> From: "Dave Turner" #960120.02
> Date: Sat, 20 Jan 1996
> Subject: Purpose of going to Church
>
> Dear Father Mateo:
>
> I have a question regarding the purpose of going
> to Church.
>
> Is the reason one goes to Church to worship God?,
> or to edify oneself or others?, or some combination
> of both?
>
> Thanks in advance for your answer,
>
> In Christ, Dave
Dear Dave,
The Epistle to the Hebrews instructs us: "We should not stay away from our
assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all
the more as you see the Day dawning near" (10:25)
This Epistle is generally dated before the destruction of he Jerusalem
temple in 70 A.D. It implies that "missing church on Sunday" was already a
problem among Christians. The reason for the problem was not laziness, but
heresy. The purpose of the Sunday gathering -- then and now -- was the
celebration of the Eucharist, the worship of Jesus Christ in His Real
Presence under the appearances of bread and wine. About 40 years after the
Epistle to the Hebrews, Saint Ignatius of Antioch in A.D. 110 wrote a
letter to the Christians of Smyrna, in which he explains that heretics are
missing Mass because they do not believe in the Lord's Real Presence in the
Eucharist: "Take note," he writes, "of those who hold heterodox opinions on
the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their
opinions are to the mind of God (6,2) .... They abstain from the Eucharist
and from prayer (i.e., from liturgy) because they do not confess that the
Eucharist is the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, Flesh which suffered for
our sins and which the Father in His goodness raised up again. They who
deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes" (7,1).
About 30 years after St. Ignatius wrote his letter to the Smyrnaeans, the
Didache or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (A.D. 140) gives this brief
instruction on the nature and purpose of Sunday worship: "On the Lord's Day
of the Lord, gather together, break bread and give thanks (Eucharist) after
confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure. Let no
one who has a quarrel with his neighbor join you until he is reconciled,
lest your sacrifice be defiled. For this is what was proclaimed by the
Lord: `In every place and time let there be offered to me a clean,
sacrifice, For I am a Great King, says the Lord, `and my Name is wonderful
among the gentiles'" (14, 1-3)
These early testimonies o the faith and practice of our forefathers in the
Catholic Faith show that the primary purpose of our worship is
acknowledgement and worship of Christ in the Eucharist and through Him of
the Father in the Holy Spirit. Our gathering together for worship is the
symbol and efficacious sign of our common union in Christ. Hence the
gathering itself powerful edifies us. Edification is the fruit of our
union with Christ and one another. Through this edification, spiritual
life flows from Christ's Real Presence in the Eucharist throughout His
Mystical Body, which is the Church. Cf. Romans 12:3-5; 1st Corinthians
12:12-27; Ephesians 4:1-7.
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Mateo
- Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit -
-- | CIN (619-449-6030) Fido: (1:202/1613) http://www.cin.org/cin | St. Gabriel Gift & Book Nook: http://www.stgabriel.com/gabriel