“All who keep the sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer.”

          Our Lord has some harsh words for this Canaanite – non-Jewish – woman in today’s Gospel. Why would He treat her so severely? His words, though, are an opening, an invitation to faith, the opportunity for her to express her unworthiness and great desire for Him, she who, not being Jewish, would be seemingly outside of those who could expect to receive something from the Lord.

          He also emphasizes that salvation is a gift, not something to which anyone is entitled. But in healing her daughter, He fulfills a mission originally given to the people of Israel centuries before: to not only be the Lord’s chosen people, but to be the source of the conversion of the whole world to the one true God.

          When Isaiah gives the Jews this promise, he emphasizes that it is those “who keep the sabbath” who will be welcomed into the Lord’s temple. It is very hard for us to grasp the role of the sabbath for the Jews. The idea of a day of rest, now expanded into a week-end, is such a part of the structure of time for us. But in the ancient world, a day of rest, a day completely set aside each week for religious observance and joyful rest, was completely unheard of. More so than any other distinctive practice, the observance of Sabbath rest marked the Jews out as different.

          The Sabbath is not just a day of rest, though. It is first a day of worship! The Lord will make those who keep the Sabbath “joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar.” Nowadays, Sunday has become a “free day.” Institutions that were always closed on Sundays offer family and children-focused activities. Libraries, swim lessons, you name it – they’re all in full swing on Sunday morning. Because what else would young families with children be doing? It’s the perfect time!

          Sunday is not a “free day” because Sunday is not your day, it’s the Lord’s day. Most languages emphasize this. In Latin, it’s Dominica, from domini, Lord. Domingo, Dimanche, Domenica, dom, dom, dom, Lord, Lord, Lord. It is the day that belongs to the Lord.

          If Sunday is not a free day, but the Lord’s day, then it is the day to do what He has asked for. It is the day to give thanks for all He has given. This idea is deeply ingrained in Hispanic cultures, that we come to the Lord’s house on the Lord’s day to give thanks. As I stood outside the church greeting people arriving for Masses in Spanish, people would so often say things like, “We’re here to give thanks to God!” “I came to thank God for His many gifts today!” How often do we come to God’s house to give thanks? We come to receive, of course, and rightly so, but we ought to motivated just as much not to get something out of Mass, but to give thanks to the Lord. This is more than sufficient reason alone to come to Mass every Sunday!

As we pray in the psalms: “What shall I render to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.” I pray that psalm at every Mass as I purify the paten before taking up the chalice of salvation and receiving the Precious Blood. Because what could we possibly give back to the Lord in comparison to the immensity of what He has given us? Absolutely everything we have is a gift from Him!

This is why participation in Holy Mass is absolutely irreplaceable as that act of thanksgiving we owe to Almighty God on His day. Because the only thing we could give that would be worthy, would be Him Himself, the Body and Blood of His Son, which His Church offers back to the Father through the unbloodly re-presentation of His Sacrifice. This is why missing Holy Mass without serious reason (such as illness or needing to care for someone who is ill, or lacking transportation) is a mortal sin, a real one, that must be confessed before receiving the Lord in Holy Communion.

When I studied abroad in Argentina, my host family was Italian, and the grandma (called nonna, the Italian word for grandma) and host mother made homemade pastas. They had a big family dinner every Sunday, frequently with her homemade pastas. One week, though, my host brother skipped. We waited a good while, but Martin didn’t show up. Next week, as we were preparing to sit down, my host father pulled him aside and asked, “Have you apologized to nonna?” “Umm, well, no.” My host father, normally a gentle, soft-spoken man, was not pleased: “Do you mean you’re going to sit down and eat that dinner that nonna slaved over all day yesterday and pretend like nothing happened? Get back in that kitchen and say you’re sorry before you even think about eating more of her pasta!”

If we skip the banquet of the Lord, how could we think about approaching that banquet again without seeking His forgiveness in confession? All time, of course, is actually His. But this is the time He asks you to give back.

How can we restore Sunday to being the Lord’s day, and not our free day? I have three concrete proposals. The first purpose of the Lord’s day is worship. So, as much as possible, commit to a parish. Yes, it’s great that we have so many options. Yes, sometimes there are unavoidable circumstances, and we need to look for a Mass somewhere else. But whose day is it? Sticking to the same place at the same time emphasizes that this isn’t my day, but His! That I came today not because I felt like it, but because this is just what we do, because it’s just who we are. We are the Lord’s people, and this is His day!

Committing to a parish and sticking to it has another important benefit: We are experiencing a crisis of belonging, a sense of who we really are and what communities we really belong to. Uprooted from real communities, we fall prey to so-called “communities” that are really just ideologies. When we commit to a parish, we are better informed about what’s going on there, we see the same people more consistently and have a better chance to build real communities, and we can receive a consistency in teaching.

After worship, the Lord’s day is for family. Make Sunday a day set aside for family. Of course, that can take a variety of forms. For me, my brother priests are also very much my family, so I spend most Sunday evenings with them, especially a core group that I see week after week. Spending the same time each week with the same people might sound tedious for some. But in that consistent and constant presence, we can form deep bonds.

After family, Sunday is a day for recreation. Not just for rest, and certainly not just for amusement, but for things that re-create you, that build you up, that renew and restore you. These days, for anything that doesn’t involve a screen. So, here’s my third concrete proposal: Make Sunday, as much as possible, a screen-free day. Have time each Sunday when you are together with people and none of you are on devices. Really be together, and dig into good, fun, restorative play without being separated from one another by the portal into the entire rest of the world that we carry around in our pockets, that makes us really be somewhere – and even someone – else. Make Sunday a day in which you are here, grounded, in the real world growing closer to the real people you care about.

From all the people of the world, Christ has chosen you! He has invited you to come to His holy mountain, to offer, unworthy as you are, sacrifice in His temple. He asks you to set aside this holy day for Him, and He gives you the chance, in the worthy reception of the Most Holy Eucharist, to take up the chalice of salvation by receiving His Body and Blood, and to call upon the name of the Lord. Make Sunday His day, make it a day of true rest, and make it a day when our families grow closer together as they grow closer to Him.

The Rev. Royce V. Gregerson

Parish Church of Our Lady of Good Hope, Fort Wayne

XX Sunday through the Year, A.D. MMXXVI