"Do Not let Sunday be taken from you for if your soul has no Sunday,
it becomes an orphan."
--Albert Schweitzer
For almost 2000 years, since the Resurrection of Jesus on a Sunday, Christians as a whole have gathered to worship God together in the celebration of the Sunday Mass. We know this from evidence in the New Testament (See this CITATION). Also, early Church writings indicate that Sunday was the Day for the Church’s common and communal worship. For example, St Justin in 150 A.D. wrote:
"[I]t is on Sunday that we assemble because Sunday is the first day, the day on which God transformed darkness and matter and created the world and the day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead" (First Apology, 67)
Justin goes on to say: "On the day we call the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place [for the Eucharist]." (ibid)
Peering into Justin’s time, we can appreciate that those who lived in the country would have gone to some effort to get to Sunday Mass at the place it was celebrated in the city, especially if many were walking. (In the earlier days of the Church, many cities had one place only to gather, though larger cities like Rome had many places to gather, usually in larger homes.)
An wealthy Roman house could be quite large, like a mansion today, and so accommodate a large assembly for Sunday Mass in the 1st-4th centuries |
Justin points out that Sunday is the Church’s communal day of worship because God created light on that day as well as the world and that it is the day Christ rose from the dead. But Sunday also celebrates the beginning of a new creation with the Resurrection of Christ, who, as we say in the Creed, is "Light from Light, true God from true God."
We are familiar that Easter Sunday celebrates the Day when Christ rose from the dead; but every Sunday also celebrates the Resurrection. More accurately, it celebrates the Death and Resurrection of Christ (we call this the Paschal Mystery [more on this HERE]) and the emphasis is especially on the Rising, the joy and new life brought about by Christ in conquering sin and death.
So naturally, the Church gathers on this Day to remind us that all our many times of dying to sin and selfishness over a week’s time is bringing us closer to the new life of Resurrection. We need this reminder every week, every Sunday.
Now here is the key to understanding why we must gather as a Church (of which each of us is a member) on Sunday. Why can’t we just individually stay at home on Sunday and read some Scripture passages and pray alone? It is because the Sunday Mass is a sacramental celebration, which means it is a visible sign of the life and saving love of God. That means we don’t just get a Sacrament at Mass (Jesus Really present in the Eucharistic bread and wine) but that God makes something visible about our life in Christ in the Sunday Mass.
Our life in Christ is not meant to be lived in isolation from others. That’s why Jesus gave us his Church. The whole Church is supposed to be visible on Sunday. We can’t make the Church visible by ourselves or alone; thus the whole Church is called to worship on Sunday. It is our obligation and our privilege. As the Catechism says: "But faith is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone [i.e., apart from others]. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life. The believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others." (#166)
Next Week: More about the importance of Sunday Mass
