Why Do We Gather?

We begin with some basic questions for all of us:  Why are we here?  Why do we gather week after week for this liturgy we call Mass?

To celebrate the Sunday Eucharist some of the early followers of Christ risked their lives.  Even though there was great personal risk, the faithful were exhorted to gather.  One bishop in the early years of the faith wrote, “Let no one deprive the Church by staying away; if they do they deprive the Body of Christ of one of its members!”

Today, at least in the United States, there is no persecution of the Church.  But the statement of this third century bishop is still true: the community of believers suffers when we do not gather with it.

There are many reasons that we gather.  Some of us are here because it’s a habit.  Others come out of obligation.  Some come because their parents insist on it.  Others come to seek the Lord.  Some come because they are burdened with problems.  Others are here because they are grateful for God’s gifts.  And many of us are here for a combination of those reasons.

More basic to all of these reasons, however, is that we are here because God himself has called us here.  It was God who called us to share His own life through baptism.  It was God who called us to carry on the mission of Christ in the world today. 

And we come for Eucharist, which comes from the Greek word for thanksgiving.  We gather each week to give God thanks and praise.  Sometimes we may forget that.  It’s easy to focus on what we hope to get out of coming to church rather than on giving thanks for what God has already given us.

The most important thing we find when we gather is the presence of Christ himself.  Christ who is in each of us who has gathered.  Christ in the Word of God proclaimed.  Christ in the presider of the liturgy.  And Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

We come here to remember who we are.  Here we are reunited with one another and with He who is our head.  Those who say, “I don’t need to come to Mass to pray,” miss the point.  We’re here because God himself has asked us to be here, so that He can feed us and strengthen us to be Christ-bearers all week.