We are often said to be creatures of habit. As human beings we have intellect and reason. 

 

Higher in the order of creation than the animals that surround us, we do not live simply by instinct. We are given the ability to think, to reason, and with them the responsibility to choose. And before God, the world and ourselves, we bear the task of choosing rightly in our thoughts and in our actions.

 

From that dynamic comes forth the actions that most characterize our thoughts and convictions. Those are our habits, our regular and repeating actions on many levels of daily, weekly and yearly existence.

 

I mention this because someone recently made a comment to me about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the practice of the faith. They said they felt that one of the results of the virus was that some people had gotten out of the habit of attending Mass on Sunday.

 

The observation was interesting because it highlights the complexity of human nature and how that impacts the way the faith is lived out by each of us.

 

Currently, the bishops of the United States are discussing the formulation of a national program to foster a renewal of faith and belief in the Eucharist in our country. A discernable and documented decrease in faith among professed Catholics in the real and not simply symbolic presence of Jesus in the Eucharist motivates this discussion. 

 

Much of the explanation for the weakening of belief in the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is often attributed to decades of lackluster catechesis and religious teaching. The intellectual foundation of the Eucharist has not been strong enough in many cases.

 

When Jesus told the world through the Apostles at the Last Supper, “This is my body,” and “This is the chalice of my blood,” an abiding presence of God Himself was entrusted to the world. Even more, we are given the opportunity and the responsibility to receive Christ physically and spiritually when we worthily come to holy Communion.

 

This is a spectacular revelation from God to the human race. The world needs to know this and each human person needs to be made aware of this great offer from God to us.

 

But here is where faith and reason are connected to habit. We have been given this great knowledge. Since it is true, and it is intimately connected to the offering of eternal life for which we were made, this must become one of our deepest convictions. How then do we live it?

 

What practices characterize our lives so that knowledge which could remain only in our thoughts, our memory or our reason are translated into regular and repeated daily life? In other words, what habits result from our faith?

 

Attending Mass each Sunday is an obligation imposed upon us by our Catholic faith. But it is an obligation of love and of justice. God is especially present to us, and so we go to love and adore Him and to make reparation for our sins. We rightly make such attendance a habit that marks our life.

 

It would be possible to skip or lose this second step, this good habit. How many are those who say they believe what the Church teaches but for one reason or another don’t attend Sunday Mass. In that case, faith is seriously incomplete.

 

Of course the opposite can also be true. One could attend Mass each Sunday out of habit without any serious reflection on the divine reality that underlies that practice. That would be to live out an empty habit.

 

A good habit integrally connects faith and action. With the recent announcement that the dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass has ended, it is time for all of us to regain that habit of Mass attendance. At the same time, we must work to renew our faith and belief in the Eucharist, the presence of Christ, and its connection to His sacrifice on the cross.

 

A return to Mass is indeed a return to a very good habit.