Lesson Notes: Going to Mass

Our last Home Lesson is about going to Mass, and we’re starting with kind of a chicken-and-egg question. Think about having a conversation with Jesus. Any kind at all – reading a Bible passage, asking for help, looking at a picture of Him and imagining what He’s like. It may see like you are starting that conversation by asking or going to taking the time, but that is really NOT what is happening at all. God is ALWAYS the one who calls to us first, and when we are reading or asking or taking the time, it is because of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is prompting us to respond.

  • He calls – we respond
  • We love – because He loved us first
  • And worship is the right response to His love for us.

When we worship God, it means we are giving Him the honor He deserves. He is the creator of everything and the source of all that is good, true, and beautiful. He is so great, and we are so small, but still He loves us and calls us to be His sons and daughters. It’s too amazing to see possible, but it’s true!

It’s hard to imagine how we could worship Him in the right way but the really good news is that He taught us how.

At the Last Supper, Jesus gave us instructions. He took the bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you, DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.”

The Mass is the Church’s greatest act of worship as we follow Jesus’s very specific instructions to DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.

  • The Mass is a sacrifice where the priest is newly presenting the saving work of Jesus up to God the Father.
  • The Mass is an act of thanksgiving and gratitude as we recall all God has done for us.
  • And the Mass is an act of unity where we get to unite our prayers, works, joys and sufferings to the perfect offering of Jesus and give it to our Father in Heaven.

The Mass is the perfect prayer; it’s what the Church has been doing from the very beginning since Jesus established it, and it’s a personal challenge for each of us to grow in our understanding, our attentiveness, and our love for the Mass.

It’s a lifelong process, and the goal of this lesson is to offer ways for your family to grow in that direction.