Dear Friends in Christ,
Over the last few weeks, I had the chance to speak with the families of the children who will be making their First Holy Communion. We should all be grateful for these parents in their efforts to share their Catholic Faith with their children and raise them in the Church. Our First Communion Masses are always a little bittersweet. The sweet part is that these are always joyful celebrations where these precious little ones receive Jesus in the Sacrament of His Most Holy Body and Precious Blood. The bitter part is that for some of these children, they will soon drop out of attending religious education, and for too many, they will no longer regularly attend Mass or go to confession. This is not the child’s fault. Sunday Mass is seen by some Catholics as only an obligation, a box to be checked, or as optional according to one’s own availability or convenience. When I think of those sisters and brothers, I am reminded of the shortest sentence in the bible, Jn 11:35, Jesus wept.
Sunday Mass is not just an obligation, it is so much more. It is a sin to deliberately not attend Mass and a violation of the Third Commandment, but it is more than just an infraction of a rule. When we recognize God as the most important person of our life and know God’s infinite love for us, when we desire God with all our hearts and are grateful because He alone is the source of every blessing, we will always want to offer our love to God at Holy Mass. To know and want to love God means that we will never want to miss the chance to give Him our thanks, praise, and adoration. To truly know God’s love is to hunger to receive Jesus in Holy Communion every week. To truly desire to please God means that we will never want or allow anything to keep us from receiving Him. When we love God above all else, Mass will be the most important moment of our week! Our hearts will be on fire and Sunday will be our favorite day of the week!
For some, this fervor is difficult to grasp or understand. This intense desire for Jesus and the Mass can be alien. For some, Mass is experienced as lackluster, boring, too long or a burden to be endured, an obligation to be fulfilled. What’s the difference? It is the same Mass for the fervent as for the bored. The difference is not personal temperament or taste. It is not intelligence or ability. The difference lies within our hearts. When we open our hearts and seek to give our hearts to God, the Lord will give us the grace to love Him. God will do His part, but we also have to do our part. We have to risk opening our hearts and ask God to fill us with His love. To ask God to help us love Him, is to acknowledge that we cannot love Him as we ought and as He deserves. We need to ask God to help us to want Him more and more each day.
Love is always a risk. When we choose to open our hearts to God, that is the first step in our on-going conversion. There will always be unforeseen circumstances, scheduling conflicts, temptations, and challenges in coming to Mass and giving God our love, just as there is in living all other aspects of a holy life. But for the person who truly seeks to put God first in their lives and in the lives of their families, nothing will stop them. The Gift of the Eucharist received in Holy Mass is more precious than diamonds, gold, fame, or riches. There is nothing in this world to compare to the gift of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist!