Question:
Answer:
Is the person you talking to a non-Catholic Christian or a Catholic Christian?
If a non-Catholic Christian, he obviously has years of formation of one sort or another in which he’s been taught and reaffirmed that the Mass is, at the very least, not what the Catholic Church says it is, namely, making present anew the one Paschal Sacrifice of Jesus Christ that culminated in everlasting glory in the heavenly sanctuary.
Perhaps then start with what we have in common with him, namely, the proclamation of God’s word from Sacred Scripture during the Liturgy of the Word, i.e., the first and second readings, the responsorial psalm, and the Gospel. Remind him too that Jesus says, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20), which we know is true by faith, even if we don’t always feel it, e.g., experience God’s consoling peace.
And then encourage him to read more about Catholicism in general and the Mass in particular, such as in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or continue to come to Mass. And continue to pray for him in any event. His not feeling Christ’s presence at Mass likely stems from his long standing aversion to things Catholic.
If the person is Catholic, I’d encourage him to spend some time in quiet prayer before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, asking him to help him grow in his awareness of Christ’s eucharistic reality in particular and the sublimity of the Mass in general. In addition, tell the person that even the most faithful Catholics won’t always feel God’s presence during Mass, but that we need to persevere anyway, because we know it’s true.
Encourage him also to cultivate good fellowship with good Catholics, because that’s a key way the Lord loves us and deepens our faith—by providing us with good brothers and sisters in Christ to help sustain is along the journey to heaven.