I’m Not Getting Anything from Mass
Read Time: 4 minutes
One of the excuses I hear often from people, including my own adult children, for why they don’t attend mass regularly is that they “don’t get anything out of Mass.” Now, I will admit that sometimes I am distracted in Mass or preoccupied with family problems or even world problems; I am not always as attentive as I should be. But I always get something valuable from attending Mass.
Attending Mass is absolutely essential in my life. Sometimes the word of God will be particularly instructive, speaking right to my heart. Or the homily may hit on a problem I have been having in my spiritual or secular life. Receiving the Lord, in the Eucharist, aways fills me with love and gratitude. Being with the Body of Christ, many of whom are dear friends that I don’t often see at other times is always a pleasure. I don’t know how I would get through life on this interesting, challenging and sometimes unruly planet without the Lord, the gift of the Mass, and my church family.
However, all this aside, the real point is that Mass is not about “us” or getting something. It is about God and giving something! The whole point of religion is worship and heart of the Mass is worship! We go to Mass prepared to join our prayers and hearts to that of the priest offering up the great sacrifice of the Son to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit! We recreate the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary at every Mass.
We attend Mass as a way of demonstrating faith, gratitude, and support for the church’s mission. It’s a voluntary act of generosity and sacrifice that allows the church to carry out its purpose, including supporting staff, outreach programs, support the poor, and other ministry initiatives. We do this as a way to honour God and acknowledge that everything we have comes from Him. And God is so good that we do get something out of it. We get forgiveness and we are again in good relationship with Jesus. For that alone going to Mass ought to be enough.
Sometimes going to Mass feels like a suffering when one is tired or feeling upset or depressed. This is especially so when the foul weather makes it difficult to travel or we just don’t want to go outside. Fr. Eric Reichers used to say, “You have to be willing to suffer for the great loves of your life.” For me, Jesus is a great love, maybe the greatest. So, I go weekly and sometimes more often because I “know” I am going to get more than I give when I attend Mass. And, if I don’t feel changed afterwards, I “know” that it is because I wasn’t paying attention. It will not be because something important was not being offered.