Go to Mass, WHY????

Greetings,

The Mass has many different effects on a Christian.  The Catechism lists them all.  The Eucharist is the source and the summit of all Christian life.   There is one specific effect of receiving the Eucharist which I would like to emphasize today.

The Eucharist commits us to the poor!

Number 1397 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

 "The Eucharist commits us to the poor. To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren:  'You have tasted the Blood of the Lord, yet you do not recognize your brother,. . . . You dishonor this table when you do not judge worthy of sharing your food someone judged worthy to take part in this meal. . . . God freed you from all your sins and invited you here, but you have not become more merciful.'"

When we are at Mass we receive the body of Christ, and in that we become the body of Christ(The Church).  As the body of Christ we recognize Christ in all those we meet, especially the poorest.   There is a direct link between the divine liturgy and social justice.

Over the past 40 years people often divided themselves into two camps in the Church: 1.  The Liturgy Crowd, and the 2. Social Justice crowd.   One group would be at Church and focus on Mass.  The other group was out in the world serving  the poor.  The Church teaches that this separation is not only should NOT happen, every Christian should be both a Liturgy person and a social justice person.

When we go to Mass, we are transformed and grow in holiness so that when we go into our lives we will think like Jesus as we encounter the people in our family, at work, at school, and even on the street.

This past week our parish hosted the Fox Valley Warming Shelter.  We had up to 30 guests stay with us each night.  These people had no other place to stay and they were very grateful that we opened our doors.  Every month we gather food in bags to stock up our Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry.  There are many places we can serve the poor in our parish, our city and our county.  Come  to Mass, Worship God, and Serve the Poor.

Also, if you are curious about the Catechism of the Catholic Church, here is the Link:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/ccc_toc.htm

peace