The Worship of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Someone the other day spoke of going to a Protestant service for worship.

While, there is "worship" at Protestant services, worship through the vocal words of all present directed at Christ, there is not worship in the sense that the Catholic Church contains. And while some Protestants think that they worship the bread and wine at communion, their bread and wine is just that: bread and wine. And so they are write in part of their assumption that the bread and wine don't become the Body and Blood of Christ. They are only right in the sense that at their service, the species of bread and wine DO NOT transubstantiate. And the consubstantiation of the Lutheran church and others like it also do not actually become the Body and Blood of Christ as well as still resemble a sign of that, as much as they might tell themselves. Without a valid ordination, a Catholic ordination, no Protestant minister can have the authority from Christ to consecrate the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. I'm sorry, but that's the objective truth. No matter how much you convince yourself otherwise, that's the truth; just as it is the truth when Christ said, "This is my Body...this is my Blood." Truth.

And furthermore, it is because of this truth, and the fact the Catholic Church holds the whole truth passed on from Christ to the Apostles and down to the modern day bishops through apostolic succession, that the Catholic Mass is far different than a Protestant service. Again, while Protestants go to worship, they are far from maximizing their worship of the Lord. Why would you sacrifice the true worship of the Body and Blood Christ which are truly present after the moment of consecration upon the altar. That is Christ. Adoring the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and then receiving His gift of Himself to us through the reception of Most Holy Communion...what could be better adoration? What could be more the epitome of adoration than staring up at the Body and Blood at the elevation and then bowing your head in due reverence of heaven having just come down to earth. That is Christ in the priest's hands! What better way to worship than to adore the Lord and participate in the eternal sacrifice that the Letter to the Hebrews speaks of? There is none. None at all. The Mass is the highest point of our lives. As the Catechism states, it is "the source and summit of the Christian faith." This goes for all Christians, whether Catholic or not. In fact it goes for all people around the world. Whether or not you believe the Gospel, it objectively has become truth just as the Word became Flesh.

There is no worship greater than the Mass. No Protestant service will ever come close. Christ didn't establish the Protestant churches, nor did He establish the Protestant services. At the Last Supper, He gave us the Mass. Then He died for us the next day on Calvary. This death was the sacrifice of all time, the sacrifice where He gave His Body and Blood to the Father in atonement for our sins. He consumate His marriage to the Church through the cross on Calvary in the same way that He had done the night before in the upper room. Why should we not look to that for our example of the Mass, the Eternal Sacrifice?

In my opinion, while Protestant services might help a soul get closer to God, they will never compare to the Mass. If you're going because the preacher is good (while that is good too), then you don't understand worship. If you're going because it makes you feel happy (while that is good too), you don't understand worship.

"We come to adore Him." These words of the Magi are so important. That is the purpose of our attending Mass: to adore the Lord and sit at the foot of the Cross as Mary, Mary Magdalene, and John did. Let us imitate them.

Eamus adorare Eum.