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Sunday Obligation (14th Sunday Ordinary Time 2020)
Matthew 11
This pandemic has changed many aspects of our daily life. What about our faith life? Certainly, the parish life has visibly changed a lot. Some Christians would say these visible changes are only external. It is absolutely true that there is no change in the Church’s teaching. Nor is there any degradation of Christian values. However, we should pay attention to changes in the visible exercises of faith. It’s because these visible exercises of faith are the reflections of our spirits. Our body is the image of our spirit, as our whole being is the image of God. Let us spend some time examining what visible changes there have been since the pandemic in our faith life and reflect on them for their spiritual significances.
The greatest change would be our Sunday obligation. It has been about three months since the obligation was lifted for everyone in our diocese. No one has to go to church now. But does that mean everyone and anyone can worship our Lord enough by oneself and for oneself?
From the beginning of the Old Testament, our God always called people to himself out of the world. In a sense, he would separate us from the world. Look at Abraham and Noah and the whole Exodus account. Israel was called out of Egypt to became God’s people to worship God. Jesus summoned his disciples out of the Jews and made them a new people. This ‘called-out’, ‘summoned-out’, or ‘assembly’ is the original meaning of the Latin word for church ‘ecclesia’. We are called out of the world to become a worshipping community. Thus it becomes the Church, a word originally meaning ‘the Lord’s house’. Therefore, gathering is essential for Christians. And the Sunday obligation reminds us of our Christian identity of God’s chosen people.
Then, can we say the dispensation from the Sunday obligation due to the pandemic removes our essential identity as the people who are called out from the world and worship God as a community? Absolutely not.
The Sunday obligation points out another important aspect of the Christian life. That is to keep the Lord’s day holy. Sunday is the day of Christ’s resurrection. From the beginning of the Church, Christians gathered and celebrated the Lord’s resurrection every Sunday. It has been reserved for the Lord. We spend this day in the Lord. It is a holy day.
Then, can we say the dispensation from the Sunday obligation allows us to spend Sunday in whatever way we like? Can we forget about the Lord on the Lord’s day? Attendance at church is not obligatory. However, we still have an obligation to spend Sunday in the Lord. We Christians are the people of Sunday. If we behave no different from non-Christians on Sunday because there is no Sunday obligation, we are no Christian in the heart.
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By Fr Swann KimMatthew 11
This pandemic has changed many aspects of our daily life. What about our faith life? Certainly, the parish life has visibly changed a lot. Some Christians would say these visible changes are only external. It is absolutely true that there is no change in the Church’s teaching. Nor is there any degradation of Christian values. However, we should pay attention to changes in the visible exercises of faith. It’s because these visible exercises of faith are the reflections of our spirits. Our body is the image of our spirit, as our whole being is the image of God. Let us spend some time examining what visible changes there have been since the pandemic in our faith life and reflect on them for their spiritual significances.
The greatest change would be our Sunday obligation. It has been about three months since the obligation was lifted for everyone in our diocese. No one has to go to church now. But does that mean everyone and anyone can worship our Lord enough by oneself and for oneself?
From the beginning of the Old Testament, our God always called people to himself out of the world. In a sense, he would separate us from the world. Look at Abraham and Noah and the whole Exodus account. Israel was called out of Egypt to became God’s people to worship God. Jesus summoned his disciples out of the Jews and made them a new people. This ‘called-out’, ‘summoned-out’, or ‘assembly’ is the original meaning of the Latin word for church ‘ecclesia’. We are called out of the world to become a worshipping community. Thus it becomes the Church, a word originally meaning ‘the Lord’s house’. Therefore, gathering is essential for Christians. And the Sunday obligation reminds us of our Christian identity of God’s chosen people.
Then, can we say the dispensation from the Sunday obligation due to the pandemic removes our essential identity as the people who are called out from the world and worship God as a community? Absolutely not.
The Sunday obligation points out another important aspect of the Christian life. That is to keep the Lord’s day holy. Sunday is the day of Christ’s resurrection. From the beginning of the Church, Christians gathered and celebrated the Lord’s resurrection every Sunday. It has been reserved for the Lord. We spend this day in the Lord. It is a holy day.
Then, can we say the dispensation from the Sunday obligation allows us to spend Sunday in whatever way we like? Can we forget about the Lord on the Lord’s day? Attendance at church is not obligatory. However, we still have an obligation to spend Sunday in the Lord. We Christians are the people of Sunday. If we behave no different from non-Christians on Sunday because there is no Sunday obligation, we are no Christian in the heart.