The Catholic Mass vs. The Protestant Worship Service
Why Protestant rock concerts in “church” are not appropriate, because they replace true worship to God which is found in the Holy Mass.
This article is a collaborative effort between Nina Leone (Joan Up), Brad Morrell (Deus Vult), and Joe Moreaux (The Cup of Joe). For the accompanying video made by Nina, check it out at our Podcast page or here on our YouTube channel.
Perhaps never is the fundamental disconnect between Catholicism and Protestantism more evident than in the way each respective faith practices worship. In simplest terms, Catholics and Protestants disagree on what true worship is and how it factors into the salvation of our souls.
The breakdown of liturgical services in the Protestant world coincided in the latter half of the 20th century with the continued rise of Non Denominationalism and the cultural revolution of the 1950's and 1960's wherein popular music began targeting the emotional high of people specifically. By the late 1960's, the idea of having services that were geared entirely on music, followed by a sermon, were becoming commonplace in non denominational sects, where the solo pastor was not answerable to anyone above him and had full decision making capability on how to run his own service.
The more traditional Protestant sects still have services which are more liturgical in their appearance. For example, Lutheran, Anglican, Episcopalian, etc. But non denominational sects for the most part base their services entirely on praise and worship music followed by a lengthy sermon, concluding with some more music.
These type of services aim to reach people on the emotional level. It is commonplace to hear some say, "I was not fed as a Catholic at the Mass, so I came here." Many eventually lose the emotional high in time, and are content to just stay at home on Sundays and conclude, "I can worship God anywhere. The church is not a building, it is the people." We now see those who go camping with their friends or watching a football game with family and say, "This is how I worship."
The Novus Ordo project of the late 1960s unfortunately has developed at times, by more progressive parishes, into trying to mirror these worship attempts, by having more engaging music, a more slick homily, not to mention the changes of the priest facing the people, the abandonment of Latin for the common language of the area, more involvement from the laity, Communion in the hand, etc. It has led to a significant decrease in Mass attendance as well as a generation of Catholics utterly confused by the doctrine of the Eucharist and the theology of the Mass.
We often hear Protestants say that their church focuses more on The Bible. And yet we respond that Catholic churches do this as well, however, the purpose of the mass is not for a bible study. We also have bible studies, we just do them on different nights of the week. And in a similar way, some Catholic parishes will also have praise and worship style prayer services, and yet we will do them on different nights of the week. The reason for this is that the Catholic Mass is utterly different in every way possible from the average Protestant praise and worship service. The reason for this is that the Catholic Mass has as its primary focus Christ in the Eucharist, and more specifically Calvary being made present to us, for the purpose of glorifying God the Father and appeasing his wrath for our sins.
Because Protestants believe salvation is achieved simply by believing in Jesus Christ, the practice of worship is not nearly as important to them as it is to Catholics. Catholics believe that the soul requires the flesh and blood of Jesus in order to have life, because that is what Jesus himself taught. Jesus taught, “Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever” (John 6:53-58).
Catholics attend Sunday Mass to offer a sacrifice to God and to receive the Eucharist. At every Mass, Catholics sit at the foot of the cross at Calvary, literally. We pray that God will accept the sacrifice of his Son, and then we eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ. In this way, Catholics witness miracles at every single Mass. We witness the eternal sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and we witness the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ, just as he performed at the Last Supper.
At the foot of the cross, the creature (us) has replaced the Creator and the pulpit and the preacher has replaced the alter and our Lord in the chalice: "because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. " Romans 1:25
Protestants are missing the focal point of what Sunday worship is about: our Lord bodily present in the Eucharist. This they miss. Would we have played drums at Calvary at the foot of the cross? No. Since the Eucharist and the body of our Lord are not present in Protestant denominations, it might seem like a moot point. But they are truly missing the heart of worship. Check out this Francis Chan video where he came to the realization that the whole point of worship was the mass."Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world: have mercy on us."
Of course, Catholics also have readings from Sacred Scripture and listen to a homily from the Priest, relating to the readings from scripture on that particular day. But the core of the Mass is in the Eucharist. When a soul receives the Eucharist, it is blessed with graces that forgive us of our venial sin and give us the necessary strength to live a Christian life. In the same way that we eat vegetables and take vitamins to nourish our physical bodies, we eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ to nourish our souls. In this way, we are members of Christ’s Kingdom on earth which ultimately delivers us to his Kingdom in Heaven. This is why Sunday worship is absolutely vital to our salvation – it is quite literally a matter of life and death.
Protestants, however, believe their salvation is secured by simply believing in Christ. So, their Sunday worship is merely a lecture of sorts. They listen to a Pastor give a sermon on scripture and often listen to entertaining live music that gives them a spiritual high. But there is nothing that their souls can gain from their worship. Even baptism to the Protestant is merely a symbolic act. The word “worship” in biblical terms means to offer a sacrifice to God. We can be certain that Sunday worship to the Christian should contain a sacrifice to God. Protestant services lack this sacrifice because they misunderstand what it means to worship. Can reading scripture, listening to music and a sermon be a form of worship? – Yes. But does it suffice for the worship that is due to our Lord? Not even close.
This fundamental disagreement on what true worship is can explain the passionate objection that many Protestants have to the Catholic practice of venerating Mary. They believe that the Catholic veneration of Mary is actually the worship of Mary. The problem here is not that Catholics overly honor Mary, but rather that Protestants insufficiently worship God. It makes sense then that because the Catholic standard of worship is infinitely greater than the Protestant standard of worship, Protestants would believe the veneration of Mary is excessive – because Catholics outwardly honor Mary about as much as Protestants honor Jesus. They interpret it as Catholics worshiping Mary when in reality, they are not adequately worshiping God.
In summary, Protestant rock concerts in church are not appropriate because they replace true worship owed to God which is found in the Catholic Mass. The Protestant style of worship is aimed primarily on the creature, whereas the Mass is aimed primarily at God the Father. Thus, one is more horizontal in its presentation, while true worship always must begin as vertical. It is not about what we get out of it, but what we bring to it. Because God deserves all of us, mind and body and soul. And He deserves reverence and awe. We do not go to the Mass just so we can be emotionally "fed," but so we can sacramentally feed on the Body and Blood of Our Lord in the Eucharist. As Jesus said, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:56). And we join our prayers to the Sacrifice of Calvary as Our Lord represents His Cross to the Father as an act of perfect worship owed to Him.
