3rd Commandment

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What are some good rule-of-thumb guidelines for keeping the Sabbath day holy?

One would say ‘unnecessary’ work. What is necessary, what isn’t?
 
First off just a little note…it is not per se the Sabbath…it is the Lords Day which for Christians replaced the Sabbath…

vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s2c1a3.htm#II

As for work…

II. THE PRECEPTS OF THE CHURCH

2041 The precepts of the Church are set in the context of a moral life bound to and nourished by liturgical life. The obligatory character of these positive laws decreed by the pastoral authorities is meant to guarantee to the faithful the very necessary minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor:

2042 The first precept (“You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor”) requires the faithful to sanctify the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord as well as the principal liturgical feasts honoring the mysteries of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the saints; in the first place, by participating in the Eucharistic celebration, in which the Christian community is gathered, and by resting from those works and activities which could impede such a sanctification of these days.82

scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s1c3a3.htm
**
A day of grace and rest from work–From the Catechism of the Catholic Church**

2184 Just as God "rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done,"121 human life has a rhythm of work and rest. The institution of the Lord’s Day helps everyone enjoy adequate rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social, and religious lives.122

2185 On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body.123 Family needs or important social service can legitimately excuse from the obligation of Sunday rest. The faithful should see to it that legitimate excuses do not lead to habits prejudicial to religion, family life, and health.
Code:
The charity of truth seeks holy leisure- the necessity of charity accepts just work.124
2186 Those Christians who have leisure should be mindful of their brethren who have the same needs and the same rights, yet cannot rest from work because of poverty and misery. Sunday is traditionally consecrated by Christian piety to good works and humble service of the sick, the infirm, and the elderly. Christians will also sanctify Sunday by devoting time and care to their families and relatives, often difficult to do on other days of the week. Sunday is a time for reflection, silence, cultivation of the mind, and meditation which furthers the growth of the Christian interior life.

2187 Sanctifying Sundays and holy days requires a common effort. Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord’s Day. Traditional activities (sport, restaurants, etc.), and social necessities (public services, etc.), require some people to work on Sundays, but everyone should still take care to set aside sufficient time for leisure. With temperance and charity the faithful will see to it that they avoid the excesses and violence sometimes associated with popular leisure activities. In spite of economic constraints, public authorities should ensure citizens a time intended for rest and divine worship. Employers have a similar obligation toward their employees.

2188 In respecting religious liberty and the common good of all, Christians should seek recognition of Sundays and the Church’s holy days as legal holidays. They have to give everyone a public example of prayer, respect, and joy and defend their traditions as a precious contribution to the spiritual life of society. If a country’s legislation or other reasons require work on Sunday, the day should nevertheless be lived as the day of our deliverance which lets us share in this “festal gathering,” this "assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven."125

(Make sure to read all…)
 
A good reading:

Pope Benedict XVI:

