Day 282: The Sunday Obligation (2177-2183)

• It’s Day 282!!

• The Sunday celebration of the Lord’s Day and His Eucharist is at the heart of the Church’s life

• There is nothing more important that we do than the Sunday Eucharist

• It is the heart of EVERYTHING

• It is our participation in the re-presentation of the Paschal Mystery

• The Church is called and actually COMMANDED to take care of the poor

• The Church is COMMANDED to spread the Gospel

• THE SUNDAY EUCHARIST

• At the heart of all this is the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist

• THE SUNDAY OBLIGATION

• Every single Sunday is a HOLY DAY OF OBLIGATION

• This goes back to the very beginnings of Christianity

• You might be someone who is deeply convicted about the necessity to live up to the obligation to go Mass every single Sunday

• Let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, in Jesus’ name, we ask you to please receive our thanks, receive our praise, receive the worship that we owe you. And Lord God, please send your Holy Spirit in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, to allow us to be moved by love of you. Jesus, you said, if you love me you will keep my Commandments. Lord God, help us. Help us to love you by keeping your Commandment to do this Eucharist in memory of you. Help us to love you, by listening to you and boeing you in every way, but especially by honoring your Holy Eucharist, by honoring your Paschal Mystery every single Sunday. Lord God, please help us, meet us in our need, meet us in our weakness, and give us your grace and give us your strength. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• We have to understand the centrality of the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist

• THE SUNDAY EUCHARIST

• Paragraph 2177 says, “The Sunday celebration of the Lord’s Day and his Eucharist is at the heart of the Church’s life. ‘Sunday is the day on which the paschal mystery is celebrated in light of the apostolic tradition and is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church.’ ‘Also to be observed are the day of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Epiphany, the Ascension of Christ, the feast of the Body and Blood of Christi, the feast of Mary the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her Assumption, the feast of Saint Joseph, the feast of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul, and the feast of All Saints.’”

• Paragraph 2178 says, “The practice of the Christian assembly dates from the beginnings of the apostolic age. The Letter to the Hebrews reminds the faithful ‘not to neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but to encourage one another.’ Tradition preserves the memory of an ever-timely exhortation: Come to Church early, approach the Lord, and confess your sins, repent in prayer…Be present at the sacred and divine liturgy, conclude it’s prayer and do not leave before the dismissal…We have often said: ‘This day is given to you for prayer and rest. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.’”

• THIS IS SO IMPORTANT FOR EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US!!

• Remember what Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my Commandments.”

• Yes, His great Commandments 

• But also His great Commandment on the night of His betrayal, on the night before He died

• (Whew, Fr. Mike is really speaking faster than normal…I can see smoke coming from my phone speakers haha 😉)

• “Take this, all of you, and eat of it. Do this in memory of me.”

• We need to understand that to love Jesus is to do what He says

• At the center of what He says to do is “Do this in memory of me.”

• Paragraph 2179 says, “‘A parish is a definite community of the Christian faithful established on a stable basis within a particular church; the pastoral care of the parish is entrusted to a pastor as its own shepherd under the authority of the diocesan bishop. It is the place where all the faithful can be gathered together for the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. The parish initiates the Christian people into the ordinary expression of the liturgical life: it gathers them together in this celebration; it teaches Christ’s saving doctrine; it practices the charity of the Lord in good works and brotherly love: You cannot pray at home as at church, where there is a great multitude, where exclamations are cried out to God as from one great heart, and where there is something more: the union of minds, the accord of souls, the bond of charity, the prayers of the priests.”

• It is pretty important as a Catholic to register at a parish

• This is the place where a Catholic abides and belongs to a community in order to worship

• As Catholics, we belong to every Catholic Church around the world

• As Catholics, we are part of the Body of Christ

• Every Catholic Church is your Catholic Church

• AND YET…

• We are called to belong to a parish, not just to pay tithes

• We are called to belong to a parish because we are meant to come together 

• Fr. Mike is going over St. John Chrysostom’s quote now…yes you can pray at all those places like home, the woods, the beach, but not like how we do at Mass at church, ok? 

• We need the ministerial priesthood in order to have the Eucharist and in order to do this in memory of Jesus

• THE SUNDAY OBLIGATION

• Paragraph 2180 says, “The precept of the Church specifies the law of the Lord more precisely. ‘On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass.’ ‘The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day.’”

• Why the evening of the preceding day?

• According to the Jewish rite of marking time, sundown marks the beginning of the next day

• If you look at Genesis Ch 1, when the sun goes down the next day has begun

• Paragraph 2181 says, “The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants), or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.”

• Back in the day, under Roman occupation it was illegal to go to Mass

• So let’s listen to Fr. Mike’s story about Dr. Scott Hahn’s book…

•  The martyrs went to Mass even though they knew they would be killed for it because they could not live without the Mass

• The Mass is what makes us Christians

• Christians make the Mass

• The Mass is what makes us Christians

• Your pastor can dispense you from the Sunday obligation

• Let’s listen to Fr. Mike’s example…

• The lesson here is that Minnesota is not the same as Cancun

• What is happening in the pastor having the power for dispensation from the Sunday obligation?

• Is it the Church trying to exercise control and authority?

• No

• The Church is the family of God 

• Imagine a family that gets together every single Sunday for a meal

• It is a tradition that goes back for generations and is a big deal

• To skip it would be saying something to your family

• You could excuse yourself or you could ask for permission to miss the meal

• When you ask permission, you are placing yourself under the authority of grandma/grandpa/mom/dad/cousin IT, etc.

• Something similar happens when you ask for a dispensation from your pastor

• Priests are happy when we take our Sunday obligation seriously

• Contact your pastor if you are going to miss Mass

• He might ask you to read that Sunday’s readings

• Take some time as a family and read those readings and pray the Rosary

• Your pastor will direct you how to sanctify that day since you are unable to make it to Mass

• If we intentionally skip Mass, it is a grave sin

• Paragraph 2182 says, “Participation in the communal celebration of the Sunday Eucharist is a testimony of belonging and of being faithful to Christ and to his Church. The faithful give witness by this to their communion in faith and charity. Together they testify to God’s holiness and their hope of salvation. They strengthen one another under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.”

• These Commandments are going to be convicting for many of us, consoling for many of us

• Let’s listen to the next Fr. Mike story about a woman in RCIA…

• This is a long story…

• Like a REALLY long story…even Fr. Mike says it is dragging on… 😉

• Even her letter is long…

• Man oh man it is still going…

• It took her a little longer, just like this story apparently… 🤣

• “As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

• Every one of us is going to be convicted in different ways and consoled in different ways

• We need each other and we need each other’s prayers

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• Only 83 days to go yay!!