Do we need to go to Church and Pray?

By Juan Rodriguez

There's no need for me to go to Church and Pray... There are many
young baptized Catholics who have fallen away from the Church and believe that there is no need to enter a building to pray since they can talk to God at home. You can try your best to name a few of the reasons why they are not going to Church, but in my experience it boils down to their upbringing, their habits of living based on their social environments, and the lack of knowledge and practice of the Christian Faith. It is difficult for them to see the reason for going to a building to pray, to go to Mass, or even to belong to the Catholic Faith. For those in Catechesis and Youth Ministry, it is hard to answer these common objections youth and young adults have about going to Church, turning the experience into a maddening dialogue that leads to hatred towards Catholicism.

There are many answers to this issue, but I want to try and answer some of these objections, giving you a reason for our need to go to His House and to encounter the Lord, if we desire to be close to Him. One needs the teachings of the Church through Catechesis, and the Pastoral Applications from Youth Ministry to slowly take off years of spiritual rust built up on the body, mind, heart, and soul of a fallen Christian. 

The first thing is to understand the word Church. For us Christian's, the definition of Church is the House of God. It is where the Spirit of God dwells (Psalms 5:2-10, 12-13)

Let’s use Psalms 5:8, using two different translations of the Bible, and read how the word House is used.

Catholic NABRE
But I, through the abundance of your mercy, will enter into your house. I will bow down toward your holy sanctuary out of fear of you.

Protestant KJV (5:7)
But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.

With these two passages, you can see that “house”, and “holy sanctuary (holy temple)” are used to describe the place to come for worship or surrender to God. For a devout Jew, this is important for building a personal relationship with God. His Spirit is present. In a Jewish Temple, there is a flame that burns in the sanctuary called the Ner Tamid, or the Tabernacle Lamp, is next to what is called the Aron ha-Qodesh – the Holy Ark. That flame burns above or next to the Torah. This same practice or tradition is kept by Catholic Christians next to the Tabernacle, the place where the Body of Christ is held.

The two passages read, enter and come, which describe the desire to make the choice to be with God. It is a choice we make to be in His presence, to worship and to seek His mercy.

The Catechism of the Church still teaches that there is no salvation outside of the Church, while at the same time the Church explains, Reformulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is His Body. (CCC 846)

But how could one who says he or she believes know that God invites them to His House, the Church, when they come spiritually damaged? How can they enter a building when they already feel judged?

In the decree, Ad Gentes (The Mission and Activity of the Church – Vatican II), the Church teaches, Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men. (AG 7)

Who has the sacred right? The Church. It’s not just the Clergy, but the people. This is why we as Catholic Christian's need to learn and practice our faith. The central issue one has in not going to Church is our poor examples – we are not reflecting the image of Christ. So why should they come to Church to pray?

How do we invite youth and young adults in choosing to visit the House of God, or Church?

Saint Carlo Acutis said two things that confirm our reason to go to Church and why the House of God is important in our life:

The more Eucharist we receive, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on earth we will have a foretaste of heaven.

If you criticize the Church, you are simply criticizing yourself.

We go to Church to be close to Christ. Receiving Him in the Eucharist, or as many of us know and remember through our Catholic Formation, Communion, is the reason we go to Church. Criticizing the members of our Church, some we know and many we do not know, only pollutes our faith journey. Gossip, bad talk, mistreatment, and lack of forgiveness do more harm to everyone who desires to see Christ in the other. Youth and Young Adults experience this from adults who seem to have assimilated into bad habits that spiritually darken our journey towards Christ.

God seeks us and takes the initiative to claim us as his own, no matter how far or how fast we might walk away from him. Following the Lord’s lead, the Church is asked to do the same, especially with youth and young adults. (Listen, Teach, and Send; pg. 15)

How can we change this in our Community?

First, by our example of living the Christian Life. To know Christ is to be Christ in your world. This is the reason for Holiness, or shall we say Sainthood. In the document, Renewing the Vision, we read, Ministry with adolescents helps young people learn what it means to follow Jesus Christ and to live as his disciples today, empowering them to serve others and to work toward a world built on the vision and values of the reign of God. (RTV; Goal1, pg. 12)

Second, inviting Parents back to the fold. To help them see the importance of Community that can play a major part in our encounter with the Lord in His House. In Renewing the Vision, we read, We believe that family life is sacred because family relationships confirm and deepen family members' union with God and allow God's Spirit to work through them. The profound and ordinary moments of daily life are the threads from which families can weave a pattern of holiness. (RTV; Goal 2, pg. 14)

Third, by exposing our youth and young adults to some of our sacred practices and traditions: Visiting Jesus in the Tabernacle, meeting Jesus in what we call Exposition, and most especially at Sunday Mass. (CCC 1345-1405)

There are more practices for them to learn when entering the Church: Bowing before the Altar, Genuflecting before the Tabernacle, rekindling their understanding of making the Sign of the Cross – with or without Holy Water. The list can go on.

Some youth and young adults keep the practice of making the Sign of the Cross when passing a Catholic Church. A practice taught by our grandparents, parents, and watching other folks make the Sign of the Cross. All these practices connect to the two passages in Psalms 5:8, as written, I bow, which is the choice of the person to surrender to God, who is All-Powerful and Merciful.

If we start teaching our youth and young adults the basic practices of entering the Church, it will help them to understand the meaning of the building as the House of God, their Home, and their Community to pray.