5th Sunday of Easter
Fr. Philip Neri Powell OP
OLR, NOLA
[After reading the archbishop's letter reinstating the Sunday Mass obligation June 6th. . .]
Hear again what the Lord teaches: “Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.” I'll put this in less-literary terms for you: you cannot “grow in holiness as a Catholic” on your own. Neither can I. To be Catholic is to be a member of the Body, attached to the vine of the Church, receiving nourishment and support from the source of our salvation – Christ Jesus. There is no such thing as a “personal Catholic,” or a “private Catholic,” or a “do-it-yourself Catholic.” You are a fruit-producing branch attached to the vine of Christ's Body, the Church; or, you are not. So, how do we remain “in Christ”? How do I stay attached to the vine and produce good fruit? Archbishop Aymond notes one way we have of staying attached to Christ – the obligation to attend Sunday Mass. This obligation has been dispensed for the last year b/c of COVID. Come June 6th – the Solemnity of Corpus Christi – that obligation will be re-instated. And thanks be to God that we are so obliged! If you, like me, struggle to grow in holiness, a firm rule always helps!
You see, the Church is an expert in human nature, an ancient Mother who understands her children. Every child sees “the rules” as unjust, unfair, maybe even mean-spirited. Surely, true freedom comes from having no rules, no laws, no restrictions whatsoever! And that would be true if there were no natural or supernatural consequences to our behavior. But we know – our choices have consequences; our actions cause effects. So, Holy Mother Church, in all her ancient wisdom, lays down a few rules for us to follow. One of these rules is: “You must attend Mass every Sunday and all holy days of obligation.” Missing a holy day or Sunday Mass when you could've attended is a mortal sin. This is the minimum required to stay attached to the vine of Christ and produce good fruit. NB. you are not required to receive communion every time you attend Mass. In fact, if you are carrying a mortal sin, you should not receive communion! To help with this problem, Mother Church requires that we all go to confession at least once a year. The older Catholics among us will remember this rule as “the Easter Duty.” Why all these rules? Didn't we get rid of these after VC2? No, we didn't. What we got rid of (apparently) is the truth that these rules are in place not to control us but to help us remain in Christ.
The Easter season is quickly coming to a close. We are on the edge of the summer months and Ordinary Time, that time of year where we turn toward Everyday Holiness and the sometimes sweaty work of repairing and fortifying our relationship with Christ. Where to start? Easy! Go to confession. A broken vessel cannot hold water. A broken soul cannot receive grace. Going to confession can be scary. You're worried that Father will laugh at you, or yell at you, or maybe be shocked at your sins. I can guarantee you none of that will happen. Priests are sinners too. We go to confession. And we've heard it all before. I've been hearing confessions for 16yrs. There is no new sin under the sun. Whether it's been a week since your last confession or 30yrs. . .come in and repair your relationship with God so that you can receive the Body and Blood of Christ at Mass and produce excellent fruit. The Church's rules are given to us to strengthen us, to point us in the right direction, to guide us around obstacles to holiness. So, bend a little and grow a lot. Your immortal soul depends on it!
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