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Church: Worship or Entertainment?

Church: Worship or Entertainment?

Last updated on: May 24, 2025 at 10:51 am by Fr. Nicholas Sheehy, LC

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Church: Worship or Entertainment? 2025-05-24T10:51:33-07:00 Fr. Nicholas Sheehy, LC

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Few forms of entertainment beat professional sports. The amount of production that goes into a professional sports event never ceases to amaze me. Recently, at a Carolina Hurricanes’ hockey game, it surprised me to see one of the filler activities. (What I mean by ‘filler activities’ is that, when there is no action on the rink, they do other things with fans to keep everybody engaged and entertained.) A young gentleman was playing a video game that the stadium transmitted on the large television screens in the middle of the arena. It seemed curious: here we were, tens of thousands of people, essentially watching somebody else play a video game. To me, it spoke to the modern demand to be continuously entertained. I then began to reflect on how this craving for constant stimulation can even affect our expectations at church.

Are Churches for Worship or Entertainment?

Are churches there for entertainment? We could divide Christian churches today into those that have an altar and those that have a stage. An altar is made for worship, especially for worship that takes place through sacrifice. A stage, on the other hand, is made for a performance. It may be moving and beautiful, but at the end of the day, it is a performance. As we see the rise of mega-churches and entertaining brands of Christianity, we might be tempted to accommodate the desire for a stage-style performance. Are we really being true to what Christ is asking of us if we do that, though?

If we are honest with ourselves, it doesn’t sound like this emphasis on performance would fit in. The Mass is not a form of entertainment. Worship in heaven is described in the second reading this Sunday, from the Book of Revelation. In it, we hear about the vision of the heavenly Jerusalem.

The angel took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God (Rev. 21:10).

It is certainly glorious and attention-grabbing, but noticeably centered on the sacrificed Lamb.

I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb (Rev. 21:22).

The Point of Every Mass: Worship

The focal point of heaven is the worship of Christ the Lamb. We recall this when we recite the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) at every Mass. Our worship intertwines with the very vision John has recorded in Revelation. Just as his vision was mysterious, our experience of worship contains a certain degree of mystery. The heavenly vision of worship invites us to dive more deeply into the liturgy, which leads to the concept of mystagogy.

Mystagogy: a Curious Word and Concept

I would like to highlight the word “mystagogy” which often seems, at best, mysterious to most of us. Perhaps we know that this is the fourth stage of becoming Christian. After receiving the sacraments of initiation and being introduced to the Church, neophytes – new Christians – are encouraged to live a year of mystagogy. This is something for all of us. We could call it adult religious education. More concretely, it is a liturgical catechesis.

When we gather to celebrate the sacraments, we should engage in liturgical catechesis. We see and perceive the external signs and symbols of the liturgy, which should lead us to an interior contemplation of the mysteries represented. This helps us go beyond the modern push for entertainment.

Pope Leo XIV underlined this in his address to the Jubilee of Oriental Churches, referencing the “importance of mystagogy and the values so typical of Eastern spirituality” (Pope Leo XIV, 14 May 2025).

Pope Leo XIV with Papal Shield

Pope Leo XIV and the liturgy as mystery, not entertainment | Courtesy: www.vatican.va

Learning from the East

Pope Leo XIV recognizes that this happens explicitly more often in the East, for which he praises the Oriental Churches. We come to Mass every week, but how often do we actually grow deeper in our appreciation of the Paschal Mystery? Do we become more aware of the tremendous value of the suffering, death, and resurrection from the dead of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Do we come to appreciate more deeply the value of the Eucharist, Christ giving himself to us through Communion? This is all part of what it means to live mystagogy.

I remember the first time I ever saw a hockey game; I could barely follow the puck. It is a fast-moving game, and following this little black dot on the white canvas eluded me. With time, however, I grew in my understanding of the game and enjoyed it much more. Too often, we are satisfied coming to Mass week after week while understanding very little of what is going on. If my entire experience of hockey were the same as that first game, I would never go again.

It is only by growing in my understanding that I have grown to appreciate it more and more as time goes on. The same must happen with the way we experience the Mass. I challenge you to take ten minutes this week to learn a little more about what happens at Mass.Don’t get discouraged if there is not enough entertainment. God has so much more in store for you. If you do this constantly, I think you will find that you will grow deeper in your understanding of the mystery and will appreciate it more and more.

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About Fr. Nicholas Sheehy, LC

Fr. Nicholas Sheehy is Assistant Chaplain at the Duke Catholic Center. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 2013 for the Legionaries of Christ. You can read more about the author here.

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