“Why do you go to Mass?” I asked that question on my personal and Catholic Living social media pages and received more than 150 responses. The primary reason was Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist. It is exactly what gets me there.

A 2019 Pew Research study reported that only one-third of Catholics believe in the Real Presence. That led to a three-year National Eucharistic Revival beginning June 19, 2022, and culminating in a Eucharistic Pilgrimage and a National Eucharistic Congress this summer.

Hearing that only one-third of Catholic believe in the Real Presence was dismaying. But perhaps it isn’t so. Or maybe things are already getting better since a new study shows that now almost two-thirds of U.S. Catholics believe in the Real Presence.

Unfortunately, there is still the problem of declining church attendance including Catholics, but here are some reasons that people do go to Mass.

The Eucharist

• “For the Eucharist which is the real presence of Jesus, gives me strength and graces to live my life as a true Catholic.”
• “Pure joy being in the presence of Jesus Christ my Savior and receiving the Body and Blood.”
• “I go to Mass because I love my Lord and Savior and want to be close to him in the Holy Eucharist. Mass is an oasis of calm and a pure gift from God.”
• “Because I know Jesus loves us and I want to be closer to him in the Holy Eucharist as he enters my soul. I go to Mass four times weekly!”
• “I go to Mass to listen to Jesus speak to me in the Word and to receive his holy Body and Blood in the Eucharist. It’s a time of peace and rejuvenation. It is the foundation of my day and so I go every day to receive his merciful Love! He tells us: ‘Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have life everlasting!’”
• “Consider the tabernacle suddenly transforming into Jesus sitting (alone) in a chair. Everybody would start paying attention and have a purpose for being there. … Our Good Lord wishes to remain hidden in the Eucharist, but I still like to consider this scenario.”

I’m Home

• “I’ve had a lot of life experiences and entering church I see the small white sticker on the glass door that says: ‘Welcome home.’ It warms my heart every time when I realize that no matter what’s going on, I’m home again.”
• “Going to Mass is like going home. You receive the Body of Christ at Communion and this refreshes your soul.”
• “I know that in his presence that I am home, until his final call.”
• “It’s a homecoming. So many beautiful memories — the ability to set foot on holy ground and able to worship. It feeds my soul.”

Community

• “I love receiving Jesus, hearing about how much he loves me in the homily and there with all the other people who feel the same way I do about our faith.”
• “I enjoy the community and sense of belonging, and I appreciate it when the homilist connects Scripture to modern-day issues and how we can incorporate its message to bring about justice, fairness, reconciliation, acceptance, non-judgment and true and everlasting peace, i.e., ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.’”
• “Creating and living in the kingdom of heaven here on earth.”
• “The gift beyond telling. God’s word, the sacrifice of Calvary, and we receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. The Holy Trinity: a community of love and the people of the Church learning to grow together in community with our God and each other.”

Obedience

• “As the Lord has said, ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’ So, it’s our faith in him to carry out the given obligation to be in union with him. … ‘Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.’”
• “Because we are commanded in the 10 Commandments to keep the Sabbath Holy. … Furthermore, where else can we receive his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity?”
• “Being Catholic, it’s considered a Holy Day of Obligation! We wouldn’t miss it!”
• “I go to Mass to give myself to God for his sake, not for what I get out of being there. It’s unconditional to the graces, feelings, or even the gift of the Eucharist that I receive.”
• “It is the bare minimum that God and the Church demands of me, and I cannot begin to be pleasing to the Lord if I ignore the obligation.”
• “Firstly, it is our first duty as creatures to adore our Creator in the highest form of worship which is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Secondly, to neglect this basic duty is to neglect both love of God and neighbor and expose our immortal souls to eternal damnation.”

To Be Fed

• “In addition to all the beautiful answers above, I go because he loves me and draws me to himself, so that he can give himself and all that he is to me in Holy Communion. I go to listen to his voice, in Scripture, in prayer, in song, in the words of the music and in my heart. I go because Mass is the highest form of praise, worship, and thanksgiving I can offer to my God, because I offer Jesus back to him. And then I go out, am sent, to do his will as best I can, nourished by him!”
• “To feed our soul to live. He said unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life.”
• “It is the place where I can fully commune with God and feel like I give back to him by uniting my loving yet paltry offering to his Supreme Offering on the Cross. It is the place where I receive countless mercy, grace, and nourishment through the Eucharist to sustain me as I journey and seek to do his will each day.”

