I'm a Non-Practicing Catholic

That is the phrase some Catholics use to justify not going to Mass on Sundays. Today I want to pass on an answer to that phrase that I found at the Fourth National Eucharistic Congress, held in Caracas from June 23 to 26. It was an event without precedent in the 21st-century history of our Venezuelan Church, where the Nuncio, the Cardinal, bishops, priests, religious sisters, consecrated persons and lay people of every condition shared a great deal and learned much from one another.

In an excellent Manual handed out to participants, I found some things that may interest those who don’t go to Mass on Sundays and call themselves “non-practicing Catholics.” I summarize them here in my own words.

The Manual points out that we need to remember God regularly, or we will forget him and perish in the anguish of Nothingness. But why one day in seven? Why that day and not another? Why not each person whenever he likes? And why everyone at once? The answer, it says, lies in that last question: because all together. We need to celebrate God all together on Sunday, the day we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, not each on our own as if the others did not exist; it is not only each individual who must praise God, but the community, the whole human family (p. 32).

It goes on to say that despising the seventh day is a way of rebelling against God, while celebrating it keeps us faithful both to God and to ourselves. We are never more true to ourselves, it says, than when we are on our knees before God on that day, centered on the first truth about who we are. So the seventh day is anything but trivial: it lies at the very center of our being (p. 33).

And when a baptized Catholic says he is a non-practicing Catholic, the Manual explains, there is an inner contradiction in the phrase, because Christianity is not a doctrine one can agree with in theory but not in practice; it is a Life, the Life of Christ made our own. That contradiction shows itself in the fact that whoever stops practicing gradually stops being a Christian. How have so many people lost their faith? One Sunday they didn’t go to Mass, the next Sunday they didn’t either… and ten years went by (p. 33).

But beyond all that, whoever doesn’t go to Mass on Sundays is missing something wonderful that Jesus Christ himself left us at the Last Supper: his Body and Blood, given to us as food to strengthen us so that we can continue our struggle as Christians in a life full of setbacks. In the excellent talks and homilies the bishops gave us, they spoke of the importance of the Eucharist for fostering Peace in our nation, because a baptized Catholic who goes to Mass every Sunday and receives Communion (properly prepared) is a Christian who sows Peace and Joy in his community, wherever he lives and whoever he lives with.

Being a Practicing Catholic is not only a duty of Love toward God; it is also a wonderful life experience that strengthens us as the children of God we became on the day we were baptized. Let us not miss out on the wonder of Sunday Eucharist. There is nothing more exciting (or that makes us happier) than putting into practice what the word Catholic means, as we find it in the teachings and doctrine of Our Lord Jesus Christ and of his Holy Catholic Church.

I congratulate the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference, the Liturgy Commission and all the organizers and collaborators on this wonderful Congress, which set more than 1,300 Catholics from all over Venezuela even more on fire with the Love of God, so that we can bring to EVERYONE the wonder of being a practicing Catholic in a country that urgently needs an intense renewal of faith, hope and charity.

And a thousand thanks for consecrating our beloved Homeland to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin of Coromoto at the closing Mass of the Congress on June 26! Jesus Christ, the Virgin of Coromoto and practicing Catholics are the ones who will lead our country along the true path of Justice and Peace!