I used to go to Mass and just sit there and count the minutes til it was done.  Then I went through a long period of just not going to Mass at all.  I would justify that by saying that I didn't need to go to Church because I would talk to God at home.   My mom for years has always told me to go back to Church but it's not until the switch turns on inside you that you actually listen.  One day our friends, Edward and Betzaida, explained why going to Mass was so important for my soul.  Their words stayed with me.  As weeks went by, I started to feel the need to go to Church and go Confession.  My first Sunday Mass back was like if I had experienced it for the very first time.  I have been to Mass so many times in my life but most of those times I was physically present but not mentally or spiritually.  That Sunday Mass for me was like drinking a tall ice cold glass of water on an excruciating hot summer day!  The light turned on inside of me and I remembered all the words my mom, Betzaida and Edward told me and it all made sense at that moment in time. 

Reasons for why we should attend Holy Mass:

• It is God's Law to go to Holy Mass on Sundays and Holy Days
• Going to Holy Mass is the highest form of worship to God, Our Father
• An opportunity to give him thanks for all he has given us
• A form of adoration and reparation for our sins
• Receive an abundance of graces
• Shorten our stay in Purgatory
• Having Holy Mass offered for ourselves while we are alive is worth more than many Holy Masses offered after our death
• Faithfully attending Holy Mass and receiving the Body and Blood Christ gives you the strength to resist sin and continue to follow the path to eternal salvation
• When the priest lifts up the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, your prayers will be elevated to Our Father.  This is a great opportunity for us to pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.  Many souls will be delivered if we faithfully remember them during Holy Mass.
• Attending Holy Mass gives us the opportunity to unite ourselves with Our Lord Jesus Christ's Passion and all he did/suffered for us while he was tortured and as he was nailed to His cross.
• Holy Angels come down from Heaven and surround the Altar as Holy Mass is being said.

We take for granted the freedom we have to be able to walk into a Church and keep Our Lord Jesus Christ company at the altar.  We don't have to wait until we die to feel his presence.  He is alive in all the Tabernacles throughout the world.  We have a priceless treasure of which few of us even take advantage of.  There are so many places throughout the world that people are not allowed to practice their Catholic faith.  There is persecution for the faithful.  People are killed as they are gathered inside the Church.  We can walk into a Church and stay as long as we want and never ever be afraid for our lives.   If we don't repent and come back to God and live by his Ten Commandments than one day will come when there will no longer be Churches and we will experience persecution for believing.   Then we will wish to turn back the hands of time and have taken advantage of the Treasure we had and never ever took advantage of.  During Holy Mass, God is Present....what better place to speak to Him and ask for His assistance in your trials and tribulations.   Yes, we can pray any place to God and he will hear us but there is no other way of having your prayers elevated to God when we unite ourselves to His Son on the Cross.  Remember that we are sinners.  We are weak and continuously offend God.  We bring him unimaginable pain and suffering by how we live our lives these days.  Why does it take for a 9/11 to happen for the Churches to be filled?  Why do we have to wait for disaster to happen for us to fall onto our knees and pray to God?   Imagine how happy we make God and how we help to ease His pains and sufferings when we voluntarily go to Holy Mass, spend time and put God in the center of lives.   We go crazy spending so much money on gifts for the people we love on Valentine's Day, Birthdays and Christmas.  What about the person that created and gave you life?  Please go to Holy Mass for your soul, your family's and for the salvation of the world.

One last note, for the women that go to Holy Mass dressed with such tight pants that you don't leave anything up to the imagination, very low-cut shirts and short skirts....HELLO!!!!!   Jesus is present during Holy Mass.   You don't have to see Him to know He is there.   If one day you walked into Church in your usual attire and Jesus materialized right in front of you, would you be proud of your appearance?  Would you feel worthy to be in front of your Creator with such splendid beauty that no one on earth will ever encompass?  

For those that receive the Holy Eucharist without have a pure soul through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, you might as well have been the one to hammer the nails into Jesus Christ on the cross!   We don't truly understand how powerful receiving the Body and Blood of Christ!   Ever Sunday I look around and feel pure sadness in my soul because I see practically the entire church stand up to receive His Body and Blood.   If we all were living by the Ten Commandments and truly receiving the Holy Eucharist with pure souls, than this world we currently live in would be 360 degrees different.  We would not be living in the crisis that we have today.   Imagine Jesus standing at the Altar and watching you about to receive His Body and Blood.  He who knows all that is in your soul.  Would you still, in front of Him, open your mouth and stick out your tongue to receive Him?   Oh and I know that the Church has become liberal with allowing us the choice of receiving the Holy Eucharist by either mouth or our hands but the only proper way of receiving the Most Precious Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is kneeling first and through the mouth.   This is how we properly give reverence to Our Lord.

We must pray for the Church and for our Priests that they may return back to the beautiful traditions we use to have in the Church.   It is very hard to find a Church that will offer Communion only to those that kneel.  Of course, if there is a physical reason why we can't that is different but the majority of us can.