Dear Friends,
Have you at least once uttered the following words with regards to attending Sunday mass: “I came to fulfill my Sunday obligation?” Yeah! It is usual to hear this; and you may say, yeah!, but what is wrong about that? That is what we have always been saying and doing! Today I would like us to reflect a little bit deeper on what we call “Sunday obligation.”
We all know the third commandment of the Decalogue: “You shall keep holy the day of the Lord.” In so many instances we understand these words as obligation to fulfill, maybe because they are presented to us as “Commandments.” Right?. But to begin with, God gives us His commandments out of love, not out of pressure or coercion. Therefore, our answer should likewise be out of love. Today’s readings remind us that we are meant to come to the altar of the Lord out of love rather than as an obligation to fulfill. Didn’t Christ say, “where your treasure is, there also will your heart be”? The consequence is therefore that, if we come to the altar of the Lord just to fulfill our Sunday obligation, then our heart is left behind us and it clings to something else. The idea of obligation overshadows the true meaning of our participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist.
Think today about what you are doing in this holy place, and try to answer to the question about “Why did you come here, and what are you looking for?” When we come to the altar of the Lord it is in order to respond with love and respect to God’s immense love that he showed us in Christ. We come to fetch water from the Wellspring of eternal life. We participate in the sacrament by and in which Christ is breaking himself into pieces to feed us and to share His life with us. Looked at from this perspective, we come to understand that our coming to the altar of the Lord is an action of thanksgiving to God for Who He is for us and what He has done for us. The Eucharist, as thanksgiving cannot therefore be seen as obligation to fulfill. We come to be fed and to learn from Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life so that we, in return may spread the love He has communicated to us to the world.
The Altar of the Lord is the place where we enter in Christ’s school to learn from Him in order to make a difference in the life of the world. Saint James reminds us today that we have to “be doers of the word.” This means for us that we learn from the One who teaches us by the example of His own life sacrificed for our sake, to practice the virtues we receive from Him for the transformation of the world to the kingdom of God. When we are sent out at the end of the Eucharistic celebration, it is to truly begin the living mass; for we are witnesses of the sacrifice of Christ that cannot leave us indifferent in front of the misery, the pains, and the suffering of our brothers and sisters. This is what it means for us to keep the commandment of the Lord. We come to the altar of the Lord not out of obligation, but to receive the Love that enables to love and to transform the world in return. So, just keep this today: “be a doer of the Word,” and the world will see the light of Christ shinning in the darkness of injustice, division, hopelessness, and violence of every kind through you.
As we let the Word of God sink in our hearts and souls to make of us laborers in God’s vineyard today, let us continue to pray for one another and for our parish family.
Fr. Emery