A Question About Doing Manual Work on Sundays

  • Thread starter Thread starter Saint_Gemma
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Saint_Gemma

Guest
Is doing manual work on a Sunday, such as taking out garbage, a sin, even if ones parent orders one to do so?
 
Good question. I don’t know. As a side question, not related to me personally or anything…but is masturbation on Sunday considered a sin?
 
Taking out the garbage on Sunday is not a sin. Given that, if one’s parents ask one to do it, it might be wrong to refuse.
 
Theist said:
Good question. I don’t know. As a side question, not related to me personally or anything…but is masturbation on Sunday considered a sin?
Click to expand...
Don’t be ridiculous, and don’t make fun of people who are asking genuine questions.

For the OP - many household chores, garbage duty being one, are necessary on Sundays just like any other. I’m sure Mary had to change and wash many a diaper on the sabbath for Jesus.
 
Well, if nobody got sick or everyone walked to Church or no one ate anything on Sunday or priests didn’t have to say Mass, there would be no problems. However, people do get sick, which require hospitals to operate, people do drive to Church, which require gas stations to be operating, and people sometimes eat at restaurants, which require some forms of labor. And what about those on vacation or traveling? And these require accountants and computer programmers and … you get the picture. What’s necessary is necessary.

I recall the Church setting a two-hour work rule on Sunday at one time. I don’t know if this is still in effect.
 
LilyM said:
You’re obviously not serious in any event. So I won’t bother to treat the question as if it was and will only respond thusly:

😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛
Click to expand...
Oh I’m fairly serious. Sounds to me like masturbation is regulated.

Leviticus 15:16-18 (New International Version)

16 " 'When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean till evening. 17 Any clothing or leather that has semen on it must be washed with water, and it will be unclean till evening. 18 When a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

Leviticus 15:32
These are the regulations for a man with a discharge, for anyone made unclean by an emission of semen,
 
Theist said:
Oh I’m fairly serious. Sounds to me like masturbation is regulated.

Leviticus 15:16-18 (New International Version)

16 " 'When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean till evening. 17 Any clothing or leather that has semen on it must be washed with water, and it will be unclean till evening. 18 When a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

Leviticus 15:32
These are the regulations for a man with a discharge, for anyone made unclean by an emission of semen,
Click to expand...
That’s Leviticus for starters, Old Testament, much of it not directly applicable to us. We eat pork and wear clothing of mixed fibres, sow mixed crops in our field and dont’ keep slaves.

And emission of semen can refer to wet dreams as well as masturbation, of course. Gosh, most teenage boys would’ve spent years in a perpetual state of uncleanliness!

Now wet dreams aren’t sinful, just as a woman’s monthly periods aren’t. Both are beyond human control therefore can’t possibly be. But one can require purification after dealing with sacred things as well as sinful. Hence the priests purifying themselves before and after serving in the Temple. And life forces and the reproductive cycle are certainly sacred!

We’re really derailing the thread here, but I’ve got to ask why you would think sexual sins would be any less sinful on the Sabbath?

The rituals of ourselves and the Jews may be different on Sabbaths and holy days, but only where scripture or the laws of our church say so.

Moral law does not vary in matters which are inherently sinful (as sexual sins are), only in matters which may not themselves be inherently sinful but are matters of religious authorities exercising that authority. Whether God or those He has deputed.
 
LilyM said:
That’s Leviticus for starters, Old Testament, much of it not directly applicable to us. We eat pork and wear clothing of mixed fibres, sow mixed crops in our field and dont’ keep slaves.

And emission of semen can refer to wet dreams as well as masturbation, of course. Gosh, most teenage boys would’ve spent years in a perpetual state of uncleanliness!

Now wet dreams aren’t sinful, just as a woman’s monthly periods aren’t. Both are beyond human control therefore can’t possibly be. But one can require purification after dealing with sacred things as well as sinful. Hence the priests purifying themselves before and after serving in the Temple. And life forces and the reproductive cycle are certainly sacred!
**
We’re really derailing the thread here, but I’ve got to ask why you would think sexual sins would be any less sinful on the Sabbath?**

The rituals of ourselves and the Jews may be different on Sabbaths and holy days, but only where scripture or the laws of our church say so.

