Catholics are instructed to attend Mass and enjoy adequate rest on Sundays (see Catechism of the Catholic Church 2180-2188). This is not optional. However, in our modern society filled with packed schedules and stacks of bills, many Christians treat Sunday like just another day.
Many Christian communities even eschew the thought of obligatory worship on Sunday and Holy Days. For example, more than a few churches have been giving their congregations “the week off” for Christmas (even if it falls on a Sunday) affording everyone the opportunity to “prioritize your family”. Sadly, this has trickled down to even Catholic and Orthodox Christians, and it’s something that deserves a response.
As a catechist at my home parish, it has pained me to learn that many of the children that I am instructing in the faith do not attend Mass regularly with their families. Those who are involved with religious education in their diocese know that this is a systemic problem throughout North America. In discussion with one director of religious education in a large diocese, I was told that a mom had said they want to enroll their child in religious education classes, but will not be attending Sunday Mass because when they do decide to go to church on Sunday, they want to go to the megachurch down the street because they are “fed” there.
What Really Matters?
The problem, then, is two-fold. The first is not understanding the necessity the Christian has in participating in the Eucharistic celebration each Sunday and Holy Day. The second problem is that many baptized Catholics do not fully understand what graces we receive from the celebration of Holy Mass. If we did understand it, our churches would be full each day, Monday through Sunday, with no problem!
Enter social media where memes are posted on a variety of topics; many of them garner instant likes, but rarely is there any room for much discourse. Recently I came across one such meme shared by a friend from Marcus Stanley, a non-Catholic Christian missionary and musician. The comment was very brief, but there’s quite a bit to unpack:
“It doesn’t matter how many Sundays you sit in church or if you think you are saved. God sees what you do and how you treat people. That’s what really matters.”
The Eucharist
This is exactly the mentality of many Christians today, and it’s a shame as this sentiment gets many things wrong about our faith in Jesus. We’ll leave aside the issue about being saved for now, as this appears to be a dig to those who subscribe to the “once saved, always saved” mantra. We can safely agree it doesn’t matter if one thinks they are saved. God is the judge of our souls (see 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Philippians 2:12). That being said, let’s jump into the implications being made from these comments, and answer why this view of “church” is un-biblical, and quite frankly, un-Christian.
Let’s first look at the opening statement. We are told that “it doesn’t matter how many Sundays you sit in church”. Well, let’s agree on one aspect of this. If all we’re doing when we go to church is just sitting there, totally unengaged, then we really are profiting nothing, and doing Sunday worship completely wrong. When we are in Church hearing Mass, we must be participating with our prayers, uniting our hearts with the priest at the altar. But if we seriously think that all we are doing on Sunday is “sitting” in Church, then we probably need to back things up and get to the heart of the matter: the Eucharist is Jesus.
Faith and Love Need a Source
If Catholics lived like we truly believed the Eucharist is Jesus, we would not see so many parish closures and mergers as we do today. We would not have such a dearth of priestly vocations as we currently see. We would be beating down the doors to get into Mass during the week, or at least every Sunday, instead of trying to figure out ways to weasel out of participating in Mass, such as was seen this past Christmas when it fell on a Monday. People were asking, “Do I really have to go to Mass two days in a row?!” And what’s sad is that our fellow Catholic brothers and sisters were asking like it was a chore, or like it was unreasonable. This shows how dim of an understanding of the Mass and the Blessed Sacrament many Catholics, particularly in North America, have today.
We must remember that the Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian life”. Not the source and summit for just Catholics, or for Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christians. This great gift that our Lord Jesus has given us is for all Christians. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
“The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch (CCC 1324).”
The World Needs the Mass
In Lumen Gentium, promulgated by Pope St. Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council, we are able to grasp in even more detail how necessary the Eucharist and the Mass are to the Christian life:
“Incorporated in the Church through baptism, the faithful are destined by the baptismal character for the worship of the Christian religion; reborn as sons of God they must confess before men the faith which they have received from God through the Church… Taking part in the Eucharistic sacrifice, which is the fount and apex of the whole Christian life, they offer the Divine Victim to God, and offer themselves along with It. Thus both by reason of the offering and through Holy Communion all take part in this liturgical service… Strengthened in Holy Communion by the Body of Christ, they then manifest in a concrete way that unity of the people of God which is suitably signified and wondrously brought about by this most august sacrament” (LG 11).
