Sunday - The Lord's Day

by David Lins  |  02/12/2023  |  (Being) Catholic Matters

Superbowl Sunday is one of the few nationwide shared experiences we have left. Oh, sure, there are exceptions. But the vast majority of the country spends one Sunday a year in a home or an establishment where the game is playing on at least one television.

If you aren’t—you realize you are an outlier,

When I was a child, if the president was on television, everyone watched. We didn’t really have a choice. He was on ABC, CBS, and NBC. The only other option was PBS, and that was worse. If a space shuttle launched, school stopped and we all watched. (I still remember where I was when the Challenger exploded.) It even seemed like half the country tuned in to NBC on Thursday nights with hits including, Cheers, the Cosby Show, Friends, Seinfeld, and ER.

But shared experiences extended further than television.

Every Sunday, about 80% of businesses shut down. It was a day for God and family. And it was beautiful. I only regret that I didn’t realize it until it was gone. At the time, I only saw it as an inconvenience.

But it was the way it still should be.

It was the way it still can be.

We still have the ability to make Sunday the Lord’s Day. We still have the ability to make Mass our weekly shared experience.

Like someone inviting friends over for the Superbowl, we can invite friends to join us for Mass. Like someone settling in to hear what the leader of the free world has to say, we can settle in to hear what the King of the Universe has to say.

And like someone who watches the shuttle launch with awe and wonder, we can watch the bread and wine become the Body and Blood with awe and wonder.

We know Mass is the source and summit of our Faith, but it should also be the source and summit of our week.