Moral law does not vary in matters which are inherently sinful (as sexual sins are), only in matters which may not themselves be inherently sinful but are matters of religious authorities exercising that authority. Whether God or those He has deputed.
Click to expand...
  1. Why is the OT not applicable to us?
  2. Yes, emmision of semen can mean just wet dreams, but that is but one interpretation. There are many, like oh “emission of semen” means just what it say…“any” emmision of semen, masturbation included. Why is your interpretation any more valid than mine?
  3. Yea we are derailing the thread. Anyway, I’ll just say that I’m not saying that masturbation is is any more sinful on the Sabbaths. I’m saying masturbation is not a sin.
 
Theist said:
  1. Why is the OT not applicable to us?
  2. Yes, emmision of semen can mean just wet dreams, but that is but one interpretation. There are many, like oh “emission of semen” means just what it say…“any” emmision of semen, masturbation included. Why is your interpretation any more valid than mine?
  3. Yea we are derailing the thread. Anyway, I’ll just say that I’m not saying that masturbation is is any more sinful on the Sabbaths. I’m saying masturbation is not a sin.
Click to expand...
  1. Not the whole OT of course - much of it was fulfilled by Jesus and is still very much in force. I’m talking Leviticus in particular. Jesus in the New Testament expressly did away with large parts of the rules contained in Leviticus. So we as his followers are not bound by them.
Such as the dietary laws - both in Peter’s dream at Cornelius’ house and his own comment that what a man eats can’t defile him. Same with the rules on washing - he instituted baptism as the one washing necessary for our purification, when he himself was baptised, and he allowed his disciples to eat with unwashed hands.
  1. I didn’t say other emissions of semen weren’t possible, just that some are sinful and some arent. All required the washing because the semen itself was viewed as something sacred, a life force, a Godly thing.
Just as women purified themselves after childbirth - not because giving birth made them unclean somehow, but because blood (which every woman loses in giving birth) and motherhood are sacred things.
  1. That’s not what you said at all - nor, I suspect, what you meant. You asked whether we viewed it as sinful on the Sabbath, as if we are stupid or superstitious enough to think a sexual sin isn’t sinful on every day.
 
LilyM said:
  1. Not the whole OT of course - much of it was fulfilled by Jesus and is still very much in force. I’m talking Leviticus in particular. Jesus in the New Testament expressly did away with large parts of the rules contained in Leviticus. So we as his followers are not bound by them.
Such as the dietary laws - both in Peter’s dream at Cornelius’ house and his own comment that what a man eats can’t defile him. Same with the rules on washing - he instituted baptism as the one washing necessary for our purification, when he himself was baptised, and he allowed his disciples to eat with unwashed hands.
  1. I didn’t say other emissions of semen weren’t possible, just that some are sinful and some arent. All required the washing because the semen itself was viewed as something sacred, a life force, a Godly thing.
Just as women purified themselves after childbirth - not because giving birth made them unclean somehow, but because blood (which every woman loses in giving birth) and motherhood are sacred things.
  1. That’s not what you said at all - nor, I suspect, what you meant. You asked whether we viewed it as sinful on the Sabbath, as if we are stupid or superstitious enough to think a sexual sin isn’t sinful on every day.
Click to expand...
  1. Not the whole OT? So then who has the authority to determine which passages or scriptures of the OT are no longer valid? Jesus did not do this himself.
You say that the New Testament expressly does away with a large parts of the rules in Liviticus. I would argue that, some interpretations of the NT lead to the conclusion that Liviticus is no longer valid. This is an opinion, not truth.

