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Worship Times
Keep holy the Lord's Day"Leave everything on the Lord's Day and run diligently to your assembly, because it is your praise of God. Otherwise, what excuse will they make to God, those who do not come together on the Lord's Day to hear the word of life and feed on the divine nourishment which lasts forever?" John Paul II recently quoted this third-century text from the "Didascalia" in an apostolic letter "On Keeping the Lord's Day Holy." His release of the letter occasioned some minor sniping about a conservative pope's need to reinforce the rules. However, the letter is an excellent catechesis on the meaning and purpose of Sunday. It makes a fine complement to Cardinal Roger Mahony's recently published "Guide for the Sunday Mass." After reading what the pope has to say about the central role of Sunday in the lives of Christians -- especially the celebration of the Eucharist on that day -- the notion of "obligation" becomes almost too obvious to comment on. For example, note this passage on the importance of the dismissal: "Receiving the Bread of Life, the disciples of Christ ready themselves to undertake with the strength of the Risen Lord and his Spirit the tasks which await them in their ordinary life. For the faithful who have understood the meaning of what they have done, the Eucharistic celebration does not stop at the church door. Like the first witnesses of the Resurrection, Christians who gather each Sunday to experience and proclaim the presence of the Risen Lord are called to evangelize and bear witness in their daily lives. Given this, the Prayer after Communion and the Concluding Rite -- the Final Blessing and the Dismissal -- need to be better valued and appreciated, so that all who have shared in the Eucharist may come to a deeper sense of the responsibility which is entrusted to them. Once the assembly disperses, Christ's disciples return to their everyday surroundings with the commitment to make their whole life a gift, a spiritual sacrifice pleasing to God (cf. Rom 12:1). They feel indebted to their brothers and sisters because of what they have received in the celebration, not unlike the disciples of Emmaus who, once they had recognized the Risen Christ 'in the breaking of the bread' (cf. Lk 24:30-32), felt the need to return immediately to share with their brothers and sisters the joy of meeting the Lord (cf. Lk 24:33-35)" (45).You can read the entire letter online at letter. What do YOU Think? Send an e-mail to ML Editor or post an entry on the ML Current Issue Discussion Board. (All submissions become the property of RPI and may be edited for length.) |
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