The Purpose of Mass and the Real Presence (The Tim Glemkowski Show)

At Mass, are we there to be entertained or are we there to worship God and receive Him?

Tim Glemkowski addressed this question after a listener challenged a previous discussion about a young girl performing a ballerina dance during Mass. Tim agreed that such additions can distract from what the liturgy truly is.

“What are we doing at the Mass?” Tim asked. “We’re there as a people, as the people of God who are participating communally…to worship God.”

The Mass is not a performance shaped by personal preferences. Tim emphasized that reverence and fidelity to the Church’s liturgical rubrics help express the reality taking place: “This is where heaven meets earth and where God gives us Himself.”

Tim also answered a listener wondering whether Catholics receive something less when a parish does not offer the chalice. The answer is no.

Whether someone receives the consecrated Host alone or under both species, Tim explained, the communicant receives the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus. Catholics therefore need not fear that receiving only the Host means receiving “a diminished sacrament or less grace.”

Both questions point back to the same reality: the Eucharist is Jesus Christ Himself, and the Mass deserves our deepest reverence.


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John Hanretty serves as a Digital Media Producer for Relevant Radio®. He is a graduate of the Gupta College of Business at the University of Dallas. Besides being passionate about writing, his hobbies include drawing and digital design. You can read more of his daily articles at relevantradio.com and on the Relevant Radio® app.