Never Miss Sunday Mass
Never ever miss the Sunday obligation, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. There are no words to describe the graces missed, the loss of sanctifying grace, the absence that causes sorrow to our Lord. It is the bitter reminder of His disciples and Apostles who chose to flee rather than remain with Him at the Cross, next to His Mother and St. John the Beloved and St. Mary Magdalene. They would not keep watch for an hour with Him, nor would they provide Him company as He offered His life. How will you bear the trials and crosses of the week without having first united yourself to His Cross, without having received Him in the Eucharist?
“Behold the Heart which so loves mankind and yet is so little loved in return,” as Our Lord said to St. Margaret Mary when revealing His Sacred Heart to her. The Heart that spends Itself time and again, and in return receives coldness, ingratitude, and indifference. Be crucified with Christ, so we can say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Resolve to never again miss one single Sunday Mass ever. Remain with Christ in His Passion in order to share with Him in His Resurrection. Return His Love with your love, and you will find the Heavenly secret of peace.
In his marvelous little book “The Wonders of the Holy Mass,” Fr. Paul O Sullivan writes, “Nothing on this earth, nothing in Heaven itself, gives glory to God and obtains more benefits for us than a single Mass. By the Mass we offer to God the greatest praise, the greatest glory He could possibly desire. We give Him most perfect thanks for all the benefits He has bestowed on us. We make more reparation for our faults than by the severest penances. We can do nothing better for the conversion of sinners than to offer for them the Holy Mass. If mothers would only hear and get Mass said for their erring children, and wives for their husbands, how happy should be their families! No prayers, no suffrages, no matter how fervent, can help the Holy Souls as the Mass. Let us think of the souls in Purgatory! Among them may be our dear father and mother and friends. We can help them most easily, we can relieve their awful pains most efficaciously by hearing Mass for them.”
St. John Chrysostom said, “When Mass is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels who adore the Divine Victim immolated on the altar.” Can you imagine this visual from Heaven’s perspective? Countless angels filling the sanctuary, right before our eyes. St. Augustine also echoed this sentiment and truth when he taught, “The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass.” This was also the teaching of St. Gregory the Great, who said, “The heavens open and multitudes of angels come to assist in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.”
How powerful is the Holy Mass in regards to our sanctification? Listen to St. Lawrence Justinian: “No human tongue can enumerate the favors that trace back to the Sacrifice of the Mass. The sinner is reconciled with God; the just man becomes more upright; sins are wiped away; vices are uprooted; virtue and merit increases; and the devil’s schemes are frustrated.” Or consider these words from St. John Vianney: “Put all the good works in the world against one Holy Mass; they will be as a grain of sand beside a mountain.”
And perhaps most succinctly, we have this testimony from the great 20th century mystic Padre Pio, “It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass.” How much more do we need to see from the Saints themselves just how valuable and important the Holy Mass truly is? Let us resolve that we will never miss one single Sunday Mass again, until the day God calls us home. As the song goes, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” And Divine Love is literally waiting for us on the altar every Sunday.
Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to be present at Calvary when Our Lord was crucified? Well, you have your chance to experience it every Sunday. “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” Yes, at every single Mass, we are there.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We love you. Save souls. Amen.