That really does not sound like merely sitting around at all. We must encourage all of our Christian brothers and sisters to enter into full communion with the one Church our Lord Jesus founded, in order that they may experience that “fount and apex” of the faith in Jesus Christ they say they profess. All Sunday “services” are not equal, and this meme implies that they are. As Catholic Christians, we must make this distinction. It’s imperative to differentiate between attending a mere “service” and participating in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, or the Divine Liturgy as it is called in the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
The meme mentioned above attempts to make all Christian modes of worship identical. This is simply not the case. As St. (Padre) Pio of Pietrelcina said:
“It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass.”
The Covenant Fulfilled
We must be clear (and charitable) in letting our lukewarm and fallen away Catholic brothers and sisters know that praying at home on Sunday, or attending worship services at Protestant churches do not give us as many graces as attending a single Mass does. How do we know this? Let’s look again to the Catechism and to Scripture.
Throughout the Old Testament, we see how the Israelites had a rich liturgical life, including a priesthood and a divine mandate to keep holy the Sabbath day. The Catechism states:
“The celebration of Sunday observes the moral commandment inscribed by nature in the human heart to render to God an outward, visible, public, and regular worship ‘as a sign of his universal beneficence to all.’ Sunday worship fulfills the moral command of the Old Covenant, taking up its rhythm and spirit in the weekly celebration of the Creator and Redeemer of his people” (CCC 2176).
We Encounter Christ at Mass
While the ceremonial and judicial aspects of the Old Covenant are no longer binding on the Christian, the moral laws have not been abrogated. Furthermore, since our Lord Jesus came “not to abolish” the law, “but to fulfill” it (Matthew 5:17-18), we see the fulfillment of the command given in the Old Covenant today with the precept to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass each Sunday and Holy Day. We have something much greater than what those under the Old Law had. Why would we want to miss it? The answer can only be ignorance of what is actually taking place at the Eucharistic celebration and the continuity it possesses with the Old Covenant.
We also must give a response to the second part of the meme that was posted above. Stanley also says that “God sees … how you treat people. That’s what really matters.” Let’s look at this from a different angle. If we treat other people kindly and the way we would want to be treated, we must also keep in mind that God is a Person; indeed he is one God in three Persons. How are we treating the three Persons of the Holy Trinity? Are we spending time with Jesus at Mass in the Holy Eucharist? How can we say that going to Mass on Sunday doesn’t matter knowing that we personally encounter our Lord Jesus there?
More Virtue, Please
Of course it matters that we treat people with charity, but we have a duty to both our fellow man and to God. One of the four cardinal virtues is justice, in which we give our due to others, and as the Catechism shows, as the Church has always taught “Justice toward God is called the ‘virtue of religion’” (CCC 1807). Here’s what St. Thomas Aquinas says regarding this duty we as Christians have to God:
“The precepts pertaining to religion are given precedence (Exodus 20) as being of greatest importance. Now the order of precepts is proportionate to the order of virtues, since the precepts of the Law prescribe acts of virtue. Therefore religion is the chief of the moral virtues” (Summa Theologiae, II-II, Q. 81, A. 6).”
As we can see, justice is not just a virtue, but the principal virtue. We often remember the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity when we speak of virtues, but how often do we remember the virtue of justice? If we as Christians are called to be not simply “nice” (as the world would have it), but virtuous, should we not be working on all the virtues? Especially, as St. Thomas says, the “chief” of all virtues?
Intentionally Participating in the Mass
We as Christians can practice this virtue of justice to our Lord and God by participating in the sacramental life. Pope Pius XII made this very clear in his encyclical, Mediator Dei:
“It is, therefore, desirable, Venerable Brethren, that all the faithful should be aware that to participate in the Eucharistic sacrifice is their chief duty and supreme dignity… [and] with such earnestness and concentration that they may be united as closely as possible with the High Priest, according to the Apostle, ‘Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus’” (MD 80).