Strength Through Christ

• “I went to not be a sinner. Now I go because I know I am one.”
• “Because it is the source of all life, and my soul would die without it.”
• “I can give glory to my Lord in his life, death and resurrection, and he in turn, pours out his grace and strength and peace upon me. I could not function without the Mass.”
• “I love God and the Mass is the worship he desires of me and for me. The Mass is a sweet and pleasing odor to him, and through the Mass he forgives me, cleanses and sanctifies me, feeds and nourishes me.
• “Mass is a miracle that I get to participate in. I give worship to my Lord, who then strengthens me for this journey. I encounter him there. He gives me instructions as the Word. The food is his very sacrifice, the Eucharist. I can receive these blessings nowhere else on Earth besides in his holy Church.”
• “Receiving Jesus physically present in the Holy Eucharist makes a difference in my whole being, body, mind and soul. Truly he strengthens me in all my weaknesses.”

To Know, Love and Serve God

• “To be with him in person, to worship him and to receive him in the Eucharist. To be as close to being in heaven as I can on this earth.”Just being in the true presence of my Lord also knowingly that I’m standing just outside of the veil of heaven is priceless.”
• “Being on fire for God. His love is everlasting.”
• “Because he gave his all. I want to give him mine. Know, love, serve. Simple as that.”
• “From the timeless rituals to the sense of community and spiritual connection, each moment in Mass is a testament to love, faith and reverence.”
• “To worship God above all else. To honor and show respect for God in his temple. To hear the good news in the Scriptures, to learn how to apply them in my daily life as their meaning is explained by our priest in the homily. … To receive the Holy Eucharist in remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the bread of life. To strengthen my relationship with God. To receive mercy, grace, blessings and forgiveness. To pray for others and for myself. To be in community with our fellow brothers and sisters. To set a good example for my children and lead them to God.”

Thanksgiving

• “I had an eye opener when I almost died from COVID-19. After I got up and walked after 14 days laid out, I made a promise to Jesus that I would go to church every Sunday. The only time I haven’t gone is due to being sick with an ugly cough. … God gave me a second chance and I’m taking that second chance.”
• “My mom who just passed away last October a few weeks before turning 94 walked us (three other siblings) to Mass because she didn’t drive all of my early years. … I go because my mom thought it important enough to do! And because the Lord meets me at Mass with his very humble presence in That Bread Come Down From Heaven.”
• “It’s so sad when others give so many excuses not to attend Holy Mass. … Jesus never made excuses for us. It’s the least we can do for everything he continues to do for us. People will go out of their way to attend concerts, gatherings, even dress so appropriately for that. However, why can’t this world understand the importance of Mass?”

Unity with God

• “I feel safe, and welcomed, and I believe Christ is so happy to see me. And then we get to be as close to him as humanly possible and receive him.”
• “Because my soul needs it to stay one with God. I can’t hear his Word loud and clear or partake of his Body and Blood thru the Eucharist anywhere else.”
• “Mass is the highest form of worship. It is through Mass that we get the privilege to take part of Jesus’ suffering. It is an opportunity for us to be one with Christ through the Holy Sacrifice he made for our salvation. If there was a way for us to be united with Christ, don’t you want to take part in it?”
• “I need God. He doesn’t need me, but because he is love, he wants me there. I go to Mass because I cannot change myself. But God’s grace can transform me. God’s grace can heal me. I go to Mass to be in his presence and to learn how to be present. I go to Mass to receive his gift of self, and to learn the art of how to give, how to sacrifice myself. I go to Mass to be gathered to him, to stop scattering people and to be taught how to gather others in genuine communion that transcends mere community. I go to Mass because I am poor, and there is no richer table.”

52 Masses

Having recently read 52 Masses: A Journey to Experience Catholicism Across America, I wanted to also ask this question to author, Daniel Markham. He attended 52 Masses in a year in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, sharing stories about parishes and personalities that come together as a community centered around the Mass.

Markham explained that the Eucharist sustained him during his year on the road.

“The Eucharist,” he said, “is what binds us all; what allows a Catholic from anywhere in the world to enter any church in communion with Rome, regardless of what language is being spoken by the priest or what local practices are observed and to share in the highest moment available in the universal church. Each Mass builds inexorably toward that celebration when we are blessed by the Body of Christ.”