There is an estimated (at least) 350,000 Catholic Masses celebrated every day on planet Earth. It is celebrated in every nook and cranny on the planet, by every race and nationality, and using every language. And each of these Masses is celebrated (generally) using the same scripture readings and the same prayers.

Every single one of these 350,000 Masses is actually doing exactly what Jesus said to do in scripture (Luke 22:19, 1 Cor 11:23-29) when he said “Do this in memory of me.” Catholics live that out as a Church over 350,000 times a day. That means there are 4 priests saying those precise words, “Do this in memory of me,” every single second of every single day.

Every one of these Masses is literally and continually making present Christ’s (once and for all) sacrifice on Calvary for all mankind. At any second you can join your own prayers to one. And we don’t only worship in union with those still living here on Earth, we are also joined by heaven’s saints and angels at every Mass.

When you participate in a Catholic Mass, you are participating in the same celebration as these other 350,000 daily Masses all over the world (you wanna talk about a “mega-church”?). We are all joined in the same readings and prayers and we partake of the same, specific Eucharist. And the rest of the time, when we are living out our faith outside of Mass, there are (literally) a billion other Catholics around the world continually offering it up on our behalf.

Now that’s unity (John 17:11). That’s communion.

By Matthew Warner at FallibleBlogma.com

Beloved daughter of Jesus,

May Jesus and our Mother always smile on your soul, obtaining for it, from Her most holy Son, all the heavenly charisms!

I am writing to you for two reasons: to answer some more questions from your last letter, and to wish you a very happy names-day in the most sweet Jesus, full of all the most special heavenly graces. Oh! If Jesus granted my prayers for you or, better still, if only my prayers were worthy of being granted by Jesus! However, I increase them a hundredfold for your consolation and salvation, begging Jesus to grant them, not for me but through the heart of his paternal goodness and infinite mercy.

In order to avoid irreverence and imperfections in the house of God, in church - which the divine Master calls the house of prayer - I exhort you in the Lord to practice the following.

Enter the church in silence and with great respect, considering yourself unworthy to appear before the Lord’s Majesty. Amongst other pious considerations, remember that our soul is the temple of God and, as such, we must keep it pure and spotless before God and his angels. Let us blush for having given access to the devil and his snares many times (with his enticements to the world, his pomp, his calling to the flesh) by not being able to keep our hearts pure and our bodies chaste; for having allowed our enemies to insinuate themselves into our hearts, thus desecrating the temple of God which we became through holy Baptism.

Then take holy water and make the sign of the cross carefully and slowly.

As soon as you are before God in the Blessed Sacrament, devoutly genuflect. Once you have found your place, kneel down and render the tribute of your presence and devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Confide all your needs to him along with those of others. Speak to him with filial abandonment, give free rein to your heart and give him complete freedom to work in you as he thinks best.

When assisting at Holy Mass and the sacred functions, be very composed when standing up, kneeling down, and sitting, and carry out every religious act with the greatest devotion. Be modest in your glances; don’t turn your head here and there to see who enters and leaves. Don’t laugh, out of reverence for this holy place and also out of respect for those who are near you. Try not to speak to anybody, except when charity or strict necessity requests this.

If you pray with others, say the words of the prayer distinctly, observe the pauses well and never hurry.

In short, behave in such a way that all present are edified by it and, through you, are urged to glorify and love the heavenly Father.

On leaving the church, you should be recollected and calm. Firstly take your leave of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament; ask his forgiveness for the shortcomings committed in his divine presence and do not leave him without asking for and having received his paternal blessing.

Once you are outside the church, be as every follower of the Nazarene should be. Above all, be extremely modest in everything, as this is the virtue which, more than any other, reveals the affections of the heart. Nothing represents an object more faithfully or clearly than a mirror. In the same way, nothing more widely represents the good or bad qualities of a soul than the greater or lesser regulation of the exterior, as when one appears more or less modest. You must be modest in speech, modest in laughter, modest in your bearing, modest in walking. All this must be practiced, not out of vanity in order to display one’s self, nor out of hypocrisy in order to appear to be good to the eyes of others, but rather, for the internal virtue of modesty, which regulates the external workings of the body.

Therefore, be humble of heart, circumspect in words, prudent in your resolutions. Always be sparing in your speech, assiduous in good reading, attentive in your work, modest in your conversation. Don’t be disgusting to anybody but be benevolent towards all and respectful towards your elders. May any sinister glance be far from you, may no daring word escape your lips, may you never carry out any immodest or somewhat free action; never a rather free action or a petulant tone of voice.