Iuxta dominicam viventes – living in accordance with the Lord’s Day
  1. From the beginning Christians were clearly conscious of this radical newness which the Eucharist brings to human life. The faithful immediately perceived the profound influence of the eucharistic celebration on their manner of life. Saint Ignatius of Antioch expressed this truth when he called Christians “those who have attained a new hope,” and described them as “those living in accordance with the Lord’s Day” (iuxta dominicam viventes). (204) This phrase of the great Antiochene martyr highlights the connection between the reality of the Eucharist and everyday Christian life. The Christians’ customary practice of gathering on the first day after the Sabbath to celebrate the resurrection of Christ – according to the account of Saint Justin Martyr(205) – is also what defines the form of a life renewed by an encounter with Christ. Saint Ignatius’ phrase – “living in accordance with the Lord’s Day” – also emphasizes that this holy day becomes paradigmatic for every other day of the week. Indeed, it is defined by something more than the simple suspension of one’s ordinary activities, a sort of parenthesis in one’s usual daily rhythm. Christians have always experienced this day as the first day of the week, since it commemorates the radical newness brought by Christ. Sunday is thus the day when Christians rediscover the eucharistic form which their lives are meant to have. “Living in accordance with the Lord’s Day” means living in the awareness of the liberation brought by Christ and making our lives a constant self-offering to God, so that his victory may be fully revealed to all humanity through a profoundly renewed existence.
Living the Sunday obligation
  1. Conscious of this new vital principle which the Eucharist imparts to the Christian, the Synod Fathers reaffirmed the importance of the Sunday obligation for all the faithful, viewing it as a wellspring of authentic freedom enabling them to live each day in accordance with what they celebrated on “the Lord’s Day.” The life of faith is endangered when we lose the desire to share in the celebration of the Eucharist and its commemoration of the paschal victory. Participating in the Sunday liturgical assembly with all our brothers and sisters, with whom we form one body in Jesus Christ, is demanded by our Christian conscience and at the same time it forms that conscience. To lose a sense of Sunday as the Lord’s Day, a day to be sanctified, is symptomatic of the loss of an authentic sense of Christian freedom, the freedom of the children of God. (206) Here some observations made by my venerable predecessor John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter Dies Domini (207) continue to have great value. Speaking of the various dimensions of the Christian celebration of Sunday, he said that it is Dies Domini with regard to the work of creation, Dies Christi as the day of the new creation and the Risen Lord’s gift of the Holy Spirit, Dies Ecclesiae as the day on which the Christian community gathers for the celebration, and Dies hominis as the day of joy, rest and fraternal charity.
Sunday thus appears as the primordial holy day, when all believers, wherever they are found, can become heralds and guardians of the true meaning of time. It gives rise to the Christian meaning of life and a new way of experiencing time, relationships, work, life and death. On the Lord’s Day, then, it is fitting that Church groups should organize, around Sunday Mass, the activities of the Christian community: social gatherings, programmes for the faith formation of children, young people and adults, pilgrimages, charitable works, and different moments of prayer. For the sake of these important values – while recognizing that Saturday evening, beginning with First Vespers, is already a part of Sunday and a time when the Sunday obligation can be fulfilled – we need to remember that it is Sunday itself that is meant to be kept holy, lest it end up as a day “empty of God.” (208)

The meaning of rest and of work
  1. Finally, it is particularly urgent nowadays to remember that the day of the Lord is also a day of rest from work. It is greatly to be hoped that this fact will also be recognized by civil society, so that individuals can be permitted to refrain from work without being penalized. Christians, not without reference to the meaning of the Sabbath in the Jewish tradition, have seen in the Lord’s Day a day of rest from their daily exertions. This is highly significant, for it relativizes work and directs it to the person: work is for man and not man for work. It is easy to see how this actually protects men and women, emancipating them from a possible form of enslavement. As I have had occasion to say, “work is of fundamental importance to the fulfilment of the human being and to the development of society. Thus, it must always be organized and carried out with full respect for human dignity and must always serve the common good. At the same time, it is indispensable that people not allow themselves to be enslaved by work or to idolize it, claiming to find in it the ultimate and definitive meaning of life.” (209) It is on the day consecrated to God that men and women come to understand the meaning of their lives and also of their work. (210)
vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis_en.html
 

a bit more
  1. At the beginning of the fourth century, Christian worship was still forbidden by the imperial authorities. Some Christians in North Africa, who felt bound to celebrate the Lord’s Day, defied the prohibition. They were martyred after declaring that it was not possible for them to live without the Eucharist, the food of the Lord: sine dominico non possumus. (252) May these martyrs of Abitinae, in union with all those saints and beati who made the Eucharist the centre of their lives, intercede for us and teach us to be faithful to our encounter with the risen Christ. We too cannot live without partaking of the sacrament of our salvation; we too desire to be iuxta dominicam viventes, to reflect in our lives what we celebrate on the Lord’s Day. That day is the day of our definitive deliverance. Is it surprising, then, that we should wish to live every day in that newness of life which Christ has brought us in the mystery of the Eucharist?
vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis_en.html
 
Informed conscience and prudence must be our guide…

of course unless necessary we are to avoid…for example any heavy manual work …but this is not all…so read all of the above…

Sunday is not the day to “work” but to rest and have good leisure…(read Josef Piepers "Leasure the Basis of Culture)…)…

we want to live the Lords Day! …Prayer, rest, family life, reading, cultural activities…etc Rejoicing in the Resurrection!
 
