This morning's General Audience began at 9:35am in the Paul VI Hall, where the Holy Father, Pope Francis met with groups of pilgrims and the faithful from Italy and from every corner of the world.
In his speech, the Pope continued the new cycle of catecheses on the Mass, focusing on the theme: Why should we go to Mass on Sunday?
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father addressed particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic blessing.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Continuing with the journey of catecheses on the Mass, today let us ask ourselves: why should we go to Mass on Sunday?
The Sunday celebration of the Eucharist is at the centre of the life of the Church (cf Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2177). We Christians go to Mass on Sunday in order to meet the risen Lord, or better said, to allow ourselves to be encountered by Him, to listen to his word, to nourish ourselves at his table and in that way, we become a Church, his mystical body which is alive in the world.
From the very beginning, Jesus' disciples understood this as they celebrated the Eucharistic encounter with the Lord on the day which the Jews called the first of the week and the Romans called the day of the sun, for it was on that day that Jesus had risen rom the dead and had appeared to the disciples, speaking with them, eating with them, and the day on which he had sent the Holy Spirit (cf Mt 28:1; Mk 16:9, 14; Lk 24:1, 13; Jn 20:19), as we heard in the biblical reading this morning.
The great outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost took place on Sunday, the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Jesus. For these reasons, Sunday is a holy day for us, made holy by the Eucharistic celebration, the living presence of the Lord among us and for us. Therefore, the Mass makes Sunday a Christian! A Christian Sunday revolves around the Mass. What would Sunday be for a Christian if there were no encounter with the Lord?
There are some Christian communities that unfortunately cannot enjoy Mass every Sunday; who nonetheless, on these holy days, are called to gather in prayer in the name of the Lord, to listen to the Word of God and to keep alive their desire for the Eucharist.
Some secular societies have lost the Christian meaning of Sundays illuminated by the Eucharist. This is a sin! In such a context, we need to revive this awareness in order to re-capture the meaning of a feast, the significance of joy, of a parish community, of solidarity, of rest that restores the soul and the body (cf Catechism of the Catholic Church, nn. 2177-2188). Among all these values, the Eucharist is the best, Sunday after Sunday. For this reason, the Second Vatican Council wished to reiterate the fact that Sunday is the day of the primordial feast which must be proposed and infused in the piety of the faithful, in order that it may also become a day of joy and of abstention from work (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 106).
Abstaining from work on Sunday did not exist in the first centuries: it is a specific addition adopted by Christianity. According to biblical tradition, the Jews would rest on the Sabbath, while Roman society did not allow for a weekly day of abstention from servile work. It was the Christian sense of living as children and not as slaves, animated by the Eucharist, that made Sunday - almost universally - the day of rest.
Without Christ, we are condemned to be ruled by daily tiredness, with its preoccupations, and fear of tomorrow. Our Sunday encounters with the Lord give us the strength to live today with trust and courage and to keep going with hope. This is the reason why we Christians go toward the encounter with the Lord on Sunday, in the Eucharistic celebration.
Eucharistic communion with Jesus, Risen and living for all eternity, anticipates the Sunday when there will be no sunset, when there will be no more tiredness or suffering or fighting or tears, but only the joy of living fully and forever with the Lord. The Sunday Mass also speaks of this blessed repose, teaching us throughout the flow of the week to entrust ourselves into the hands of our Father in heaven.
How can we reply to those who say that it is useless to go to Mass, not even on Sunday, because what is important is to live well, to love our neighbour? It is true that the quality of a Christian life is measured by our capacity to love, as Jesus said: By this, all will know that you are my disciples: if you love one another (Jn 13:35); but how can we practice the gospel without drawing the energy necessary to do so, one Sunday after another, from the inexhaustible font of the Eucharist? We do not go to Mass in order to give something to God, but in order to receive from Him that which we truly need. The Church's prayer reminds us of this when she says to God: You have no need of our praise, yet by the gift of your love, you call us to give you thanks; our hymns of praise do nothing to enhance your greatness, but obtain for us the grace that saves us (Roman Missal, Common Preface IV).
In conclusion, why do we go to Mass on Sunday? It is not enough for us to reply by saying that it is a precept of the Church; this helps us to keep its value but it is not enough. We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his presence living within us and among us, can we put his commandment into practice, to be his witnesses in the world.
The Holy Father's catechesis was then summarized in various languages and he offered greetings to each group of pilgrims in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I am pleased to greet the participants in the 2017 Forum of Catholic-inspired Non-Governmental Organizations meeting in Rome during these days. I express my deep appreciation for your efforts to bring the light of the Gospel to the various peripheries of our world, in order to defend human dignity, to promote the integral development of peoples, and to meet the material and spiritual needs of so many members of our human family. I encourage you to work always in a spirit of communion and cooperation with other Catholic NGOs and with the representatives of the Holy See, as an expression of the Church’s commitment to the building of a more just and fraternal world. With prayerful good wishes that these days of reflection and discussion will prove fruitful for your work, I cordially impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing.
I also greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from Australia, Indonesia, India, Japan and the United States of America. Upon you and your families I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In his speech, the Pope continued the new cycle of catecheses on the Mass, focusing on the theme: Why should we go to Mass on Sunday?
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father addressed particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic blessing.
Catechesis of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the General Audience
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Continuing with the journey of catecheses on the Mass, today let us ask ourselves: why should we go to Mass on Sunday?
The Sunday celebration of the Eucharist is at the centre of the life of the Church (cf Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2177). We Christians go to Mass on Sunday in order to meet the risen Lord, or better said, to allow ourselves to be encountered by Him, to listen to his word, to nourish ourselves at his table and in that way, we become a Church, his mystical body which is alive in the world.
From the very beginning, Jesus' disciples understood this as they celebrated the Eucharistic encounter with the Lord on the day which the Jews called the first of the week and the Romans called the day of the sun, for it was on that day that Jesus had risen rom the dead and had appeared to the disciples, speaking with them, eating with them, and the day on which he had sent the Holy Spirit (cf Mt 28:1; Mk 16:9, 14; Lk 24:1, 13; Jn 20:19), as we heard in the biblical reading this morning.
The great outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost took place on Sunday, the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Jesus. For these reasons, Sunday is a holy day for us, made holy by the Eucharistic celebration, the living presence of the Lord among us and for us. Therefore, the Mass makes Sunday a Christian! A Christian Sunday revolves around the Mass. What would Sunday be for a Christian if there were no encounter with the Lord?
There are some Christian communities that unfortunately cannot enjoy Mass every Sunday; who nonetheless, on these holy days, are called to gather in prayer in the name of the Lord, to listen to the Word of God and to keep alive their desire for the Eucharist.
Some secular societies have lost the Christian meaning of Sundays illuminated by the Eucharist. This is a sin! In such a context, we need to revive this awareness in order to re-capture the meaning of a feast, the significance of joy, of a parish community, of solidarity, of rest that restores the soul and the body (cf Catechism of the Catholic Church, nn. 2177-2188). Among all these values, the Eucharist is the best, Sunday after Sunday. For this reason, the Second Vatican Council wished to reiterate the fact that Sunday is the day of the primordial feast which must be proposed and infused in the piety of the faithful, in order that it may also become a day of joy and of abstention from work (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 106).
Abstaining from work on Sunday did not exist in the first centuries: it is a specific addition adopted by Christianity. According to biblical tradition, the Jews would rest on the Sabbath, while Roman society did not allow for a weekly day of abstention from servile work. It was the Christian sense of living as children and not as slaves, animated by the Eucharist, that made Sunday - almost universally - the day of rest.
Without Christ, we are condemned to be ruled by daily tiredness, with its preoccupations, and fear of tomorrow. Our Sunday encounters with the Lord give us the strength to live today with trust and courage and to keep going with hope. This is the reason why we Christians go toward the encounter with the Lord on Sunday, in the Eucharistic celebration.
Eucharistic communion with Jesus, Risen and living for all eternity, anticipates the Sunday when there will be no sunset, when there will be no more tiredness or suffering or fighting or tears, but only the joy of living fully and forever with the Lord. The Sunday Mass also speaks of this blessed repose, teaching us throughout the flow of the week to entrust ourselves into the hands of our Father in heaven.
How can we reply to those who say that it is useless to go to Mass, not even on Sunday, because what is important is to live well, to love our neighbour? It is true that the quality of a Christian life is measured by our capacity to love, as Jesus said: By this, all will know that you are my disciples: if you love one another (Jn 13:35); but how can we practice the gospel without drawing the energy necessary to do so, one Sunday after another, from the inexhaustible font of the Eucharist? We do not go to Mass in order to give something to God, but in order to receive from Him that which we truly need. The Church's prayer reminds us of this when she says to God: You have no need of our praise, yet by the gift of your love, you call us to give you thanks; our hymns of praise do nothing to enhance your greatness, but obtain for us the grace that saves us (Roman Missal, Common Preface IV).
In conclusion, why do we go to Mass on Sunday? It is not enough for us to reply by saying that it is a precept of the Church; this helps us to keep its value but it is not enough. We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his presence living within us and among us, can we put his commandment into practice, to be his witnesses in the world.
The Holy Father's catechesis was then summarized in various languages and he offered greetings to each group of pilgrims in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I am pleased to greet the participants in the 2017 Forum of Catholic-inspired Non-Governmental Organizations meeting in Rome during these days. I express my deep appreciation for your efforts to bring the light of the Gospel to the various peripheries of our world, in order to defend human dignity, to promote the integral development of peoples, and to meet the material and spiritual needs of so many members of our human family. I encourage you to work always in a spirit of communion and cooperation with other Catholic NGOs and with the representatives of the Holy See, as an expression of the Church’s commitment to the building of a more just and fraternal world. With prayerful good wishes that these days of reflection and discussion will prove fruitful for your work, I cordially impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing.
I also greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from Australia, Indonesia, India, Japan and the United States of America. Upon you and your families I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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