In short let your whole exterior be a vivid image of the composure of your soul.

Always keep the modesty of the divine Master before your eyes, as an example; this Master who, according to the words of the Apostle to the Corinthians, placing the modesty of Jesus Christ on an equal footing with meekness, which was his one particular virtue and almost his characteristic: “Now I Paul myself beseech you, by the mildness and modesty of Christ” [Douay-Rheims, 2 Cor. 10:1], and according to such a perfect model reform all your external operations, which should be faithful reflections revealing the affections of your interior.

Never forget this divine model, Annita. Try to see a certain lovable majesty in his presence, a certain pleasant authority in his manner of speaking, a certain pleasant dignity in walking, in contemplating, speaking, conversing; a certain sweet serenity of face. Imagine that extremely composed and sweet expression with which he drew the crowds, making them leave cities and castles, leading them to the mountains, the forests, to the solitude and deserted beaches of the sea, totally forgetting food, drink and their domestic duties.

Thus let us try to imitate, as far as we possibly can, such modest and dignified actions. And let us do our utmost to be, as far as possible, similar to him on this earth, in order that we might be more perfect and more similar to him for the whole of eternity in the heavenly Jerusalem.

I end here as I am unable to continue, recommending that you never forget me before Jesus, especially during these days of extreme affliction for me. I expect the same charity from the excellent Francesca to whom you will have the kindness to give, in my name, assurances of my extreme interest in seeing her grow always more in divine love. I hope she will do me the charity of making a novena of Communions for my intentions.

Don’t worry if you are unable to answer my letter for the moment. I know everything so don’t worry.

I take my leave of you in the holy kiss of the Lord. I am always your servant.

Fra Pio, Capuchin

“I don’t need to go to Mass every Sunday. It’s not that important.”

No doubt we’ve all heard this from time to time. Is it true? Or is Sunday Mass necessary for salvation? To answer this we must first ask: Did Christ say what was necessary for salvation? In fact, He did:

On one occasion a lawyer stood up to pose to Jesus this problem: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?” Jesus answered him, “What is written in the law?…” He replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you shall live” (Lk 10:25-28).

Thus, love is the key. But, how do we love God? Christ, God and man, answered this as follows: “The one who obeys the commandments he has from me is the one who loves me” (Jn 14:21). Now, did Jesus give any commands about the Mass? Yes. At the last supper, the institution of the Eucharist, Christ said, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19).

What is it we remember in the Mass? Merely some meal Christ celebrated the night before he died? No. Something much more wonderful than that.

WHAT IS THE MASS?

In the words of Pope John Paul II, “The Mass is above all else a sacrifice” (On the Mystery and Worship of the Eucharist, or Dominicae Cenae, henceforth “DC,” Feb 24, 1980).

[In the Mass] Christ perpetuates in an unbloody manner the sacrifice offered on the cross, offering Himself to the Father for the world’s salvation through the ministry of priests (Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery, henceforth “EM,” 25 May 1967, C 3).

We re-offer in the Mass the body and blood of Christ, separated as they were on Calvary. We represent the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross, the event which saved us and opened the gates of heaven which had been closed by Original Sin.

Just as the Jews offered and partook of the unblemished lamb to celebrate passover, the saving act of God who released them from their slavery in Egypt to journey toward the promised land; so we offer and partake of the unblemished “Lamb of God” to celebrate the new passover, the saving act of Christ who released us from our slavery to sin to journey toward the promised land of heaven. Indeed, all the Old Testament sacrifices, the lamb, the scapegoat, and the various other animals slain as offerings for sin, were but prefigurements of the sacrifice of the Mass, the “consummation and perfection of them all” (Council of Trent, Doctrine on the Mass, chap 1).

This central mystery of our faith is alluded to in Eucharistic Prayer III.

A REFLECTION ON EUCHARISTIC PRAYER III

We read in the Third Eucharistic prayer: “Father, calling to mind the death your Son endured for our salvation, His glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven, and ready to greet Him when He comes again, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice.” The sacrifice is holy because it is Christ, truly Christ, miraculously present in the form of bread and wine, not just a symbol. It is living because it is a divine sacrifice and what is divine lives forever.

We read on in Eucharistic Prayer III: “Look with favor on your Church’s offering and see the Victim whose death has reconciled us to yourself.” Christ is the paschal “victim,” the “scapegoat,” who took our sins upon Himself so we could be “reconciled” to the Father.

We read on: “Grant that we who are nourished by His body and blood may be filled with His Holy Spirit, and become one body, one spirit in Christ.” The great miracle of the Eucharist is not only that bread and wine become Christ, but that we become “other Christs” by the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, animating us to express to the world through our own unique personalities, the goodness and love of Christ.

We read on, “May he make us an everlasting gift to you…” It is not enough that we offer Christ to the Father in the Mass. We must offer ourselves on the altar of sacrifice with Him. We too, are to be victims for the sins of the world. The Church confirms this:

The Church, the spouse and minister of Christ, performs together with Him the role of priest and victim, offers Him to the Father and at the same time makes a total offering of herself together with Him…” (EM, C 3).

The magnificence of the Mass is reflected in the following:

Every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ, the priest, and of his Body, which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its effectiveness by the same title and to the same degree (Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 1963, para 7).

Elsewhere the Mass is called the “source and summit of the whole Church’s worship and the Christian life” (EM, C 5).

Thus, to the remark which is often made: “I don’t need to go to Mass. I can pray to God just as well in my room or under a tree!” we reply, “There is no way you can offer the sacrifice of Calvary, the ‘source and summit’ of the whole Church’s worship and the Christian life in your room, or under a tree.” The Mass is the only divine gift we can offer God.

SACRED BANQUET, COVENANT MEAL

The Mass is secondarily:

…a sacred banquet in which, through the communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord, the People of God… renew the New Covenant which God has made with man once for all through the Blood of Christ, and in faith and hope foreshadow and anticipate the eschatalogical banquet in the Kingdom of the Father (EM, C1).

When we receive the Eucharist then, we renew our covenant of love with Jesus.

Did Christ say anything about the necessity of receiving the Eucharist? Indeed he did: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you” (Jn 6:53). In other words, if we willfully and knowingly refuse to partake of the Eucharist, which Christ called “real food… real drink,” we cannot maintain a spiritual life. Without spiritual life, grace, we will never live in God’s Kingdom; we are headed for eternal ruin. This is a strong statement by Our Lord.

St Paul warns us, however, that we must approach the Eucharist worthily:

Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord (1 Cor 11:27).

Pope John Paul II wrote in 1980:

…we must always take care that this great meeting with Christ in the Eucharist does not become a mere habit, and that we do not receive Him unworthily, that is to say, in a state of mortal sin (DC).

We must not only make our peace with God before receiving the Eucharist (by sacramental confession if we are in the state of mortal sin), but as part of this peace, we should make peace with our neighbor since the Eucharist is a “sign of unity, a bond of love” (Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, n. 47).

HOW OFTEN ARE WE TO ATTEND MASS?

It should be clear now that we must participate in this most marvelous gift of the Mass, and partake of its meal, the Eucharist, in order to be saved. But, how often are we to attend Mass?

The answer is found in the third commandment: “Keep holy the Lord’s day.”

By a tradition handed down by the apostles, which took its origin from the very day of Christ’s resurrection, the Church celebrates the paschal mystery every seventh day, which is appropriately called the Lord’s Day or Sunday. For on this day Christ’s faithful are bound to come together into one place, so that, hearing the word of God and participating in the Eucharist, they may call to mind the Passion, Resurrection and glory of the Lord Jesus… (Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, n. 106).

The 1983 Code of Canon Law states (c1247) “On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass…”

Who could say he was keeping the Lord’s day holy if he didn’t offer God His most valued gift on that day? Who could claim to love God if he refused (without a serious obstacle) to offer the “summit,” the high point, of the Christian life at least on the day God commanded us to keep holy? What holier action is there?

Furthermore, if Christ’s flesh is real food and his blood real drink, sustenance necessary for spiritual life, should we be satisfied partaking in this sacred banquet just once a week (or once a year, as is required)? And, dare we enter this bodily communion with our God without sharing in a daily intimate communication of love with Him in prayer?

Would a spiritual life of Sunday Mass, a few prayers morning and evening, and confession three times a year constitute loving God with all our “heart, soul, and mind?” In fact, if we do only these things, are we not just hanging on to our faith by our fingernails? And if we knowingly refuse to offer the “summit” of these at least weekly, could we seriously think we are headed for God’s Kingdom?

Thus, to the original question, “Is Sunday Mass necessary for salvation?” we must answer, given that we know the above, Yes!, and a great deal more: A life of deeply committed love. What better time than now to face this?

“He who made you without your cooperation, will not save you without your cooperation”

(St. Augustine)