Dear Friends:
It has been over six months since the obligation to attend in person Sunday Mass was dispensed by the Archbishop as a means of avoiding the spread of COVID19. The churches have always been opened for personal prayer, and weekday Masses resumed June 8 with Sun-day Masses resuming on July 4. The attendance at Sun-day Mass, while not what it normally is in a time with no pandemic, has been gradually increasing, all the while staying well within the limit of the number allowed by civic authorities.
That being said, I have heard that some people are quite happy to stay home and watch Mass on television, even though we have Sunday Mass available once again. For those who have serious health issues, the televised Sunday Mass is precisely for them. They should stay at home and remain connected, as far as that is possible, through modern means of communication. And while all are dispensed from the obligation of attending Sunday Mass at least through Saturday, November 26, that does not mean that one is dispensed from the serious obligation of observing Sunday as a day dedicated to the worship of God and a day set aside for rest and leisure. Time spent with family and friends on Sunday is important, not only for our own emotional wellbeing, but also important for the health of family life. The worship of God on Sundays when the obligation to attend Mass has been dispensed should entail, at a minimum, watching and praying the televised Sunday Mass and spending some quiet time in personal prayer, which, of course, one should do every day. The proper observance of Sun-day also demands rest and relaxation. Unnecessary work and other activities proper to the other days of the week, such as shopping, should be avoided. Sunday needs to be observed as the special day that it is.
Once the dispensation is lifted by the Archbishop (and I do not know when that will be), I feel it is important to point out that all who can attend Mass in per-son, those who do not suffer from a serious issue of health, will be obligated to do so. To remain home and watch Mass on television will no longer suffice. While televised Mass has been a blessing for us all in the time when churches were closed, it is no substitute at all for attendance at Mass, and the “full, conscious and active participation” by God’s People in the sacred liturgy that the Second Vatican Council calls for. We as Catholics have a special place in our lives for the Eucharist, which is “the source and the summit” of our faith. We cannot do without the Eucharist, and even though we can and should make a spiritual communion, it should never re-place the actual celebration of the Mass in person and the personal reception of the Body and the Blood of the Lord in the Eucharist. That should be a regular, normal part of our lives and it is my hope that it will return to that once life returns to some normalcy and the obligation to attend Sunday Mass is once again in place.