When Christianity began, the very center of the faith life was still the Mass. Mass looked different in those early days compared to what it is today, but the general structure and elements were the same: The Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. With no dedicated church buildings early on, most Christian communities would gather in the homes of those Christians who were wealthier and could accommodate more people. The liturgy was a communal meal, but the Eucharist still was treated with tremendous reverence and ritual; it was not simply a banquet, but a true exercise similar to the solemn religious ceremonies that were common at the time. This was all led by the presbyter, the leader of the individual community, whose responsibility it was to act in persona christi while the bread and wine were transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ. 

The Liturgy of the Word at these early Masses consisted of the community reading excerpts from the Old Testament that pointed to Christ, while at the same time recalling the stories of the life of Christ, which eventually evolved into the codified Gospels of the New Testament. If we look at a Sunday Mass today, there are actually three readings: usually a passage from the Old Testament, the Gospel, but also a letter from Saint Paul. These letters, also referred to as Epistle literature, served a function in the early Church. They were written to different Church communities for various reasons, from explaining the early Theology of the Church to addressing issues that had arisen. When these letters were read out at these early masses, they were not explicitly scriptural; they were practical, and were addressed to the very same community that read them during Mass. This is why they became such a crucial part of our Mass. 

Our Church today experiences the same issues and the same needs as the Church in its infancy. We still need to be reminded of the basic doctrines of the Faith. We still need to address moments when our community strays from our path. When our leaders in the Church today act in a way that is not fitting to their role, the epistles are a reminder that it all goes back to Christ. There is an unbroken continuity between those early Christians and us. We must not see ourselves as reading something historical when listening to Paul’s Letters at Mass. Rather, we are living the instructions and constantly refining our duty and dedication to God.