Why a Holy Mass?
For the disciples of Christ, the most important thing in their lives should be the participation and proper experience of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. For the next few days, the following meditation on, "Why Holy Mass?", will bring us closer to Christ and make the Eucharist a central event every Sunday, and if possible, every day.
From the need of the heart or from obligation?
“It is right, therefore, to claim, in the words of a fourth century homily, that "the Lord's Day" is "the lord of days". Those who have received the grace of faith in the Risen Lord cannot fail to grasp the significance of this day of the week with the same deep emotion which led Saint Jerome to say: "Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, it is the day of Christians, it is our day". For Christians, Sunday is "the fundamental feast day", established not only to mark the succession of time but to reveal time's deeper meaning.” (Apostolic Letter “DIES DOMINI” of Saint John Paul II)
Participation in the Sunday Mass for the first Christians was something natural and resulted from the need of the heart. The Eucharist was the center of life of the first communities and the essence of celebrating Sunday. In the Acts of Apostles
(cf. Act 20:7) we read that Christ's disciples gathered on the first day after the Sabbath "to break bread." The need to continue this practice is reminded in the Letter to the Hebrews: " We should not stay away from our assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another ..." (Heb 10:25).
The teaching of the Twelve Apostles (Didache 14:1) also encourages us: "On the Lord's day, gather together, break bread and give thanks ..." It was obvious to Christ's disciples that on Sunday, no one can be missing at the Lord's table.
The martyrdom suffered for participation in the Eucharist is a beautiful testimony that in the first centuries of Christianity there was no need to formulate a special-order regarding participation in the Holy Mass.
In 304 in Abiten, forty-nine Christians were sentenced to death for gathering at the Sunday Eucharist. Lector Emeritus, aware of the death sentence threatening him, confessed to the proconsul Anulinus: "We cannot live without celebrating the Lord's Day." Similarly, Victoria, when asked about the reasons for breaking the ban on participating in the Eucharist, firmly replied: "I attended the congregation because I am a Christian." Participation in the Sunday Holy Mass testified to belonging to Christ and the community of his disciples. The celebrants of the Eucharist also remembered those who could not participate in it, bringing Holy Communion to the sick, the elderly, the imprisoned for their faith.
In the first centuries, the church considered the participation in Sunday Mass as a spiritual need. This also applies today.
Only later, in the face of the indifference or neglect of some of the faithful, did she begin to teach unequivocally about the obligation to attend the Holy Mass and issue relevant canonical regulations in this matter. Among others, the synod in Elvira (300) pointed to a close relationship between participation in the Sunday Eucharist and belonging to the community of the faithful.
Canon 21 of the synod states: "If someone in the city does not come to church for three Sundays, let him stay outside [the community of the faithful] for some time, so that it may be known that he has been punished." There were also problems regarding the way of participating in Sunday Mass. That is why the synod in Agde (506) admonishes: "On Sunday the faithful should take part in the whole Mass without daring to leave the church before the priest's blessing."
The first records regarding church commandments, including participation in the Holy Mass on Sunday and holidays, were found in the writings of St. Antoninus of Florence from 1477. Similarly, the provision on the obligation to "hear the Mass" was included in Peter Kanijs “Little Catechism” from 1556, which was also modeled for the editors of later catechisms. The obligation to "hear the Holy Mass on Sunday and mandatory holidays" in the form of an explicit provision of universal law was first written in canon 1248 of the Code of Canon Law of 1917.
Analyzing the historical shaping of the formulas of the church commandments, it is easy to state that one of them was always an order to participate in the Sunday Mass. Currently, in the Catechism of the Catholic Church of 1992 (No. 2180) regarding the obligation to celebrate Sunday, we read, inter alia, that "the church commandment defines and specifies the Lord's law:" 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 ".
A fragment of canon 1247 of the currently applicable Code of Canon Law of 1983 has been literally cited. Also, in the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches of 1990 (canon 881, § 1) there is a provision: "Christians are obliged on Sundays and obligatory holidays to participate in the Divine Liturgy ..."
The obligation to attend Holy Mass is not an ordinance aimed to gathering the faithful in the church. The motive for its establishment is not "ensuring attendance" at the Sunday Eucharist. The CCC (No. 2181) explains: "The Sunday Eucharist justifies and confirms all Christian activity." The consequence of this truth is the church commandment indicating the importance and value of the Eucharist in the lives of Christ's followers. The order to attend Holy Mass forces me to answer the question: why am I going to church on Sunday or not? The right answer to such a question can only be given from the perspective of faith.
I like to encourage you to visit this site:
www.vatican.va › hf_jp-ii_apl_05071998_dies-domini
There you will find the Apostolic Letter, Dies Domini of Saint John II on “Keeping the Lord’s Day Holly”
Until Tomorrow
fr. george