Why we go to Mass?

Quam mira missa est!

The Holy Mass is the holiest thing we have here on earth. Why? Because it it the action of Christ. The main things in the Mass is not what is read from the Holy Scriptures, even though this is the word of God and should be listened to as such. The main thing in the Mass is not what the priest preaches in his sermon nor what the people do or sing.

The main thing is what Christ does. And what does Christ do in the Holy Mass? He offers himself for us, as he offered himself on the Cross. He sacrifices himself for us. That is why we say that the Mass is the same sacrifice as that of the Cross renewed in an unbloody manner on the altar. On the altar just as on the Cross, Christ offers his body and blood for us. The difference is that on the Cross, his body and blood were visible to our eyes of those who were present, while in the Mass they are hidden under the appearance of bread and wine. But they are really present. This is the great fact. In each Mass, Christ is really present and renews the Sacrifice of the Cross.

The Holy Eucharist is the "mystery of faith." Without faith, all you would see is bread and wine being offered, no more. Without faith, the most you could see in this is a gesture, a symbol, nothing more. With faith, you know that at the moment of the Consecration - which is when the priest says. "THIS IS MY BODY," "THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD" - the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ who is then really present as God and Man sacrificing himself for us on the altar as he sacrificed himself on the cross.

If you come to Mass without faith, or with little faith, you would not easily get distracted and perhaps even bored. Would we have been bored if we had been present at Calvary?

"The Mass Explained" by Msgr. Comrac Burke