The Sunday Assembly | The Vatican II Council

Besides declaring that salvation was not restricted to Roman Catholics, the Vatican II Council emphasized the importance of Sunday worship, not only in Catholicism but also in the whole world regardless of denomination. Since most Protestants worshiped on Sunday anyways, this was a marvelous unifying point that brought Protestants and Catholics together. However, note what Vatican II documents state:

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Moreover, any endeavor to make Sunday a genuine “day of joy and rest from work” should be encouraged...celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday, from the outset of their Christian formation “Sunday should be presented as the primordial feast day,” on which, assembled together, they are to hear the Word of God and take part in the Paschal Mystery.ⁱ

No Bible-believing Christian can celebrate the Eucharist and take part in the paschal mystery, as these are of pagan origin. Also, Sunday is the first day of the week. The Bible charges us to keep the seventh day holy, not the first day. The Catholic idea of Sunday is really opposed to the Protestant concept of worship, as it is a day founded on tradition and dedicated to the veneration of Mary.

The Eucharist and devotion to Mary are the twin pillars of Catholicism, and are both expressed through Sunday worship. Pope John Paul II stated this in his 1998 encyclical Dies Domini:

Significantly, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that "the Sunday celebration of the Lord's Day and his Eucharist is at the heart of the Church's life"…As they listen to the word proclaimed in the Sunday assembly, the faithful look to the Virgin Mary, learning from her to keep it and ponder it in their hearts (cf. Lk 2:19). With Mary, they learn to stand at the foot of the Cross, offering to the Father the sacrifice of Christ and joining to it the offering of their own lives. With Mary, they experience the joy of the Resurrection, making their own the words of the Magnificat which extol the inexhaustible gift of divine mercy in the inexorable flow of time: "His mercy is from age to age upon those who fear him" (Lk 1:50). From Sunday to Sunday, the pilgrim people follow in the footsteps of Mary, and her maternal intercession gives special power and fervour to the prayer which rises from the Church to the Most Holy Trinity.ⁱⁱ

Ahead to Ecumenical Partnerships

i. John Paul II, Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery no. 25.

ii. John Paul II, Dies Domini (July 5, 1998).