We, the laity, participate at Holy Mass with the priest in a real and actual way when we unite our hearts to Jesus, our High Priest, with praise and thanksgiving, “pay[ing] God the honor and reverence that are due to Him” (MD 93).
This is forgotten by many of our brothers and sisters. But if we have a firm grasp on the reasons we go to Mass, we can witness in a way that will hopefully cause our neighbors to reconsider their impression of the Holy Sacrifice at our altars.
It’s about Faithfulness
The Catechism further explains:
“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… Participation in the communal celebration of the Sunday Eucharist is a testimony of belonging and of being faithful to Christ and to his Church” (CCC 2181, 2182).
We Need God’s Grace
In a 2017 audience, Pope Francis made it very clear that this meme is way off base in light of two thousand years of Christian living. He basically says that one can’t skip Mass and then think they’re in an all right state as Christians. It’s almost as if he were replying directly to this meme we’ve looked at! Let’s close with the vicar of Christ’s wise words:
“It is the Mass that makes Sunday Christian. The Christian Sunday revolves around the Mass. For a Christian, what is a Sunday in which the encounter with the Lord is lacking?
“How can we respond to those who say that it is of no use going to Mass, even on Sunday, because the important thing is to live well, to love our neighbor? It is true that the quality of Christian life is measured by the capacity to love … but how can we practice the Gospel without drawing the energy necessary to do so, one Sunday after another, from the inexhaustible source of the Eucharist? We do not go to Mass in order to give something to God, but to receive what we truly need from him. We are reminded of this by the Church’s prayer, which is addressed to God in this way: ‘although you have no need of our praise, yet our thanksgiving is itself your gift, since our praises add nothing to your greatness but profit us for salvation’ (Roman Missal, Common Preface IV).
“[So], why do we go to Mass on Sundays? It is not enough to respond that it is a precept of the Church; this helps to preserve its value, but alone does not suffice. We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with Jesus’ grace, with his living presence within us and among us, can we put his commandment into practice, and thus be his credible witnesses.”
Christ Sustains Us
Don’t let anyone tell you that we as Christians don’t need to go to church on Sunday. It does matter. It matters because we owe our Lord our gratitude and because he sustains us with his very Body and Blood in the Eucharist at Mass. I wouldn’t miss it for the world, and I sincerely hope the same goes for you.
You May Also Like:
Do I Have to Go? 101 Questions About the Mass, the Eucharist, and Your Spiritual Life (book)
TV Mass on Sunday, Cafeteria Catholics, and Finding Happiness When Depressed (podcast)
How to Prepare for the Sunday Readings (video)
Missing Mass and More on the Nature of Sin
About Nicholas LaBanca
Nicholas is a cradle Catholic and hopes to give a unique perspective on life in the Church as a millennial. His favorite saints include his patron St. Nicholas, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John Mary Vianney, and St. Athanasius of Alexandria.
Featured photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash
Thank you for the commentary. It was very well done.
First, I will state that attending mass weekly is a blessing and something that is good for the soul and should be done. I strongly advocate following the practice. However, I do not think that mandatory weekly attendance as a doctrine is supported by scripture.
You briefly reference points in the Old Testament that discuss keeping holy the sabbath. While there are no doubt references to this point, virtually all such references note that it is a day of rest and to be free from work. It is a day to dedicate time to God. There is a single reference to a “holy convocation” in Leviticus 23:3. Otherwise, group worship is not referenced in terms of a weekly sabbath at any point in the Old Testament. On the other hand, rest and refraining from work are included in every reference to how to keep holy the sabbath.
Weekly worship actually would have been impossible for many Jews as part of the Old Covenant. Jews were required to worship in the temple in Jerusalem. If they lived anywhere outside of Jerusalem, they could not properly engage in a worship ceremony. Indeed, that is why there are certain holy festivals where Jews were compelled to annually return to Jerusalem for worship services. Did they otherwise gather and read scripture or pray? Yes, of course, but they did not have a required weekly worship. The Pharisees wrongfully chastise Jesus and his disciples for doing acts of service on the sabbath, equating this to “working.” There is no reference to the failure to attend a worship service.
