A sin to work on Sunday?

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scapularkid8

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It’s just a part time job, but if I get it I wouldn’t feel comfortable working on a Sunday. I wouldn’t want to not get the job either by saying I can’t work on Sundays. Maybe if I make it clear to them that it’s out of religious reasons then they’ll feel like they should let me have Sunday off because it would be discrimination if they didn’t. After all, it’s a job for the city. Thoughts?
 
In high school I worked at a restaurant. Everyone knows how busy they get on Sundays. When I filled out my app I put that I could not work at all on Sundays. They understood. I think you should be up front with them. Tell them its for religious reasons. That way they don’t think you are just wanting a day to sleep in.
 
You can tell them you won’t work on Sunday but you probably will not get the job. In our parish there are plenty of opportunities to go to mass over the weekend. We have a 4 p.m. Saturday, 7 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Sunday. You could tell them you need some time over the weekend to attend mass but to just say you will not work Sunday they most likely will say “Thanks but no thanks”. In todays world most of us have to work on Sunday from time to time and many of us work every Sunday.
 
I work on Sundays in a restaurant. I still have tons of times to get to mass, and the work really isn’t “unneccesary” so I still do it…how else am I to pay for college?
 
I don’t think it’s a sin at all to work on Sunday.

I have a job where my shift is based on seniority, so I don’t always get Sundays off myself whenever our shifts change.

HOWEVER, I do make it to Mass every weekend–with a number of churches in town with different Mass times, whether Sat night, Sun morning, or Sun evening, you can always find the time.

It would be a sin to skip Mass on Sunday altogether.

Barbara
 
Work on Sunday? What does God think about it? Do you have Scriptural support for your decision not to work on this day?

It is good to have a day totally devoted to the Lord but remember, we are not under the Moasic Law as an economy to live by. Today we are under the Law of Christ as Christians. Romans 14 and Colossians 2:14-17 tells us not judge people concerining a Sabbath day or even in regards to Sunday. We should meet to worship in Sunday because Christ rose from the dead on this day, and because the early Christians met on this day. We are not to judge another person in regasrds to a Sunay sabbath. If someone works on Sunday that is between him and the Lord. It good to have a day of rest but we not commanded to. It is a grace issue. 👍
 
It really depends on your job. Are you a medical staff? Do people need you services? Are you a police officer? Are you taking care of people? I think you need to take into consideration whether or not you will lose your job in the process. Do you have a family that you are responsible for? Is it mandatory? Do you have another job lined up? Is there still room for worship? These are the questions I ask myself when deciding to do any work on Sundays, for pay or not.
 
The Cathecism touches on this. It is not absolutely forbidden to work on Sunday if it’s necessary. If you job requires it, and will not accomodate your religious reasons, then you can work on Sunday. It then comes down to how necessary the job is to you.

Read what the Church teaches about this, and then make your decision.
 
I don’t think it’s a sin, but if you do work on Sunday, you should
do it for the Lord.

If you choose to honor Him by saying you can’t work Sunday, at
the risk of not getting the job, I will be proud of you. Remember, it is God who gives us a job.
 
Our Priest talked about this very thing last Tuesday at class.

In a nutshell… yes. You should not work on Sundays. It is a day of rest, as He did on the seventh day. A day to spend with your family, doing things together - like going to Mass. A day to socialize with friends & neighbors.

“Not Working” includes: Grocery shopping, Mowing the lawn, Doing laundry, “Fixit” projects, and especially paid labor.
(As mentioned if you are employed in the Life Safety fields you would have an exemption.)

I’d tell your prospective employer you can’t work on Sundays. If you do, then you’ll be a candidate for working Ash Weds. Good Friday, Easter, Christmas, and any other religious based holiday as well.
 
Jay2 said:
Our Priest talked about this very thing last Tuesday at class.

In a nutshell… yes. You should not work on Sundays. It is a day of rest, as He did on the seventh day. A day to spend with your family, doing things together - like going to Mass. A day to socialize with friends & neighbors.

“Not Working” includes: Grocery shopping, Mowing the lawn, Doing laundry, “Fixit” projects, and especially paid labor.
(As mentioned if you are employed in the Life Safety fields you would have an exemption.)

I’d tell your prospective employer you can’t work on Sundays. If you do, then you’ll be a candidate for working Ash Weds. Good Friday, Easter, Christmas, and any other religious based holiday as well.
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For these reasons I much prefer not to be working Sundays. But in my previous job, I had to work every Sunday morning because it was for a 24/7 operation. (Technically, I was working part-time.)

That said, in many similar situations, one may wind up being the most junior employee and drawing the undesirable hours such as Sunday mornings. Believe me, I knew where and when the Saturday night and late Sunday afternoon Masses were!

