Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee
 

Last Sunday’s first reading was from the book of Exodus and it was about the Ten Commandments. The Third Commandment asks us to keep holy the Lord’s Day. On March 3, 2021, parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Milwaukee held Lenten missions, and priests were sent forth to preach on the gift of Sunday. These men were like modern-day missionaries charged with raising awareness of the importance of Sunday in the spiritual lives of the faithful.

We have gone through a particularly difficult period and, for a multitude of reasons, people were discouraged from attending Sunday Mass. The pandemic isolates us from one another and, I would offer, that some in our society who do not hold worship as an essential activity have attempted to separate us also from our responsibility before God. Fear of COVID-19 overtook many people and our Sunday worship was limited to only a small percentage of those who could or desired to attend.

Before the pandemic, studies suggest that only 25 to 30 percent of those claiming to be Catholic attended Mass on Sunday. Now, remember, Sunday is a day of obligation for the faithful. There are legitimate excuses, such as illness, charitable responsibilities, impossibilities, travel, etc., but sloth is not one of them. We must challenge ourselves to live up to our responsibility before God. It is hard for me to imagine a person who claims they love someone and then arbitrarily fails to show up to a dinner that expresses that love. Imagine a person who gives a response that states, “I will do it on my time or when I wish.” They feel no sense of obligation to acknowledge the love offered by the One who is far superior to us.

God placed the obligation to attend Sunday Mass to aid us in maintaining our focus in this world. Our lives are pulled in many directions, but there must be only one priority in all our lives, and that is the expression of our love for God. If that is not our priority, then all of our lives in this world are incomplete. The Church in her wisdom clearly stated that intentionally missing Sunday Mass is a grave sin.

We do not like to talk about sin, but we must because it concerns the salvation of our souls. Sin is the destruction of our relationship with God. Think of the First Commandment, “I am the Lord thy God; thou shall not have strange gods before me.” What gods do we place ahead of our God?

We do not fulfill the Sunday obligation with the participation of worship for an hour alone. The obligation includes setting aside Sunday as the Lord’s Day. Sunday should be different from the other days of the week. It is a day that belongs to God; it is a day that He calls for us to rest and renew our spirits. Sunday should reflect the beginning of our lives with Him.

At the Lenten missions, the missionary preachers proclaimed their insights into the celebration of Sunday and the centrality of the Eucharistic Presence. Each preacher, in a manner unique to their priestly or episcopal experience, shared the importance of Sunday with the people in attendance and those who were viewing it online. Take a moment and go to www.archmil.org/Lenten-Missions to listen to the various approaches to the Gift of Sunday that each presentation provides. I plan to listen to all of them. These missions began the first of a threefold presentation on the Gift of Sunday. The next presentation will occur in Advent, and the final one will be in Lent of 2022.

I am grateful for the cooperation of our preachers and their enthusiastic response. It was obvious to me that they love the people of the Archdiocese who they were ordained to serve. My gratitude also extends to Randy Nohl, Jenni Olivia, and Kim Mandelkow, who coordinated these missions along with the Archdiocesan staff. I believe that this will be a game-changing moment in our history.

Christianity reshaped the world by just a handful of disciples who were willing to proclaim Jesus. It is now up to us to ignite the flames of faith and become messengers of Christ to our families and communities. May Lent 2021 be the time when we take up the cross, renew our commitment to the Faith and, in Christ’s name, LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Note: This blog originally appeared as the March 9, 2021 "Love One Another" email sent to Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki. If you are interested in signing up for these email messages, please click here.