After the destruction of the temple and exile, Jews created a meeting place or synagogue. This system is what remains in place today. However, beyond the festivals as described in the Old Testament, Jews do not (and have never) had a doctrine requiring mandatory group worship on the sabbath.
Put differently, how can mandatory weekly group worship be the fulfillment of the Old Covenant when the Old Covenant did not have such worship in the first place? It cannot. This much was recognized by the Catholic Church at one point, as mandatory attendance was not Church doctrine for many years. It was not until the 4th Century that any rules were in place and this still did not mandate weekly mass attendance. This is an issue of tradition rather than based in scripture. It is a great sacred tradition, but that is what it is, not doctrine mandated from scripture.
In sum, going to mass is a great practice and something we should choose to do in dedicating time and focus on God. However, there is not strong scriptural support to require mandatory weekly mass attendance as the required way to accomplish this practice.
I believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Almighty God. I am in communion with Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Almighty God daily when I pray and meditate with all my heart, mind, soul, and spirit. I have the Christ within me, and I understand what it means when Jesus Christ said, “I and my Father are ONE.” This means to think and act like GOD — be ONE with GOD.
You can, too. You can encounter God with all your heart, mind, soul, and spirit in ANY place. When you pray and meditate on God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit daily, you can receive the Christ within you.
Sunday Mass helps you connect to God if you don’t pray and meditate daily. For example, Sunday Mass can remind you to love your neighbor. Jesus Christ said that what you do to others, you do to Him. So, if you need a weekly reminder on how to treat your neighbor, then Sunday Mass might be good for you.
Importantly, the obligation to attend Sunday Mass is a commandment of the Catholic Church; it is not God’s obligation to go to Heaven. Your soul’s obligation is to help your brothers and sisters. When you help your brothers and sisters, you are essentially helping Jesus Christ. You have to remember that the Christ is in everyone.
Remember this: “The Kingdom of God is within you.” This means you have the wisdom to know if Sunday Mass is for you.
We have a new improved commandment from J to participate in what he instituted for his Body and Blood, the highest form of worship that a human can partake. Yes we forget that. There are many ways of worship but J pulled together his 12 and reminded them to continue this ceremony until the end of the Ages. One that turned away many disciples too. Nice review. Parallels the thought of 2000 years of scholarship from the early fathers/ bishops thru the scholastics to modern theology. Thank you.
Good morning. I was reading the information provided about the Sunday Obligation. There is much said about the importance of Mass. I agree. I am a returning cathholic. I was in several evangelical churches and learned a lot. The most important to me was the “accepting Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior”. This created for me a recognition that I am now making a personal commitment to Jesus. This changed my perspective on how to start living a true spirtiual life. Before I would go to mass and be there. Now I go to Mass and I am in the Mass. I look forward to being there. While I was in the evangelical churches I learned a lot from the messages about Jesus and how to grow in relationship with Him. I am sorry to say that today the sermons do NOT help me to get closer to Jesus through the scriptures. The POOR teaching and lack to coviction regarding our relationship to and with Jesus is sad. There is more adherence to the Blessed Mother than to Jesus. There seems to be more “devotion” to Mary than to Jesus. Jesus seems to be an after thought. Thus, IN my opinion the lack to teaching referring to not being FED is the reason people are not going to Mass. Why should I go to Mass for just some bread. I know Jesus is in the Host, the Host is Jesus. The reason being for my knowlegde is that my relationship with Jesus makes it so. Where is the teaching that leads me to Jesus, helps me to keep with Jesus, and to Worship Jesus. The scriptures lead to Jesus, sustains me in Jesus, and leads me to Worship and Adoration of Jesus. People leave when they are not FED Jesus through the scriptures. The word is living and produces the faith needed to truly understand the significance of Mass. The quote about Sunday Obligation from the Catechism is poor if you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. Would it be better to WANT TO GO TO MASS instead of being foreced to go. The person may be in the pew but their heart and soul is somewhere else. If a person is not there in heart and mind than all the grace from mass is not recieved. The lack of scriptual teaching regarding the Eucharist and a personal commitment to Jesus is Why in my opinion people do not go to mass and not recognize the presensce of Jesus in the Eucharist.