You could always work for Chick-Fil-A. They never open on Sundays.
 
scapularkid8 said:
It’s just a part time job, but if I get it I wouldn’t feel comfortable working on a Sunday. I wouldn’t want to not get the job either by saying I can’t work on Sundays. Maybe if I make it clear to them that it’s out of religious reasons then they’ll feel like they should let me have Sunday off because it would be discrimination if they didn’t. After all, it’s a job for the city. Thoughts?
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First of all, don’t lie to them about why you can’t work Sunday. You’re Catholic, and normally we don’t work on the sabbath. If, however, the job is needed to support the family or simply keep you afloat, you might ask if you can work a schedule that accomodates your need to get to mass. I wouldn’t bank on the discrimination card in our secular culture, especially since you’re Catholic which remains about the only religion where it’s not considered un-PC to disrespect.

Now on a little deeper level…how are you honoring the sabbath, today, and how would that change if you got the job? If this job simply meant that you wouldn’t be home to watch the NFL or CBS…then I’m not sure that you’ve really changed all that much by taking the job. I truly mean no disrespect and am making no accusations. What I’m asking rhetorically is to what degree do you honor the sabbath right now, and would it really change all that much if you took the job? We all can ask ourselves that question.
 
I just was reading through the Bible and saw that the sabbath was the day of the covenant (the first covenant, too!). I just thought “who am I to disobey that?!” God made the world and wanted to enjoy His Creation. Shouln’t we just follow the same concept as well? All I do on Sundays is sit around at home with my family and do a little homework and other miscelaneous stuff. I go to Mass w/ my family on Saturdays too, so it’s not like I’m missing Mass. The point was brought up though that I would not be exempt on Good Friday for example since I didn’t work Sundays.
 
Jay2 said:
Our Priest talked about this very thing last Tuesday at class.

In a nutshell… yes. You should not work on Sundays. It is a day of rest, as He did on the seventh day. A day to spend with your family, doing things together - like going to Mass. A day to socialize with friends & neighbors.

“Not Working” includes: Grocery shopping, Mowing the lawn, Doing laundry, “Fixit” projects, and especially paid labor.
(As mentioned if you are employed in the Life Safety fields you would have an exemption.)

I’d tell your prospective employer you can’t work on Sundays. If you do, then you’ll be a candidate for working Ash Weds. Good Friday, Easter, Christmas, and any other religious based holiday as well.
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This is all well and good but in today’s economy it often takes two people to earn a living. When Mom and Dad are both working and trying to spend some time with and for the kids, it becomes very difficult to not shop, do laundry, clean on Sunday. Unfortunately the one worker family and the Blue Laws are long gone. I remember those days and when in Germany a couple of times found that the stores stay open on Thursday night and still close all day Sunday.
 
Yes, tell them that you need Sunday off for religious reasons. They can’t discriminate based upon religion so everything should be fine.
 
This is all well and good but in today’s economy it often takes two people to earn a living.
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I won’t argue this point at all - I totally agree. We are a two-income family, and it seems that the only time available is Saturday & Sunday to get our “jobs” done.

I somehow try and justify working on our “jobs” on Sunday by getting the whole family involved. The kids help, I help, my wife helps… we are spending time together, and we are accomplishing success towards a project that will make our home/neighborhood better.

After Mass this Sunday I had both kids and my wife helping me sheetrock our bathroom. “Working” on Sunday turned into a family project, each of us doing what we could, and spending some precious time together.

(My personal opinion is that people shouldn’t “work” for employer paid wages on Sunday. “Working” to improve your family situation/house/chores together is OK by me.)
 
I had a summer job working as a stock boy and clerk. I had to work Sundays. I made it to church with no trouble and didn’t ask for time away from work for religious reasons. My argument on Sunday work was “I’m working in a pharmacy. If the disease won’t wait until Monday, the medicine shouldn’t either.”

Matthew
 
If I remember correctly, the original reason that there is a Vigil mass was so that the vigiles could make it. Vigiles were the ancient Roman night watchmen, firemen, policemen, and such. They were city workers. There is always some need
in certain jobs for people to work 24/7, 365 days. Just make sure the job doesn’t have you in a 24 hour shift that makes you miss any possible mass times, that is the most important thing.
 
papaspicy said:
If I remember correctly, the original reason that there is a Vigil mass was so that the vigiles could make it. Vigiles were the ancient Roman night watchmen, firemen, policemen, and such. They were city workers. There is always some need
in certain jobs for people to work 24/7, 365 days. Just make sure the job doesn’t have you in a 24 hour shift that makes you miss any possible mass times, that is the most important thing.
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I would like to ask what days are we allowed to work during Holy Week?

Friday obviously not, Sunday and monday obviously not either. Yet what about Saturday or Thursday?

or are we not supposed to work the entire weekend?
 
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