The sense of Sunday still resonates deeply with Christians throughout this country and throughout the world, writes Julie Kavanagh
A s a parish cantor, I have been one of the privileged few able to attend Mass on a Sunday throughout this pandemic. I don’t take that privilege lightly. I have experienced first-hand the loneliness of joining with a priest celebrant, reader, organist and sacristan to pray the Mass in the virtual company of those with us on webcam. I have witnessed both the huge effort made by parishes to ensure safe public worship and the joy of people when they finally could come to the church, however tentatively, to celebrate Mass together.
When public worship did return it was clear that the Sunday Mass stood out from all the others as the one that parishioners wanted to attend. Parishes who put on extra weekday liturgies and encouraged parishioners to spread the Sunday congregation throughout the week quickly discovered that Sunday was the day people wanted to and needed to celebrate. As Christians, as Catholics we should not be surprised by this. Indeed, we should be glad that the place of Sunday in the Christian tradition still holds firm among the people.
The power of the final line in the ever-popular Austin Clarke poem, The Planter’s Daughter, lies in a religious imagination that understands the place of Sunday in people’s lives. “As a bell that is rung or a wonder told shyly, and O she was the Sunday in every week.” This is the day of worship and rest, the day of dressing in your Sunday best, the day of companionship and ease.
While this sense of Sunday may not be shared universally in the Ireland of today, it still resonates deeply with Christians throughout this country and throughout the world. And with just cause, for Sunday goes to the very core of our Christian DNA. Sunday is the day of the Lord. It is the day when we remember and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the fundamental event of our Christian Faith. It is the day of Eucharist and of gathering, the day of resting in thankful contemplation of what God has done and continues to do for us.
St John Paul II wrote in his great letter on Sunday in 1998 that “More than a precept, the observance [of Sunday] should be seen as a need rising from the depths of Christian life.” As Christians we need to keep Sunday holy. The most obvious and primary way we do this is through our attendance at Mass. But our keeping of Sunday is not limited to or exhausted by Mass. This may be helpful to remember as we find ourselves once more in the painful place of being unable to physically gather for Eucharist on a Sunday. In these circumstances we might ask: What are we to do? What can we do?
Well, the first thing we can do is to remind ourselves that even now we can still keep Sunday holy. We can make decisions and choices about how we keep Sunday, alone or as a family. The Sunday routines we shape for ourselves can continue to nourish us, even as so many of us grieve the loss of receiving the Body of Christ. What might these routines include? Here are a few suggestions to help keep Sunday holy:
- If you can, continue to join with your local parish for Mass via webcam or livestreaming. Alternatively, join in praying the Mass broadcast from another parish or on Television or radio.
- Make an act of spiritual Communion, welcoming Jesus into your very being.
- Take some time to read and reflect on the Sunday readings, alone or as a family. What is God saying to you today?
- Set this day apart with rest and relaxation. Avoid those chores that can wait for Monday!
- As a day of charity, mark Sunday by reaching out to those who may need you, for example the sick or an elderly neighbour, a parent raising children alone. Remember to support your parish, if you can, by donating online or by other means.
- Visit with family and friends by phone or get to see one another via technologies like Zoom or facetime.
- Enjoy the beauty of God’s creation with a Sunday walk or spend time in your garden.
- Share family time together. Dress your table and share a Sunday dinner together, play board games, do fun crafts or get out in the garden together.
- Pray a family rosary.
- Visit your parish church to pray privately and to make a connection with the parish.
- Create a personal or family Sunday tradition.
As so many parishioners are joining in live broadcasts of Sunday, and weekday, Mass it might be helpful to consciously think about how we go about participating in them. These suggestions for praying the Mass via technology may be helpful:
- Dress as you would for Mass.
- Have your technology ready and be on time.
- Turn off any technology that might distract you during the Mass.
- If possible, join in the Mass as a family and have a member light a candle before Mass begins, perhaps beside a cross or another sacred image.
- Share in the responses, prayers and gestures of the Mass.
- Stand for the Gospel and Our Father; kneel as appropriate if you can; share some sign of peace if you are with others.
- Join in the singing.
- At the time of Holy Communion, make an act of spiritual communion.
- And finally, when Mass is ended go in peace from this prayer to live what you have prayed.
In these darkest of days, our keeping of Sunday can give us exactly the light, sustenance and grace we need to carry us through the rest of our week. Sunday is God’s gift to us. It’s up to us to do the unwrapping.
Julie Kavanagh is a pastoral resource person with the faith development service of the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin.