Housework on Sundays?

[houston1]

I’m a stay-at-home mother. Is it morally permissable for me to do housework like ironing and cleaning house on Sundays? In addition, may I do tasks like reconcile our bank and credit card accounts and work on our tax return on Sunday? It’s the 2nd commandment that I’m worried about breaking.

Thanks for your help.

houston1

 

[Bookcat]

I’m a stay-at-home mother. Is it morally permissable for me to do housework like ironing and cleaning house on Sundays? In addition, may I do tasks like reconcile our bank and credit card accounts and work on our tax return on Sunday? It’s the 2nd commandment that I’m worried about breaking.

Thanks for your help.

houston1

from the Catechism 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

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Here is one definition of servile work: catholicreference.net/index.cfm?id=36428

From the Catechism

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.

also read this whole thing from the Catechism;

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

 

[Bookcat]

and read this from;

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/be…christian_life

 

[Bookcat]

I’m a stay-at-home mother. Is it morally permissable for me to do housework like ironing and cleaning house on Sundays? In addition, may I do tasks like reconcile our bank and credit card accounts and work on our tax return on Sunday? It’s the 2nd commandment that I’m worried about breaking.

Thanks for your help.

houston1

I would not ‘clean the house’ unless there is some real necessity…like the Pope is coming for dinner that night…

but certain few little things…can be no problem…like doing the dishes (at least my wife tells me that i have too……) if they fit in with the posts above…

if the bank stuff etc is not much trouble and does not take away from the Sunday (read the other posts)…or give a bad example…say to the Children…then perhaps that is no prob. either…

but i would wait and do them another day if one can…

and taxes would not a good idea!!! no enjoyment there!!

 

[houston1]

I would not ‘clean the house’ unless there is some real necessity…like the Pope is coming for dinner that night…

but certain few little things…can be no problem…like doing the dishes (at least my wife tells me that i have too……) if they fit in with the posts above…

if the bank stuff etc is not much trouble and does not take away from the Sunday (read the other posts)…or give a bad example…say to the Children…then perhaps that is no prob. either…

but i would wait and do them another day if one can…

and taxes would not a good idea!!! no enjoyment there!!

Thanks for your post. I am still unclear about whether I can do my taxes or not.

All these things I don’t really view as “work”. Child-rearing, on the other hand, I do (j/k). I actually look forward to completing these projects - ironing, taxes, organizing, etc. Sunday is a day that my husband can watch my son in order for me to do the taxes. I have a hard time fitting a large amount of time during the week days. In addtion, my husband is going over to a friend’s house Sunday night and I wanted to work on the taxes at that time. Is this okay?

 

[Bookcat]

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.

Think about it in light of this description from the Catechism …

also think …how long will it take?? you mention a large amount of time…

in my case i would not do so on a Sunday…unless necessity came into play…

and of course one has to think of how it will appear to others…

do not scruple about it …but think and pray about about it a bit …

 

[Rence]

There are always things you MUST do every day, including sunday. But if you can work it so that you don’t have to do things on Sunday, that’s better. I’m sure God understands if Mom has to throw a load of laundry in the wash for a situation too gross to mention

And to find exact answers to specific questions, I think you’d have to ask a priest. IMOHO, if things are crazy at home and you have someone watching the kids on Sunday only and it’s truly the only time you’ll get to do certain things done, I’m not sure what choice you have. It’s the same with homework. You may not be able to get out of doing sunday homework without failing a monday class. But if you can do your homework in a way to avoid doing it on Sunday, it’s preferable. But ask your priest, because he’ll ask the relevant questions and help you figure it out

 

[Celtic_FC]

Yes, that’s when I usually vacuum because my wife and girl are at the in-laws when I get home.

 

[hellopeople]

We aren’t keeping the Jewish law. Why would cleaning on sundays be a problem?

 

[shondrea]

I wonder this as well…my father has very little control over his work schedule. If an oil pump crashes on Sunday then by gosh he really HAS to be there, because no one else can fix it. Is this alright?

And what about doing work for others? I still live at home with my grandmother; if she asks that I do the dishes for her, or vacuum the rug, what of this? And daily farm chores? Dogs and horses need care on Sundays too.

 

[Kay_Cee]

I wonder this as well…my father has very little control over his work schedule. If an oil pump crashes on Sunday then by gosh he really HAS to be there, because no one else can fix it. Is this alright?

And what about doing work for others? I still live at home with my grandmother; if she asks that I do the dishes for her, or vacuum the rug, what of this? And daily farm chores? Dogs and horses need care on Sundays too.

Read Matthew 12:10-12.

I remember when I was a little girl all dressed up in my Easter finery. My family was walking past my grandfather’s house on the way to Mass. My grandfather was backing out of the driveway in his work truck. He was dressed in his work clothes. You see, he was a plumber, and somebody’s water heater had blown. These folks had water all over the place and needed a plumber right away.

Of course it was okay for him to go fix things for them. Remember that Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.