Informed conscience and prudence must be our guide…

of course unless necessary we are to avoid…for example any heavy manual work …but this is not all…so read all of the above…

Sunday is not the day to “work” but to rest and have good leisure…(read Josef Piepers "Leasure the Basis of Culture)…)…

we want to live the Lords Day! …Prayer, rest, family life, reading, cultural activities…etc Rejoicing in the Resurrection!
Well, after mass this last weekend I went to Burger King and got a haircut…and did some packing since my family and I are moving soon. I wonder if I have a case of the scruples or are those things forbidden.
 
Well, after mass this last weekend I went to Burger King and got a haircut…and did some packing since my family and I are moving soon. I wonder if I have a case of the scruples or are those things forbidden.
In my estimation…

Haircut --this sort of thing we should do only if necessary (ie need to do…can not do another day for some reason)

(“I went to Burger King and got a haircut”…though not sure you should get a haircut at burger king…:D…)

Burger King…fine from Sunday point of view -resturants are certainly fine…(but not often from a health point of view …)

Packing: again I would say we should do this only if necessary or if just some light gathering perhaps etc

Your sense here now is good. I would avoid these sorts things…

Haircuts and packing seem to me to be things that should happen on other days…unless one needs to do them (the movers are coming in the morning and you forgot to pack some stuff …you need the haircut for your job and there is not other day…etc)

But yes do not scruple either…(or make small things into bigthings…another kind of scruple) there is not per se a list…though there are certain things to avoid ordinarily…

use prudence in judging and choosing etc

Take the texts above and read them…walk by their light.

Live the reality of the Lords Day…rejoice…do perhaps some reading…talk a nice walk…see some friends or family…pray more…read Sacred Scripture …help someone in charity…play a game…go to a museum…enjoy the leisure.

Do not scruple…but* live* the Lords Day! Not of course as a burden but walking in the light and with joy
 
A Burger King haircut :rotfl:

I have an issue with my hair getting thick because it makes me claustrophobic. (Some people are really messed up eh?). And it was hot that day so 😦

But anyway, yeah the packing probably wasn’t extremely prudent since I have all week.

The texts above are good and I appreciate all the information, however, I did look most of that up already to try and form my conscience and found that I needed a little 3rd-party insight as to what many people typically do on their Sundays that don’t violate the commandment.

The reason that I mentioned ‘rule of thumb’ I guess is because I’m a simple guy. A short and sweet (or moderate and sweet) guideline for Sundays is what I’m trying to form.
 
A Burger King haircut :rotfl:

I have an issue with my hair getting thick because it makes me claustrophobic. (Some people are really messed up eh?). And it was hot that day so 😦

But anyway, yeah the packing probably wasn’t extremely prudent since I have all week.

The texts above are good and I appreciate all the information, however, I did look most of that up already to try and form my conscience and found that I needed a little 3rd-party insight as to what many people typically do on their Sundays that don’t violate the commandment.

The reason that I mentioned ‘rule of thumb’ I guess is because I’m a simple guy. A short and sweet (or moderate and sweet) guideline for Sundays is what I’m trying to form.
Prudence 🙂

Avoid things that are servile labor (unless necessary), excess and violence in amusements, making undue burdens on others and things that interfere with Mass…and living the Lord’s Day. And do not scruple about it 🙂
 
Some examples of things to avoid:

Mowing the Lawn (the Priest who received me into the Church once heard a lawn mower…and said …better not be one of my people…they know better -this stuck with me but i hate this anyhow …no temptation for me)

House cleaning --as opposed to normal things one needs to clean each day.

