Sunday Mass

Do you know that Sunday Mass is considered a Holy Day of Obligation? What is that you say? Well according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church #2180 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.” Which means we should be attending Mass each Sunday. This comes from the 3rd Commandment which tells us to keep holy the Sabbath. God rested on the 7th day in the story of creation, not because he was tired but because he wanted us to see that rest is important in our lives.

So why if we are to rest should be go to Mass? We can always pray at home or in the woods or in the car, the places are endless. When we pray in these places for the most part this is individual prayer one on one with God. When we pray in church with everyone we are praying with our entire being, using all of our senses and joining our prayer with those around us.

We are part of a community of believers and when we raise our voices together in prayer at Mass we are hearing each other. We see others praying as we do and we see the sacred objects in our church. The Crucifix is much larger in a Church than the small ones we may have hanging in our homes. If incense is used at Mass we smell the scent as it carries our prayers upward. Some of us can even smell the candles burning. Our sense of touch is used as we participate in greeting each other with a handshake at the sign of peace. We also can feel the Holy Water as we bless ourselves with it and feel the smoothness of the wood of the pews.

We do many things at a Mass when we pray that we don’t do when we pray privately, such as genuflecting or bowing before we enter the pew, we sit, stand and kneel. At home we most likely would be sitting as we pray or some of us might even pray in bed. We sing songs praising God. We here a homily that helps us to understand the Scripture readings. We are blessed by the priest before we leave and are sent forth to carry the Word of God to those we meet in our everyday lives.

Yes, we can pray anywhere at any time, but we also need to pray with one another, to connect as a community of faith. This allows us to know we are not alone in our beliefs. To take the time for one hour or so a week to come together is a benefit to everyone and we realize we are part of something bigger than we are.

Triumph of the Holy Cross

Reading 1: Numbers 21:4b-9; Reading 2: Phillipians 2:6-11; Gospel: John 3:13-17

On September 14 we will celebrate the Triumph of the Holy Cross. This day we celebrate the cross of Jesus as a sign of glory. We are remembering that almost 6 months ago we held up the cross on Good Friday. This is not a symbol that we pull out once a year during Holy Week to remind us of Jesus’ suffering and death for our sins. This is a symbol of the living Christ who lives in each of us and loves us even to death.

St. Helena who lived about 300 years after Jesus and was the mother of Constantine who was the first emperor to be baptized a Christian brought the Cross to the forefront of people’s minds. According to legend she did this by setting off to Jerusalem to search for the cross of Jesus. When I read about this I thought an impossible task, how could you find a wood cross that is over 300 years old since it should have most likely disintegrated at that point? Then I thought a little more and determined that it is a holy object, one that held the body of our Lord, Jesus as he gave his life for us it would of course still be intact. The legend goes on to tell us that St. Helena did indeed find the Cross on a hillside and it was covered with basil, which we all know is a wonderful herb with a very aromatic scent. One of the little known facts that most of do not know about basil is that it is a symbol of resurrection because it can sprout in dry soil and grow very quickly.

Do you have a crucifix or cross hanging in your home? If you do is it in a place of honor? We should be proud as Catholic Christians to display this reminder of Christ’s love for us. One of the ones we have in our home was a gift from my husband’s godparents for our wedding. How about you does one of the crucifixes you own have a special memory associated with it?

The Christians in Ethiopia pout fresh basil and other late summer herbs and wildflowers by their cross on September 14. This could be a custom to start in your home, especially if you are a gardener and have an abundance of herbs at this time of the year. Another way to celebrate is to make a cross shaped dessert like a cake or sugar cookies and decorate them for the occasion.

Whatever way you choose to honor this day always keep in mind that Jesus died so we could be united with him in heaven.
(The information in this post came from Take Me Home Too, published by LTP, 1007)

Trinity Sunday

The Sunday after Pentecost is when we celebrate the Blessed Trinity. But wait a minute shouldn’t we be celebrating the Trinity every Sunday? We should and we do by attending Mass each week. Is there something else we can do to make every Sunday special?

In the busyness of our lives we tend to show up for Mass in what we chosen to wear for the day, maybe forget to turn off our cell phone, etc. Then during Mass we tune out to what is happening as what we should or could be doing begins to intrude into our thoughts. What was it Father just said? Seems like it was important but …

Maybe we should make a conscious effort to make our Sunday Mass obligation special whether it be the vigil Mass on Saturday or Sunday morning. I can remember when I was a child that we would get dressed up to go to church for Mass. How often does that happen these days unless it is a special occasion for a family such as Christmas, Easter a Baptism, 1st Communion, wedding or a special anniversary? How much effort would it take for you or me to change into even casual dress clothes rather than blue jeans or shorts and t-shirts? If you try I would hazard a guess it wouldn’t take a significant amount of time. I know when I make the effort to change before heading to Mass on a Saturday it is only a matter of a few minutes. And if you think about it Sunday morning you can just dress for church when you get ready in the morning and then change to more casual clothes when you arrive back home.

What else can you do to keep Sunday special? In years gone by all businesses were closed. That is not so anymore. We can still try to keep Sunday a day for family by trying to get any errands done during the week or on Saturday. Or maybe plan each week to have a special meal on Sunday and make it the expectation that all family members will be present for the meal. You could plan on doing something fun, visiting the zoo, taking a hike, going to the beach or pool depending on the time of year. The ideas are endless. How will you keep the Lord’s Day each week?