You have heard the phrase many times ‘ You need to go to church!’ Is this just an outdated custom or is there a reason to listen?
Jesus said ‘Do this in memory of me’ at the Last Supper. The early Church ‘broke bread’ together on numerous occasions in Acts of the Apostles. Paul even said as often as you do this, you remember the Lord Jesus. So if you are a Christian, it is a clear yes to go to church, one that celebrates the breaking of the bread regularly.
Note: In this article I may use the terms Eucharist, Communion, Breaking of the Bread interchangeably.
How Often should we go?
The Catholic Church responds to Paul’s ‘do this often’ request by offering the Mass (celebration of the Eucharist) every day for those that want to be closer to the Lord.
The Church also recognizes that ‘not going to church that often’ isn’t good for us. It is like avoiding what Jesus and Paul asked. So the Church settled on Sunday Mass weekly as a minimum. Trying to do everything by ourselves without time with the Lord, is how Adam and Eve, and everyone else, falls into sin.
Why Sunday? Because Sunday is the day of the Lord’s Resurrection and also gives us a day of rest. What better way to spend the day than by resting from our weekly work and connecting ourselves with our Lord. It should be a joyful occasion.
Jesus chose to have the last supper with the Apostles, not by himself, so it is also necessary for us to join together in the community in the celebration of the Eucharist.
If you really love someone, you want to spend time with them. We want to love God so need to spend time with him.
Where did the Mass/Celebration of the Eucharist originate?
OT
- Tree of Life (Gen Rev 2:7)
- Melchizedek brought out bread and wine (Gen 14:18-19)
- Near Sacrifice of Isaac (Lamb sacrificed instead) Gen 22:2
- Manna in the desert (Ex 16:4)
- Passover (saved from Egypt) the new Passover (saved from sin and death)
- OT Unblemished Lamb. No bones broke – Jesus unbroken bones
- OT eat the lamb – NT eat Jesus (the lamb of God)
- OT Lamb dies – NT We gain life from the lamb
- OT Bitter herbs – the bitterness of sin – Jesus saves us from sin
- OT Ready for travel – NT – You Know not the hour. Be ready!
- OT unleaved bread – NT unleavened bread
- OT cups – NT cup of wine
- OT Escape from captivity – NT Escape from death and sin
NT
- The miracle of Loaves and Fishes. blessed and broke it.
- Passover – New Covenant
- I AM the Bread of Life. (John 6)
- Jesus is the Lamb of God (John 1:29)
- breaking of the bread
- Road to Emmaus (Luke 24)
- Paul – Truly the body and blood of Christ
- Paul – do this (breaking of the bread) often
- ‘Just as Melchizedek has done’ (Heb 7:3)
Early Church
- Didache. every Lord’s day gather yourselves and break bread’ c60-100AD
- Ignatius of Antioch – ‘the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ’ c 110 AD
- Justin Martyr c 150AD Eucharist is both flesh and blood of incarnated Jesus
- Origen 244AD when you receive the body of the Lord
- St Cyril 350AD bread and wine = body, and blood of Christ
- St. Augustine – sin not to worship the Eucharist, the flesh of Christ
- St Ambrose 387 True flesh of Christ is truly the Sacrament of His Body
- Additional prayers and rubrics added to the Mass
Continuous in each century
- St Cyril 5th century – Christ’s birth points to the Eucharist, his own body as life-giving bread
- St Bede 7th century feed us with the bread of his flesh
- 1215 – 4th Lateran Council reaffirmed the true presence
- Aquinas 1225 – Hymns of Adoration (clearly true presence)
- 1264 – Feats of Corpus Christi
- 1551 – Council of Trent – True Presence always once consecrated
Parts of the Mass from Scripture and Early Church
- The Sign of the Cross – We are responding to God; The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.
- Priesthood – Passover meal – the institution of the Eucharist and priesthood’s primary mission.
- Glory to God in the highest (Revelation)
- Our Father – NT
- Lord Have Mercy – Many Psalms (Kyrie – Greek)
- 1st Reading – Old Testament
- Responsorial Psalm – Psalms
- 2nd Reading – NT outside of Gospels
- Gospel – 4 Gospels
- Eucharistic prayers – 2nd century and ongoing. This can change over time
- Holy, Holy, Hold – Isaiah and Revelation
- Lord, I am not worthy to enter under your roof, but only say the word and I shall be healed – Gospels (Centurian)
- Go and serve the Lord (NT – repeats Jesus’ call to his disciples to go out)
- IHS on the altar – Greek abbreviation for Jesus, the Christ.
Summary
If you are not going to church, I hope this gives you the nudge to go at least on Sunday. If you have been going regularly on Sunday, then you may want to consider finding time to go an extra day a week. If your church doesn’t celebrate the Eucharist often or not at all, maybe you need to step back and consider why are they not following Jesus’ request.