Why Sunday Matters
All Saints
1 November 2026
From the very beginning, the early Christian communities realised the importance of Sunday. It is the day of Jesus’ Resurrection, a day of joy and rest, as well as charity. Sunday is the Lord’s Day, the day when we are called to remember what God has done and continues to do for us. This, then, is the day the Lord’s people are called to keep holy, together. The observance begins with the evening of the preceding day. Early Christians did what Jesus had asked them to do; they gathered and celebrated the meal Jesus had shared with them, the Eucharist. We also know this as the Mass. This gathering of the community on a Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist gave rise to a basic principle of the Church: There can be no Sunday without the Eucharist and no Eucharist without an assembly of the faithful. This principle endures to this day. It led Voltaire to declare, ‘If you want to kill Christianity, you must abolish Sunday.’ As members of the Christian community, we are each called to gather with the rest of our faith community on a Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist. The Sunday Mass is the place where we gather as a parish, as a community, as the People of God. This is at the heart of the life of the Church. It is the highpoint of our Christian life, where God nourishes us to go out and live as Christians.
catholicbishops.ie
* * *
Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
8 November 2026
Exploring the Introductory Rites 1
The procession of the priest celebrant and ministers through the body of people is a visible reminder to us that we gather as the Body of Christ. Christ is with us, and we stand together as a sign of welcome and reverence for his presence among us. Our hymn unites us in one voice of praise. The priest reverences the altar with a bow and a kiss as the altar is a symbol of Christ at the heart of this assembly.
GREETING: All make the sign of the Cross and the priest celebrant greets us from the Chair in words taken from Scripture. These words remind us that in our gathering, the God of the Trinity, the God of grace, love and peace, is with us and working upon us through this celebration.
PENITENTIAL ACT: Before we enter deeper into the Mass ,we take one more moment to prepare ourselves, using one of three prayer options given to us in the Missal. Conscious that we all likely come with things we would like to change in our lives, behaviours we would like to be different, in the Confiteor we acknowledge before our brothers and sisters that we have sinned, and we ask for their prayers. But even greater than our sin, we trust in the enduring mercy and love of God, and so we can pray in confidence, Lord, have mercy. On some Sundays, especially in Easter Time, in place of the usual Penitential Act, the blessing and sprinkling of water to recall our baptism may take place.
catholicbishops.ie
* * *
Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
15 November 2026 • World Day of the Poor
Exploring the Introductory Rites 2
GLORIA: On Sundays outside of Lent and Advent, on solemnities and feasts, the Gloria is sung or recited. In this joyful hymn of praise the gathered assembly unites with the heavenly choirs. Within this hymn we recall the five actions of the Mass we are each called to: we are here to praise, bless, adore, glorify and thank our God.
OPENING PRAYER/COLLECT: The Introductory Rites conclude with an opening prayer, called the Collect. This prayer gathers (or collects) all our prayers into one prayer of the day. It has a four-fold pattern of
1) an invitation from the priest celebrant to the assembly to pray,
2) a brief silence to gather the prayers of our hearts into one,
3) the prayer itself proclaimed by the priest celebrant and
4) our assent to the prayer in our ‘Amen’. The silence within this prayer can help create a sense of unity among the assembly. Like all our prayers in the liturgy, we make our prayer to God the Father, through Christ and in the Holy Spirit. This can be a timely reminder to us that the celebration of the Mass is the action of Christ and of the people of God, united in common worship.
catholicbishops.ie
* * *
Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
22 November 2026
Sunday Mass digging deeper
A Glossary of Terms
Liturgy – refers to all the official public prayer rituals of the Church Lectionary – the name of the liturgical book from which the readings are proclaimed. Taken from the bible, the scripture texts have been specially selected for each celebration of liturgy.
There are 3 lectionaries –
- for Sundays, feasts and seasons
- for weekdays in ordinary time and
- for ritual celebrations (weddings, funerals etc).
Lector – the Latin word for Reader, sometimes used for the parish Reader.
Liturgical Year – beginning on the First Sunday of Advent, in the LY the Church celebrates the whole mystery of Christ from the Incarnation until the day of Pentecost and the expectation of Christ’s second coming through the seasons of Advent, the Christmas Season, Lent, the Easter Season and Ordinary Time. The highpoint of the year is Easter; the highpoint of the week is Sunday. The readings are chosen specifically for the season we are in within the LY. Lectern – the place in the sanctuary area reserved for the proclamation of the readings. This is the table of God’s word. Often called the Ambo.
A Word on Silence… Silence is one of the most essential elements of the Mass. Both our own interior silence and the shared external silence in the church building during and between the readings, helps us to really listen to God speaking to us and to begin to hear what God is saying to us. Silence creates a space for God.
catholicbishops.ie
* * *
First Sunday of Advent
29 November 2026
Sunday Mass digging deeper
The importance of the Liturgy of the Word
What does a Reader do? Parish Readers put the word of God out into the midst of the assembly who have gathered. They speak a message from God to us, sharing a word of faith. As ministers of the liturgy, they are called to prepare well – preparing to read aloud the text in a manner that is clear, audible and conveys an understanding in faith of the text. This faith understanding can only come about by the Reader praying with the text. What are we called to do? When God shares his word with us he awaits our response: ‘Be doers of the word and not hearers only’ (James 1:22) What is God saying to me? to us? How can I actively welcome this word into my life? How am I being called to live and share this word with others? The Word of the Lord – Christ is present in the Word At the end of the reading, the reader proclaims; ‘The Word of the Lord’. This is a faith statement, like the faith statement we hear later in the Mass – ‘The Body of Christ’. It declares that Christ is present among us through his word. The Church teaches that ‘Christ is present in his word, since it is he himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church…’ On a Sunday, with the rest of our community, we get to meet Christ present in his word. Do we come prepared for this encounter?
catholicbishops.ie
* * *