I seem to have gotten ahead of myself with my bulletin article on the first precept of the Church from a few weeks ago. In that dealing with the obligation to attend Sunday Mass each Sunday, I unwittingly conflated the 1st and 4th precepts, which treat of Sundays and Holy Days, respectively. The Code of Canon Law states that, while Sunday is the primordial holy day of obligation (cf. can 1246), on all “other holy days of obligation, the Faithful are obliged to participate in Mass” (can. 1247). This obligation constitutes the Fourth Precept of the Church. Such days of obligation, in addition to Sunday, are “the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Epiphany, the Ascension, the Body and Blood of Christ, Holy Mary the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her Assumption, Saint Joseph, Saint Peter and Saint Paul the Apostles, and All Saints” (can. 1246). You may notice in that list a couple of feasts we do not observe as days of obligation in the United States (Saint Joseph, Saint Peter and Paul). This is because conferences of bishops have permission from the Holy See (Rome) to “suppress some of the holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday” (can. 1246 §2). This permission also allows bishops to lift the obligation for holy days when they fall on Monday or Saturday, and it also allows for the observance of the Epiphany or Ascension Thursday to be transferred to Sunday, as it is in our archdiocese and many other dioceses. The main thing with this precept, however, is that on days when Catholics are obliged to attend Mass during the year, such attendance is absolutely required, unless there is a just reason (work, sickness, etc.) as in the case of Sunday worship.
Perhaps we can see a little deeper into the letters of this law by understanding its purpose. The reason for this precept is twofold. The first aspect of the obligation is simply to participate in Mass, and this is fulfilled to the minimum degree by physical (not virtual or online!) presence and consciousness. In other words, one must be actually and consciously present at Mass to fulfill this precept. The second aspect of the precept is to refrain from unnecessary and burdensome work or business. This topic merits another bulletin article all its own, but for now, it is enough to say that this aspect wants to lift us out of the day-to-day grind of earthly life to enjoy, even now, something of the blessed rest for which we’ve been created. When we attend Mass, we are present at the Paschal Mystery of Our Lord; we become present to His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, by which He is able to apply the merits of His Passion to each one of us in the here and now. His Passion and Resurrection opened the gates of Heaven and broke the prison bars of death, and ushered in the era of grace by which we are set free for loving communion with God. This “communing in love” occurs each time we are in a state of grace and commune with God at Mass – and since Heaven is simply eternal communion with God, the Mass is truly Heaven on earth; it’s where our earth is drawn up into Heaven, it’s where the two meet and kiss. Not only that, but the Mass, which is also called Eucharist (meaning, “thanksgiving”), is the supreme act of thanksgiving to God, and if our love for God is true, we would want to give Him the best thanks we can. Recognizing that the best we can offer on our own is still too little (even though He delights in it still!), He sent His Son who gave us Himself as the perfect offering of Thanksgiving to the Father for the Good that He is and does for us. Something else about the Mass, which strikes many as too cold but is in fact fundamentally important, is that we owe it to God to worship Him; it’s the only adequate response to the reality of Who He is. If our love for God is true, we should give Him the best worship we can, and since our worship alone could never be enough to satisfy the justice of what is due Him, He gave us His Son, who gives us the Mass as the perfect act of worship, and in this way, we offer God perfect worship because it is the worship He Himself gave us. Some say they “worship God in their own way” either “out in nature” or by offering their own private prayers, or by forming their own church communities based upon some personal idea of worship that they privately developed. Very well. But the fact is that God in Jesus has shown us how to worship Him; He has asked us to worship Him by “doing this in memory of Him” (cf. Luke 22:19). The “this” He asks us to do in His memory is nothing other than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. A simple question we should ask ourselves if we are unclear about worship is this: “how has God asked me to worship Him?” If we are honest, we must admit that the answer to this question is: The Mass. The Mass takes away the guess work of worship, giving God the perfect worship that merits our salvation.
This 4th Precept guards us by ensuring on certain chosen days throughout the year we gather and celebrate the principal Mysteries and heroes of our Faith. Our lives are truly defined by these Mysteries and encouraged by these heroes, or they ought to be; how many of us are free from the burden of trying to live life in the world and not be consumed by the story the world tells us about ourselves? The Church offers a different story, a happier story, a holier story, and when the bells toll and the Faithful gather in prayer and worship, we enter into that living story and it becomes the story of our lives as well. The Church obliges us to attend Mass because she knows that we cannot live without it, but with it we become fully alive. May we come to know and love with greater affection and to honor with greater devotion this saving Gift of our Savior’s love, and may God bless you in the week ahead and Mother Mary lead you more deeply into the Sacred and Merciful Heart of Jesus. I remain,
Affectionately Yours in Christ,
Fr. Hess
