Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION
	When the Roman Empire turned a favorable eye toward the once-persecuted Christians, among the effects was a population explosion in the baptismal font, as Christian sympathizers stepped from the shadows. With more and more people becoming Christians, laws were passed to protect Sunday as a work-free day. Soon, it became possible to celebrate Mass later in the morning, rather than the older custom of gathering before dawn to celebrate Eucharist. Amazingly, despite the increasing numbers of Christians, there was great resistance to adding to the number of worship events; the Eucharist that began as a few friends around a table soon was transformed into a more formal event with throngs crowding a large hall. All the Christians in a city or town would gather around the bishop for the one Sunday Eucharist, and only when the crowds became unmanageable was there an impulse to divide the assembly by splitting off a new bishop and flock.
	Now, sixteen hundred years later, many parishes see a need to trim or combine Mass schedules. This is often seen as tough surgery. Yet our forebears in the faith would see it as a gain: a filling up of the Eucharist with a large and vigorous assembly, a fullness of ministry, an opportunity to make the Church more fully visible and stronger for service.
—James Field