father, Cardinal Robert Sarah has publicly called on the Church to return to the celebration of public Mass as soon as possible. Before I continue, I should also note that I am not saying that anyone with good reasons shouldn’t still stay home even after the dispensations are lifted. No one should feel guilty for prudently staying home if they are immunocompromised, etc.
Before the dispensation is lifted for our diocese, I wanted to tackle an issue that is a struggle for many in our Church today: the issue of obligation to attend Mass. We have all heard that “it is a mortal sin to miss Mass on Sunday without a valid reason” (e.g. dispensations, illness, etc.). In fact, to “attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation...” is a precept of the Church - one of five fundamental practices the Church in her wisdom has discerned we should carry out to maintain a healthy and active relationship with God. So why does the Church seem so strict on this issue?
I think we are looking at this issue the wrong way. The Church is not demanding that we attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. What Mother Church is saying, as any mother might say to her child who is ill and won’t take medicine, is, “Darling, if you don’t take this medicine, you could become sick and die. Medicine helps restore our health so we can stay alive and grow.” This analogy relates to the Eucharist and helps us understand the importance of attending and participating in Mass.
There are many models of the Mass and the Eucharist we can examine, but I want to briefly focus on three which I think are the most foundational. They are 1) the Mass as the New Passover Sacrifice, 2) the Eucharist as food for our journey and 3) our response to God in light of His goodness to us. Many books have been written on this subject (I’ll recommend one at the end of this article), but it is rather easy to understand these three points without doing an in depth study.
The first model is that of the Mass as the New Passover Sacrifice which initiates a new Exodus. In the Book of Exodus, the Passover was the sacrificial meal which the Jews celebrated just before they were to flee slavery in Egypt, and part of the tradition was that they were to celebrate it every year as a memorial of their freedom. As we see in the Gospels, Jesus, the Jewish Messiah and new “paschal lamb,” celebrated His “Last Supper” during the time of Passover, thus replacing it with His own New Passover. This New Passover Sacrifice began at the Last Supper and was completed with His death on the Cross. Now every Sunday, we remember and participate in this sacrifice which frees us from sin and sets us on our journey toward heaven (the new promised land) through the celebration of the Mass. So, of course, it is spiritually deadly not to participate in that which is specifically meant to free us from sin itself. Just like it could be deadly not to take medicine when we are seriously ill. The Eucharist is our antidote to the spiritual sickness of sin.
Pope Francis teaches us this very concept when he says, “The Eucharist...is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.” (Evangelii Guadium, 47) This leads us to and ties with our second model.
The second model is that of the Eucharist as food for our journey through life, without which we will die. The book of Exodus tells us that after the Israelite’s flight from Egypt, God provided for them on their journey to the promised land as they wandered through the desert for 40 years. Every morning God sent them bread (manna), and every evening, He sent quail (flesh). Jesus gives us a new manna from heaven (which He tells us is His flesh). We see this theme in the middle of the “Bread of Life Discourse” in John 6. The disciples say to Jesus, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’” (John 6:30-31). Jesus answers by saying, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:48-51). “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). Jesus’ flesh and blood is our new food for our journey through this life (a literal “wilderness of sin”) toward the true promised land (heaven). So, of course it is spiritually deadly not to eat that which Jesus told us gives us eternal life. The Eucharist is our spiritual sustenance without which our souls will become weak and more susceptible to sin and its effects (i.e. ultimately spiritual death).
Third and finally, by attending Mass on Sunday, we are purely and simply giving God what we owe to Him having been given life itself by Him. The whole reason we were created was/is to be in union with God. Our existence makes no sense without God. As St. Augustine says in book 1 of his “Confessions”: “You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” We were not created to play around in this life until we get tired and then retire to our cozy spot in heaven. This life is about growing each day closer and closer to our Heavenly Father, and cooperating with Him in our preparation to be in His presence forever. God knows that in order to be ready to enter into His presence, we need to be transformed. It’s a slow process because if you’re like me, there is a lot of uncomfortable work to be done. In Her wisdom, the Church, over the centuries, discerned that weekly celebration of the Eucharist was vital for the health of our souls, so, like a good physician, She prescribes this gift to us out of love. And like a good physician, warns us of the consequences of not taking the medicine.
In light of these models of the Eucharist, it is easy to see that the Church did not simply “decide” that it is a “mortal sin” to miss Mass on Sundays and Holy Days. Rather, She discerned that She could not deny us the knowledge that we need Mass to truly live! The teaching is not a declaration, it’s counsel. As the saying goes, “the Church does not impose, She proposes the faith.”
I go to Mass with my family every Sunday because I know I need to be continually set free from slavery to sin, I need nourishment to sustain my spirit as I cooperate with God’s transformative work and I am overjoyed to come adore Him and thank Him for giving me life. As we approach the inevitable call to return to Mass by our Shepherd, Bishop Malone, I encourage you to meditate on these mysteries of our faith. When you hear the call, come, remember the death of the Lord and profess His resurrection until He comes again. (1st Memorial Acclamation)
Author’s Note: If you would like to learn more about the biblical topics discussed in this article, I strongly recommend the book, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist by Dr. Brant Pitre. It is an easy read, but I can guarantee your faith in and understanding of the Eucharist will be deeply impacted.
In my last article, I promised in later articles I would talk about ways to evangelize. I encourage you to share this article with your children, family members, friends, co-workers, etc. Discuss it with them. Invite them to Mass. If you do that, you are evangelizing. More to come.
*All scripture quotes are taken from the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition.
https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2020/09/with-popes-okay-cardinal-says-return-to-public-mass-necessary-and-urgent/