Sorry, Esther. Maybe I misinterpreted what you were saying and no, you don't have to take part in the mass if you do not wish to. It is perfectly acceptable to remain seated although the postures of standing and kneeling at certain points have meaning and go back to early Christian worship. (The beginning of this they try to be funny-I think. Fast forward or stick with it. It does explain the different postures during mass)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NFuu6W392k Guess I wasn't aware that Christ followers were titled with religious names back then, other than apostle, disciple etc. or according to what city they lived in. Certainly Jesus never taught us Catholic tradition. Never noticed it in scripture anyway, my only history book of those times.
I suspect you meant that the Catholic church is often recognized as the first organized "church" in history.
No, Christ's followers weren't titled with religious names back then. The Catholic or "Universal" Church was started by Jesus and spread across the world until 1517AD when Martin Luther caused a major rift followed by John Calvin in 1534. So, from Jesus until the early 1500's we had ONE Christian Church started by Jesus and entrusted to the apostles with St. Peter appointed the "chief steward" by Jesus. There is a line of succession from St. Peter to Pope Benedict XVI.
Jesus left us with His church when He assended into heaven.
Scripture reveals this Church to be the one Jesus Christ built upon the rock of Saint Peter (Matt. 16:18). By giving Peter the keys of authority (Matt. 16:19), Jesus appointed Peter as the chief steward over His earthly kingdom (cf. Isaiah. 22:19-22). Jesus also charged Peter to be the source of strength for the rest of the apostles (Luke 22:32) and the earthly shepherd of Jesus' flock (John 21:15-17). Jesus further gave Peter, and the apostles and elders in union with him, the power to bind and loose in heaven what they bound and loosed on earth. (Matt. 16:19; 18:18). This teaching authority did not die with Peter and the apostles, but was transferred to future bishops through the laying on of hands (e.g., Acts 1:20; 6:6; 13:3; 8:18; 9:17; 1 Tim. 4:14; 5:22; 2 Tim. 1:6).
When Jesus ascended into heaven He left a group of eleven men who listened to Him preach for three years and who would be empowered on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came over them. Christianity grew in those early years because of the teaching of those apostles and because of the presence of Jesus that they brought to their communities through prayer, baptisim and the celebration of the Eucharist. These teachings were all done orally. Beginning around 56 AD Paul's letters then the Gospels, some other letters and then around the end of the first century the Book of Revelation had been written and these books began circulating among the various Christian communities. As far as well into the fourth century very few of these communities had the benefit of seeing all of these books that we now call the New Testament.
The bible grew out of the church, not the other way around. The books in the bible were written and collected over a period of many, many years. The Catholic faith is not built on man made traditions. It is built on the Word that God has given us through Scripture and Sacred Tradition - which is the teaching that Jesus entrusted to the apostles, which they in turn handed down to their successors.
Actually, the first Christians up until around the year 90 still considered themselves Jews - just Jews who believed that the Messiah had come. They were sort of a cult group of the Jewish faith. By the end of the first century, clear divisions had evolved and Jewish leaders determined that it was blashpemous to hold onto these beliefs about Jesus so they were banned from Jewish synagogues.
If we look at early Christians we also see quite a ceremony. They were men of their time and culture and heirs to the style of worship which Christianity inherited, from its Jewish origins.
In the first two centuries the Mass contained the two part formula still used today. It began with teachings and readings from Scripture followed by the Breaking of Bread, and Wine.
The Mass has two major parts : 1) Liturgy of the Word 2) Liturgy of the Eucharist.
1) Liturgy of the Word: Bible readings, a Psalm, and a Gospel reading. Then a Homily which comments on those readings.
2) Liturgy of the Eucharist: Scripture, prayer, praise & worship.
Other parts of the Mass include the Penitential Rite where we repent before the Lord and ask his forgiveness and mercy. (Rev. 2:5,16,21; 3:3; 16:11) The Gloria (on Sundays) which is praise to glorify God. (From Luke 2:14). Alleluia Acclamation (praise to God), prayers of intercessions - standing in the gap (Rev. 5:8, 6:9-11, 8:3-4), and the Lord 's Prayer (Matthew 6:9)
I mean this to be informative and not critical of anyone's beliefs and to hopefully explain where our Catholic beliefs originate - from Holy Scripture and the way the early Christians worshiped. Esther, I know you are very steadfast in your faith and I respect that about you. I think we (Catholics & Protestents) have a lot more in common that non-Catholics think we do. I think there is a lot of misinformation about what we believe and why and where certain things we do and how we worship came from. I really didn't mean to hijack this thread but I just felt I needed to explain some things.