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Many Protestant churches observe the Lord's Supper once a month and some do it very rarely. If I'm not mistaken, the Catholics celebrate Eucharist every Sunday.

  1. Why is Eucharist observed in Catholic parishes every Sunday?
  2. Do they observe on other days too?
  3. Are Catholics obligated to attend the mass every Sunday?
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    Related thread (possible duplicate): christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/2089/…
    – Adrian Keister
    Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 17:07
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    Not only does the Church insist on it every Sunday, but it encourages it daily! Why? ... Because that's what it's all about! The rest of the mass is of secondary importance to the consumption of Christ.
    – svidgen
    Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 17:16
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    This is strictly on Catholicism. I'm not interested in other denominations.
    – Mawia
    Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 17:19
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    Adrian Keister points to an old and not-so-good question of mine. I think this is not a duplicate, because the answers to that question do not answer this one, which is specifically about Catholicism, and raises other issues like the obligation to go on Sundays as opposed to the ability to go at other times.
    – James T
    Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 18:05
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    Don't have time for a full answer, but here's a quick summary. Catholics don't have services, they have mass. The most important part of the mass is the Eucharist. There is no mass without the Eucharist, by definition. Everything else in the mass points towards the Eucharist. We celebrate mass every day, but Catholics are only required to attend every Sunday.
    – Andres Riofrio
    Commented Jul 26, 2013 at 7:09

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  • Do they observe (mass) on other days too?

Yes. Each and every day except on Good Friday and holy Saturday (excluding Easter vigil). And btw Catholics don't observe mass like a show, they participate in it.

  • Why is Eucharist observed in Catholic parishes every Sunday?

Just to help Catholics attend mass on Sundays. Why on Sunday? Because it is the day of the Resurrection: the new creation.

  • Are Catholics obligated to attend the mass every Sunday?

Yes they are. To be precise, they have to attend mass on all Holy days of obligation, in which all Sundays of the year are included.

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  • I think "observe" in the original question is used in the sense of "observing a holiday" -- i.e., keeping it or celebrating it -- as opposed to "watching".
    – Ben Dunlap
    Commented Aug 7, 2013 at 16:41
  • To @BenDunlapL Ohh... I am sorry, my mistake... But being a catholic, I have never heard anyone say "observing mass", so it was a little bit odd for me to read.
    – Jayarathina Madharasan
    Commented Aug 8, 2013 at 5:30
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Why every Sunday rather than less frequently? The Catechism of the Catholic Church answers:

I. THE EUCHARIST - SOURCE AND SUMMIT OF ECCLESIAL LIFE

1324 The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life."136 "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch."137

1325 "The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God's action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit."138

1326 Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all.139

1327 In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: "Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking."140

Yes, Mass is offered daily in most parishes, sometimes multiple times per day and in multiple languages.

Yes, Catholics are obliged by canon law to attend mass at least once a week (Sunday obligation), but to be honest, many don't. In most parishes the Sunday obligation can also be met by attending a vigil mass on Saturday evening or a late mass on Sunday evening as well as a choice of mass times on Sunday morning. There are also several holy days (varies by diocese) that are also obligations.

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  • This one's good too, though I would really stress exactly how important the Eucharist is. I mean "source and summit of Christian life" means really freaking important.
    – user3961
    Commented Mar 14, 2015 at 5:56

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