I would also like to add that just because something in the NT contradicts something in the OT can not automatically be assumed to override it.
  1. You didn’t really explain why some excretions of semen are sinful and some aren’t. You basically just said that both can happen. I’m saying that the Bible quote we’re talking about can be interpreted to mean that any excretion of semen is not sinful and only needs to follow some regulation (washing of the body) and waiting one day to be clean again.
  2. I admire your impressive mind reading skills, unfortunately they failed you today. I don’t believe masturbation is a sin and took an incremental approach to see why you thought it was. I thought you wold classify masturbation as “work”, in that case I wouldn’t have an argument. 🙂
 
Theist said:
  1. Not the whole OT? So then who has the authority to determine which passages or scriptures of the OT are no longer valid? Jesus did not do this himself.
Click to expand...
The Church
You say that the New Testament expressly does away with a large parts of the rules in Liviticus. I would argue that, some interpretations of the NT lead to the conclusion that Liviticus is no longer valid. This is an opinion, not truth.
Click to expand...
Exactly.
I would also like to add that just because something in the NT contradicts something in the OT can not automatically be assumed to override it.
Click to expand...
Okay?
  1. You didn’t really explain why some excretions of semen are sinful and some aren’t. You basically just said that both can happen. I’m saying that the Bible quote we’re talking about can be interpreted to mean that any excretion of semen is not sinful and only needs to follow some regulation (washing of the body) and waiting one day to be clean again.
Click to expand...
It is not a Catholic practice to take an isolated Bible quote out of context, nor is it a Catholic practice to rely solely on Scripture for the basis of our Faith. Catholics appeal to Tradition and Reason as well, interpreted through the infallible lense of the Magisterium, which is guided by the Sanctus Spiritus.
  1. I admire your impressive mind reading skills, unfortunately they failed you today. I don’t believe masturbation is a sin and took an incremental approach to see why you thought it was. I thought you wold classify masturbation as “work”, in that case I wouldn’t have an argument. 🙂
Click to expand...
In any case, you don’t seem to have much of an argument.
 
Theist said:
  1. I admire your impressive mind reading skills, unfortunately they failed you today. I don’t believe masturbation is a sin and took an incremental approach to see why you thought it was. I thought you wold classify masturbation as “work”, in that case I wouldn’t have an argument. 🙂
Click to expand...
Any voluntary sexual pleasure caused by anyone other than ones spouse is sinful.
 
I believe that not working on the Sabbath only applies to Orthodox Jews.

Most of the state rules keeping businesses closed on Sunday have gradually been lifted (with a few exceptions left to some industries).

A “day of rest” does not mean totally doing nothing, as “rest” for some people can be a 60mi+ bike ride on weekends.
 
Saint_Gemma said:
Is doing manual work on a Sunday, such as taking out garbage, a sin, even if ones parent orders one to do so?
Click to expand...
“Sorry, Dad, I can’t take out the garbage, today…It’s Sunday.” I chuckle and wince at the response I might have received from my father had I said that. As to taking out the trash, do so with a joyful heart and you will honor your father and mother. It’s hardly the servile work we are to refrain from on Sunday.
 
Saint_Gemma said:
Is doing manual work on a Sunday, such as taking out garbage, a sin, even if ones parent orders one to do so?
Click to expand...
See chapter 36 on your olrl website that you used in the other thread. It clearly tells you that you can do necessary things like that on Sunday. Don’t distress your parents by making them “order” you to do anything. That’s not the way to holiness. Cheerful, willing obedience is.

Betsy
 
The guideline I’ve heard is to “refrain from servile work” on Sundays. That leaves a lot of leeway. I try to avoid doing laundry… but, sometimes, it just needs to get done. I love gardening… but others detest pulling weeds and would definitely categorize gardening as “servile”.

The point is to honor the Sabbath by taking time to worship God and rest. And, yes, diapers, trash (especially with smelly diapers in it!), cooking, etc. can’t really wait! On Sunday, however, these things should be the exceptions, whereas they are the norm for the rest of the week.
 
Theist said:
As a side question, not related to me personally or anything…but is masturbation on Sunday considered a sin?
Click to expand...
You need to start another thread on that. You’ve taken this thread way off track.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top