Abel Chavarria
This was a great article. It was well written and contained so many answers to questions that we all hear so many times. Thank you for sharing.
Nicholas – I thought your article made a lot of good points. However, I think you are totally off the mark when it comes to why attendance is so low at church. Just to give you perspective, I am 55 years old and have been in bible studies for 30+ years. I’ve been leading bible studies at my church for probably 15+ years. All of the, what I will call the mainline churches, have seen drops in their attendance. It is not unique to our Catholic Church. When you say that if Catholics knew that Jesus was really present in the Eucharist churches would not be closing down, I believe you are sadly mistaken. The reality is, especially in this country where we have three car garages, people don’t care whether Jesus is present in the Eucharist are not. What people truly do not understand is what Jesus did on the cross and the consequences if you do not truly believe in what he did on the cross. Our society teaches that if you are a good person, you will go to heaven. Most people do not believe there is a hell. This is why many of the mega churches are overflowing because they preach the message of “just be a good person” and God will reward you, which is the prosperity gospel. People do not want to hear the word surrender. In other words, if you surrender your life to Christ and believe that he paid for your sins on the cross you will be saved. It does not mean your life will be easy. In a country that is very prosperous, people do not want to hear that message. Our grandparents and / or great-grandparents who were poor immigrants to this country understood that message. Until we as Catholics get more bold about talking about our faith to the people around us as to what Jesus did to save us and that its not enough to just be a “good person” we will continue to see a decline in our pews. Often times, just as in the old testament, God has to bring us to our knees before we repent. Maybe that is in the process of happening with our country.
I struggle with this issue. Catholic Mass on Sunday has changed over my lifetime and no longer am I happy with it. I can give you the exact official position of the Church on the subject. What it amounts to is that I do not count!! I need to yield to the authority of the Church!! The Church knows better than I what is good for me! However, the liturgical music in all the churches I have in my area is so awful that I cannot find God in the service at all. In my area they even chant the “Prayers of the People.” Instead of worshiping, I am angered to the point of tears. I hate it. Mass on weekdays is reverent and non-distracting. Mass on Sunday fills me with rage. God’s commandment was to love him with all heart and soul and keep him first. Why can’t the Church offer an alternative Mass to those of us that do, indeed, love Him but cannot find Him at all in church?
iI have only just seen your letter and I wish I had seen it years ago. I feel exactly as you do about modern celebrations of Mass; I have sat through so many at which I longed to put my hands over my ears so that I could pray, and had to tell myself that I was offering my misery to God as a prayer. The answer is to find a Latin Mas according to the rite I was brought up with in the fifties; the Tridentine Mass. I am lucky enough to live where we have priest of the Fraternity of St Peter to minister to us; you may like to look them up. We have Mass every day, sung Masses for all the Sundays and feasts, and a large and growing congregation, of which at least a third are children and young people. Look at the blog for the ‘latinmass community adelaide’ to find out all about us. I do hope you can find some members of the Fraternity near to where you love; I think they are in most countries, with two centres and seminaries, one in the United States, I think nebraska, and one in Brussels. God bless you.
What would you say to someone who felt it was okay to substitute a daily mass (say, Thursday) for the Sunday obligation? They’re still going to Mass, just not on Sunday.
Hi Bryan,
Great question. I actually wrote an article on that very subject, following from my reply to Denis below. You can find that here on Ascension by searching “weekday mass”, or following the link below:
https://media.ascensionpress.com/2019/08/29/why-weekday-mass-doesnt-fulfill-sunday-obligation/
I never say I can’t do something on Sunday morning because I HAVE to go to Mass. I say I want to go to Mass and I do. Saying “have to” sounds like a punishment!
Yes I agree; I’ve never liked the word ‘obligation’. I go to mass a lot becaue I want to, out of Love not obligation or because of a law/command. And if I dont go to mass on sunday but go on monday, wednesday and friday do I think i’m offending Almighty God !! lol!
