The Liturgical Year

In the Encyclical Mediator Dei, Pope Pius XII states that it "is not a cold and lifeless representation of the events of the past, or a simple ... record of a former age. [The liturgical year] is rather Christ Himself who is ever living in His Church. Here He continues that journey of immense mercy which He lovingly began in His mortal life ... with the design of bringing men to know His mysteries and in a way live by them. These mysteries are ever present and active" (III Divinum Officium et Annus Liturgicus, II Cyclus Mysteriorum).

The liturgical year should thus be understood as a constant renewal of the work of salvation which Christ accomplishes in history. As she journeys through this temporal cycle, the Church remains in contact with the Lord's redemptive action, so that all the faithful may be filled with His grace (Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC), 102c).

Saint John Paul II, in the Apostolic Letter Dies Domini (31 May 1998), teaches that Sunday is the day of the Lord, the day of the Church, the day of man and, finally, the "day of days". "Since Sunday is the weekly Easter, recalling and making present the day upon which Christ rose from the dead, it is also the day which reveals the meaning of time. ...Springing from the Resurrection, it cuts through human time, the months, the years, the centuries, like a directional arrow which points them towards their target: Christ's Second Coming. Sunday foreshadows the last day, the day of the Parousia" (75), when we shall all rise again.

To sanctify Sunday, it is fundamental to celebrate the Eucharist. Listening to the Word and partaking of the Body of Christ entail, according to the Council Fathers, the coming together in unum (cf. SC, 106), that is, the joyful gathering of the faithful. In this assembly, the Christian community makes visible its communion with the Lord and bears witness to its belonging to Christ and its fidelity to the Church. This assembly cannot be substituted by a solely virtual presence, nor can it be reduced to a merely passive gathering. The liturgical assembly is in fact fulfilled through the active participation of brothers and sisters, called together to "thank God who 'has begotten them again, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto a living hope" (1 Pet 1:3) (ibid.). In this regard, I urge everyone to seek the best possible conditions so that even those who are unable to take time off work on Sundays may take part in Holy Mass.

The liturgical year thus repeats, in sacramental form, the teaching of the history of salvation, guiding the faithful from the expectation of the Messiah to the fullness of the Paschal Mystery and to the anticipation of future glory. In it, the Church celebrates the salvific relevance of the mystery of Christ, enabling believers to participate in it ever more deeply.