“Without Christ, we are doomed to be overcome by day-to-day weariness with their worries and fear of the future”
About 7,000 people attended weekly catechesis with the Pope today. Resuming the path of reflection on the Mass, Pope Francis spoke about the importance of going to Mass on Sundays.
From the earliest times, the disciples of Jesus celebrated the Eucharistic encounter with the Lord on the day the Jews called ‘the first of the week’ and the Romans ‘the day of the sun’.
After Easter, the disciples of Jesus became accustomed to waiting for the visit of their divine Master on the first day of the week; it was on that day that He rose and came to meet them in the Upper Room, speaking and eating with them and giving them the Holy Spirit. This meeting was repeated eight days later, with the presence of Tomé.
And so, gradually, the first day of the week came to be called by the Christians ‘the day of the Lord’, that is, the Sunday.
“The Sunday celebration of the Eucharist is at the center of the life of the Church: we go to Mass to meet the risen Lord, or rather to let ourselves be found by him,” the Pope said.
“To listen to his word, feed us to his table and thus, to become Church, his mystical body alive in the world today. Therefore, Sunday is for us a holy day: sanctified by the Eucharistic celebration, the living presence of the Lord for us and among us. It is the Mass that makes Christians Sunday. ”
“Unfortunately there are Christian communities that can not have Mass every Sunday; but also they are called to gather themselves in prayer that day, hearing the Word of God and keeping alive the desire of the Eucharist. ”
“Without Christ, we are doomed to be overcome by day-to-day fatigue with their worries and fear of the future. The Sunday meeting with Jesus gives us the strength we need to live our days with courage and hope. ”
In conclusion, why go to Mass on Sundays?
“It is not enough to say that this is a precept of the Church. We Christians need to participate in the Sunday mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his presence alive in us and among us, we can practice his commandment and be credible witnesses. ”
Moreover, Eucharistic communion with the Risen Jesus anticipates that Sunday without a time when all humanity will enter into the rest of God.
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