Violent movies etc

Anything that is burdensome…or that i would rather put off ( most things …my wife would say of me…;)…)

Roofing the house etc (I avoid anyhow)
Unnecessary non- recreational shopping.

Things to do:

Be with family and friends
Help someone in charity
pray
Read the Bible
think
read a good book
study something enjoyable
watch a good movie
go to a park
take a walk
go out to eat
go to some cultural event
go to a ballgame
take a nap 🙂
enjoy nature

etc
 
A Burger King haircut :rotfl:

I have an issue with my hair getting thick because it makes me claustrophobic. (Some people are really messed up eh?). And it was hot that day so 😦
See this might have been necessary for you so you could enjoy the day…you have to use your prudence … (of course part of prudence of course can be to seek advice too…)

Catechism:

1806 Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it; "the prudent man looks where he is going."65 "Keep sane and sober for your prayers."66 Prudence is “right reason in action,” writes St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle.67 It is not to be confused with timidity or fear, nor with duplicity or dissimulation. It is called auriga virtutum (the charioteer of the virtues); it guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience. The prudent man determines and directs his conduct in accordance with this judgment. With the help of this virtue we apply moral principles to particular cases without error and overcome doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid.
 
Oh and regarding shopping…by recreational I meant…you know you go to bookstore or something for recreation and buy a book…or a nice flea market that is open on Sundays etc…shop til you drop is not envisioned here…🙂 (though one should note that shopping per se is not named…though business concerns are noted…but I would still avoid that which is not in some way necessary or short…or real leisure)

I really hesitate to give the examples above…for the CCC is written the way it is written for a reason

You really just have to read the Catechism and Pope Benedict XVI and use prudence…seek advice if needed…but do not scruple 🙂

Oh here too is the Canon from Canon Law:

2193 “On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound . . . to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord’s Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body” (CIC, can. 1247).

Add avoid servile labor…and the other points noted in the Catechism…together with living the Lords Day per se as Pope Benedict XVI very beautifully wrote about…and the virtue of prudence and the Holy Spirit…and you have your rule of thumb …
 
PS …general comment …not about a particular thing.

Remember too that there will be things that are not sinful…but which may not be as “fitting” or the ‘best idea’ to do on a Sunday etc…not to give a scruple here…but rather to keep one away… so just because you may ordinarily avoid a particular thing on Sunday…it may not be a sin if one chooses to not avoid it…

Likewise there may be various goods …some which are more religious others which are not per se (but of course offer every good thing to God) …if one chooses to go to the beach instead of pray more that Sunday…that is still can be living the Lords Day…(of course go to Mass…)

Again it is right judgment and the virtue of Prudence etc…

Of course too…while we do need to avoid those things that interfere etc as noted above…let us keep our eyes on the Lord…on the Lord’s Day…the sharper focus is on the living the Lords Day.

Then every other day of the week we “live in accordance with the Lord’s Day” as Pope Benedict quoted the early writings…see above again…
 
What if someone has to work all week and only has the weekend to do some major repairs/renovations on his house? (assuming he still goes to mass on sunday)
 
What if someone has to work all week and only has the weekend to do some major repairs/renovations on his house? (assuming he still goes to mass on sunday)
Maybe, if it requires Sunday work, it shouldn’t be done?
 
What if someone has to work all week and only has the weekend to do some major repairs/renovations on his house? (assuming he still goes to mass on sunday)
Evenings during the week? and Saturdays…several in a row…🙂

I would only ‘do work on the house’ (unless it is some small things for* leisure *perhaps and there is no scandal to family etc) during the week and on Saturdays…

Let us live the Lords Day.…very important…
 
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