Today we
celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. We also recall our own Baptism
by which we were joined to Jesus Christ as a member of His body, adopted as
God’s own beloved child, and offered eternal salvation. A very special day for
all of us who have been Baptized!
Now
it may have occurred that during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays you were
travelling, or hosting out-of-town guests, or just very busy and caught up in
many holiday events, and because of these conflicts, or poor planning, or just
totally running out of energy, you missed attending Mass on one of the Sundays
of this season or one of the Holy Days of Obligation (e.g. Christmas, Solemnity
of Mary on January 1).
Have
you committed a MORTAL SIN??? Well, in spite of what you may remember the good
Sister who taught you in second grade telling you, probably not. Let me explain
as it was taught to me as a seminarian in moral theology class at the Catholic
University of America.
In
the Code of Canon Law, canon 1246 ¶ 1 states: “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 Christmas, the Epiphany, ..., Holy Mary Mother of God ….”
And
in canon 1247 we learn that, “On Sundays
and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the
Mass; they are also to abstain from those labors and business concerns which
impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord’s
Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body.”
This
is the law, which forms the first Precept of the Church (there are 8 of them; see Catechism of the Catholic Church # 2041–2043
for the whole list.) But how is this law to be interpreted? Well, back in
1969 when the laws for fasting were changed (remember no meat on Fridays?), an
official commentary was published about this change in the Vatican newspaper, La Observatore Romano. This commentary
announced the principal that “substantial observance fulfills the purpose of
the law.” What that means in our case is that there is nothing magical or taboo
about Sunday Mass observance. The law that says we must go to Mass each Sunday
is given for a purpose, namely to keep our relationship with God and with the
Catholic community alive. It is sort of like a sign that says “DO NOT WALK ON
THE GRASS.” If you walk on the grass a time or two nothing bad happens. But if
you make a practice of walking on the grass, pretty soon you will wear a path
in the lawn and ruin it. In the same way, if you skip Sunday Mass once in a
while nothing terrible happens, but if you continue to do so, soon your
relationship to the Catholic community and to God begin to fade. It is the
purpose of the law that is the important point.
So
if you miss Sunday Mass once in a great while, you still have fulfilled the
purpose of the law, and no harm is done. You have NOT committed a sin, and
certainly not a serious one.
But
what constitutes “substantial observance?” How often can you miss before you no
longer substantially observe the law? If you go three Sundays out of every four
have you substantially observed the law? I think so. What if you skip Sunday
Mass twice a month? That does not sound like “substantial observance” to me, and
you are skating on some pretty insubstantial ice. What if you go to church only
once a month? That is hardly substantial, and if you are going less than once a
month, don’t even bother to try and make the case that that constitutes
“substantial observance.”
In
any case there is so much all week that puts us down, that depresses us, that
discourages us, that temps us to live less than what we are called to be, that
at least once a week we need to hear that God the Father loves us, that Jesus
understands our situation and freely gave Himself for us, and that the Holy
Spirit moves in us to strengthen and guide us. We don’t go to Mass for God’s
sake but for ours.
God
bless!
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