A Letter from Our Pastor: Celebrating the Lord’s Day

Dear Members of St. Joseph and Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parishes,

People filled the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on May 21 for the Rite of Ordination of Priests, and many more watched a live feed of the liturgy on the diocesan website. Bishop Edward Malesic, the Bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland, was the celebrant for this liturgy.

It was a joyful day as three men were ordained to the priesthood for service to the Diocese of Cleveland.

But, as you can see with these ordination numbers, we are not keeping up with the number of priests who retire or die each year. We are feeling the effects of this in our St. Joseph and Nativity Parishes with one priest, namely myself, to serve both parishes.

We need priests. We cannot have Mass without a priest. That is why Jesus has given His priests a share in His own priesthood: so that we could continue to do what He did at the Last Supper when He gave Himself to us in the Eucharist and told us to “do this in memory of Me.” (I celebrated the 47th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood on June 14.)

As a Church and as parishes that are hopefully moving out of this pandemic, we need to reclaim Sunday as “the Lord’s Day,” a New Testament title for Sunday which is found in the Book of Revelation 1:10. Sunday is not just a day like any other day — with the addition of Mass. Sunday is the day of Jesus’ resurrection, it is the day of Jesus’ appearances after He rose from the dead, and it is the day when the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles and the Church at Pentecost.

For Christians, the Sunday gathering for the Eucharist replaced the Jewish Sabbath observance. “Christians are those who keep the Lord’s Day, not the Sabbath,” writes St. Ignatius of Antioch.

Because participating in Sunday Mass each week is such a great privilege, it is also a great responsibility and carries with it a serious obligation. We read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass. The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day” (#2180).

“The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason … Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave (i.e. mortal or serious) sin” (#2181).

Summer vacation is not a valid reason to miss Sunday Mass. In fact, our summer leisure ought to give us more opportunity to appreciate celebrating the Eucharist on the Lord’s Day.

To find a church while traveling, you may enter our parish website at www.stjosephamherst.com and then click on “extra links” at the very bottom of the home page. Then click on “Mass time for travel” and you will be connected with masstimes.org. This is a handy way to get to Mass while out of town on the Lord’s Day.

Please enjoy the pictures and the articles in this issue. And thank Jesus for sharing the gift of His priesthood with us so that we may celebrate the Eucharist each and every Sunday, the Lord’s Day.

Gratefully in Christ,

Fr. Timothy J. O’Connor, Pastor

Fr. Timothy J. O’Connor, Pastor