February 2021 

     We love going to Mass, especially together as a married couple.  It wasn't always the case.  We didn't just wake up one morning and decide to attend Mass most days of the week and very often together.  Years ago, Mass attendance, for us, was more of an obligation and not something we looked forward to attending.  Going to daily Mass never crossed our minds and most times the Mass was an event we just passively sat through for an hour on the weekend, to just check the box for the week.

     About 10 years ago, our marriage was not being nourished appropriately.  We slowly began to unknowingly drift apart while building our house.  We began to essentially live separate lives immersed in our various hobbies and work--the proverbial two ships sailing past each other in the night. 

     Around this time, Cynthia decided to start attending daily Mass, every single weekday during Lent, as a Lenten resolution.  Eventually I decided to start attending a few months after observing how much spirituality Cynthia was receiving at the daily Masses.  I also saw attendance at these Masses as a way for us to spend more quality time together, time in God's Church.

     Why has Mass, and especially the daily Mass, become such an integral part of our lives?  Especially in light of our marriage?  Those many daily Masses years ago that we attended together brought such great spiritual fruit and laid a rock-solid foundation for our marriage, centered on God.  We began to see how marriage is not just the two of us, but marriage includes God as well.  A three-folded cord is not easily broken, as the Bible says in Ecclesiastes.  Attending Mass daily to receive Jesus in the Eucharist has become an immense source of strength and grace in our marriage.  Our prayer life, both by ourselves and together, has flourished with a majority of the credit given to attending Mass frequently.

     We both look forward to the part of our day where we can attend Mass together.  The Mass gives us a time and space to spend time quietly in prayer, listening to the scriptures, and in just holding each other's hand sitting side-by-side, actively participating in the celebration.  Attendng Mass together has certainly brought us closer to each other, but it has also given us a stronger appreciation of the Eucharist--Jesus' true presence in His body and blood.  It is a daily opportunity to encounter Jesus to heal us and comfort us and become one with us.  What a great gift at our disposal every single day!  Every day we can receive all of His graces and strength.  In the gospels, people would seek Jesus just for the chance to touch Him or His garments and be healed.  We get to do that every day, not only touch Him but consume His body and (hopefully soon) drink His blood.  To be able to receive Him together and walk back to the pew in prayer and thanksgiving is an awesome gift for our marriage.