Is church necessary?

[Sunbear]

Yes. Christians are to go to church, always.

[an actual gun]

Yes, definitely. I am Catholic. If I can take a moment to share a little bit about my faith, it is in fact one of the precepts of the Church that we attend mass on all Sundays and holy days of obligation. We should also rest from servile work on this day if at all possible. Keeping the Lord's day is one of the commandments. Of course, some people for reasons of hardship or poor health or some other reasonable and justifiable excuse, may not be able to make Sunday mass, and may not be able to forgo servile work. But we should still make every effort. And whether we can be in church on Sunday or not we should mentally separate this day from the others, to take some time when we have a moment to reflect on God and the mysteries of the faith. For us it's important too, to recognize that the liturgical day technically begins at vespers (evening prayer; basically at sunset.) So there are some hours in the evening of the calendar day of Saturday that are technically Sunday for religious purposes. For that reason, attending a vigil mass on Saturday evening normally fulfills the Sunday obligation.

I wasn't raised Catholic and I lost my faith when I was a teenager/young adult. So I used to hate church. As a kid I dreaded Sundays. Now I look forward to Sunday mass. It's the high point of my entire week and leaves me completely invigorated spiritually, mentally, physically. The church I was raised going to was not a particularly good environment for receiving God's grace and seeing his beauty. Where I go now is a completely different world. It's the closest thing to heaven on earth. The moment I walk in and dip my fingers into the font I'm reminded of the waters of my baptism and feel completely different. When the bells chime something starts to well up in me. By the time the Gloria is being chanted, my mind is completely still and I feel truly ordered towards Christ. Truly it's like the eternal call of the one crying out from the wilderness: make straight the way of the Lord.

Of course my belief is Catholic but I hope all of us, Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox, gets to experience and encounter Jesus Christ every week on His day. And I hope and pray everyone who is separated from Him as I separated myself from him for so many years as an atheist, can make their return and feel the peace of Christ. I'd like to share one of my favorite prayers, let this be for the intentions of all brothers in Christ, for Christian unity and for the salvation of souls:

V. In the name of the Father ☩, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
R. Amen.
V. Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful, kindle in them the fire of Thy Love.
R. Send forth Thy Spirit, and it shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth. Amen.

Let us pray:

O Lord, who hast instructed the hearts of the faithful, by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant we beseech Thee, through the power of the same Spirit, may we ever be truly wise and rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord, amen.

May the Spirit truly instruct all of our hearts and keep us on a path of righteousness always. Thanks for taking the time to read my post.