Denis, I’m not so sure you’ve understood RJ’s point. Nor do I think RJ would agree with your own statement, as I certainly disagree with what you’ve written, as it is not of the same mind as our Lord’s Church.
RJ rightfully gives a witness to others on Sundays, saying he WANTS to go to Mass, because he’s right; to say “we have to” do something in our current culture has a negative connotation. We think that we can’t enjoy something that we must do or are required to do, but this false.
Take for example the role of a parent. Are you a father, Denis? I have three boys under 5 years of age and I love them very much. They have an unalienable right to be cared for. Therefore, I have an OBLIGATION, a duty, to care for them. But because I love them so much I also WANT to do this. We need to stop with these “either/or” dichotomies because that’s not what the Church is about. It is both/and: we as Catholic Christians must BOTH fulfill our Sunday obligation AND participate in the Mass out of deep love for our Lord Jesus! You can not do one with out the other.
You say you don’t participate in the Mass because of a law or command, but this makes some kind of false division between “love” and “law”. Sadly, Denis, that mentality contradicts the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. Look what he tells us in His own words:
“If you love me, you will keep my COMMANDMENTS.” (John 14:15)
and…
“Think not that I have come to abolish the LAW and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matt. 5:17)
Jesus is our king, Denis. We are not exempt from the law or His commands. In fact, Jesus says we love Him ONLY if we keep His commands! I do find it disconcerting that you would laugh out loud about the Sunday obligation of Mass. Monday or another day of the week does not fulfill that obligation. The Church, which is one with Christ, is clear that “[t]he Sunday celebration of the Lord’s Day and his Eucharist is at the heart of the Church’s life. ‘Sunday is the day on which the paschal mystery is celebrated in light of the apostolic tradition and is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church.'” (CCC 2177)
This is a command of our Lord Jesus’ and is not optional. But we see that by following the law of the Church, and by keeping these commandments, we absolutely DO LOVE Jesus. I hope to expand on this more in a future essay, as I do not have the space here to go much further in depth. Suffice it to say, Denis, that the Sunday (not Monday, Wednesday or Friday) precept to participate in the Holy Mass is not optional for a disciple and lover of Christ. I encourage you to read Scripture and the Catechism, as keeping our Lord’s commands shows our love for Him.
This article will help me to educate my family and myself how important it is to go to mass every Sunday.
Why do other Christian denominations say that the sabbath is on Saturday?
That’s a great question, Martha. I believe you’re referring to certain groups like the Seventh Day Adventists, that maintain we as Christians still celebrate the Sabbath on Saturdays. Such a practice contradicts what was handed on to the Christian faithful during the Apostolic age. For Christians, we celebrate the Lord’s Day, which is on Sunday.
I actually plan on writing a more in depth article treating that subject in the near future, but for the time being, I think the Catechism of the Catholic Church gives a great, basic answer. Sunday is the fulfillment of the Jewish sabbath:
“Jesus rose from the dead ‘on the first day of the week.’ Because it is the “first day,” the day of Christ’s Resurrection recalls the first creation. Because it is the “eighth day” following the sabbath, it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ’s Resurrection. For Christians it has become the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord’s Day Sunday:
“[St. Justin Martyr says,] ‘We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the first day [after the Jewish sabbath, but also the first day] when God, separating matter from darkness, made the world; and on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead.’
“Sunday is expressly distinguished from the sabbath which it follows chronologically every week; for Christians its ceremonial observance replaces that of the sabbath. In Christ’s Passover, Sunday fulfills the spiritual truth of the Jewish sabbath and announces man’s eternal rest in God. For worship under the Law prepared for the mystery of Christ, and what was done there prefigured some aspects of Christ:
“[St. Ignatius of Antioch says,] ‘Those who lived according to the old order of things have come to a new hope, no longer keeping the sabbath, but the Lord’s Day, in which our life is blessed by him and by his death.'” (CCC 2174-2175)
I hope this helps, Martha, and stay tuned for more in the coming weeks!