Iuxta dominicam viventes: the meaning of Sunday Mass for Christians in Indonesia

ABSTRACT

It is arguable that many of today’s Christians do not understand the meaning of the Sunday Mass. This is also the case in Indonesia, where a sizeable number attend Mass regularly, but its deeper meaning is not well known. This article aims to explore that meaning, on the basis of St Ignatius of Antioch’s words, iuxta dominicam viventes. Without ignoring the translation problems which it poses, the present writer approaches this quotation from Ignatius through Gadamer’s hermeneutics, first placing it within the tradition and teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, then discussing its wealth of meaning from the perspective of the context of Christians in Indonesia, in the hope that the points which have meaning for them may be better understood and offered to Christians with similar experience in other places.

KEYWORDS:

• Eucharist
• Ignatius of Antioch
• iuxta dominicam viventes
• Lord’s day
• Sunday Mass
• Christians in Indonesia
• living the Eucharist

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

¹ See a brief description of the Indonesian Catholic Church in E.P.D. Martasudjita, ‘The Indonesian Catholic Church 50 years after Vatican II.

² See Lewis, in ‘Ignatius and the “Lord’s Day”.’.

³ See Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis.

⁴ See Gadamer, Truth and Method, 273.

⁵ See Ignatius of Antioch, ‘The Letter to the Christians in Rome’, in Holmes, M.W., ed. & rev., The Apostolic Fathers, Chapter VI:2.

⁶ Ignatius of Antioch, ‘The Letter to the Christians in Rome’, in Holmes, M.W., ed. & rev., The Apostolic Fathers, Chapter VI:3.

⁷ Ignatius of Antioch, ‘The Letter to the Christians in Rome’, in Holmes, M.W., ed. & rev., The Apostolic Fathers, Chapter VI:1.3.

⁸ Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Christians in Magnesia, in Holmes, M.W., ed. & rev., The Apostolic Fathers, Chapter IX:1.

⁹ See Second Vatican Council. ‘Sacrosanctum Concilium’, art. 106.

¹⁰ Ibid.

¹¹ See Persekutuan Gereja-Gereja di Indonesia (PGI) dan Konferensi Waligereja Indonesia (KWI). Pesan Natal Bersama 2018, 1–2.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emanuel Pranawa Dhatu Martasudjita

Emanuel Pranawa Dhatu Martasudjita is Lecturer in Theology, Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He holds a doctoral degree in theology from Innsbruck University for a dissertation entitled Die Gegenwart des Mysteriums Christi – Zum Sakramentenverständnis bei Gottlieb Söhngen (Peter Lang, 1996). He has taught dogmatic theology and liturgy at Sanata Dharma University and the Pontifical Faculty of Theology, Wedabhakti, Yogyakarta, since 1996 and was Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Sanata Dharma University, 2010 – 2018. He is also a staff member of St Paul Major Seminary, Yogyakarta. His special expertise is in sacramental theology but he also teaches and conducts research in Christology, ecclesiology, liturgy and theology of inculturation. His previous article in IJSCC was entitled ‘The Indonesian Catholic Church 50 years after Vatican II: seven models of church life’, in IJSCC vol. 15, no. 2 (2015), 123–138.