How do you celebrate the Sabbath?

[Tantum_ergo]

Ah, a good question.

I celebrate the Lord’s Day by attending Mass, in which I have the incredible, inestimable privilege (when in a state of grace) of receiving the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist! I stand with Jesus at the foot of the Cross. I participate in the Last Supper. I witness his glorious resurrection. And I do this in fellowship with my fellow Catholic Christians, listening to Scripture and raising my voice in songs and hymns of praise.

Afterward, I refrain from all servile work. I recite the rosary, meditating upon the Luminous Mysteries. I say the Liturgy of the Hours as indeed I do every day, praying the nine Canonical hours as Scripture has told us to “pray always”. I read from the Holy bible a chapter in both the old and the new testament. I meditate and I read also from authors like St.Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Augustine.

I take the time to call or e-mail my family and friends, especially my best friend of 38 years (who is BTW Protestant) in order to send messages of love and hope in Christ.

I love Sundays! This 'first day of the week" sets the tone for the week ahead. In focusing on Christ and my relationship with Him AND with my fellows, Christians and nonChristians alike, I set my ‘moral compass’ outside the influences of the world and am strengthened and refreshed by the participation in Mass and by the character of the day itself, ready to continue on in the week trying to keep focused on Christ, to obey Him, to serve Him through serving others, and looking ahead to the help and strength I’ll receive the following Sunday.

 

[CradleCath]

You bring up an interesting point. Can Catholics consider Saturday as the day to keep holy and workfree instead of Sunday? I can see where allowing you to fulfill your Sunday obligation on Saturday could lead one to treat the whole day as the Sabbath but does this really hold? After all only the EVE of Sunday is addressed in Canon Law. I would like to hear the answer from a theologian, which I’m not.

To answer your other questions, I don’t see where those can’t be used to keep holy the Lord’s Day. I like your idea about animals, though, since I have three cats and I understand the Pope also spends much time with them.

The Pope has a cat named Chico & another tabby cat has sort of chosen Chico & Pope Benedict to hang around with. (They are supposedly banned in the papal apt.)

According to Italian news reports, the pope used to walk the streets of Borgo Pio, his former Roman neighborhood just east of the Vatican, where neighbors likened him to Dr. Dolittle with a Pied Piper charm. Stray cats would run to him when they saw him coming and he used to prepare food for them daily & take it with him.

My husband & I are more “dog people” & we named our third Black Lab after Pope Benedict. That may sound a bit sacreligious…but if you know how much we love Ben, you’d understand.

As for the celebrating the Sabbath, for me that would always be Sunday. I only attended the vigil Mass when it was absolutely necessary. When the children were growing up, we farmed. Until the day each kid left for college, we’d all go together for Mass at 10:AM. We’d be back home for the noon meal (that was our big meal on Sunday) & we usually served something that had been prepared ahead of time. A pot roast/potatoes/carrots/etc.kept warm in a slow oven during Mass…or sometimes a big meatloaf that I’d made up days ahead & stuck in the freezer. My parents would come to eat. We ** all** took a long walk together after dinner…weather permitting. My parents loved to see the livestock, especially in the spring when the new calves were born.

My husband & I gave the Sabbath to God, by giving ourselves to the family. We kept it simple on Sunday. He has rewarded us well with some grown children who are people that we like to be with & grandchildren that we treasure.

BTW., As our kids grew into teenagers…Sunday was still a “home day”. No going to the movies or dates. No Shopping. They were welcome to invite their friends to our house, but Sundays we all stayed home. We had four very active children, & often other kids were there, so my parents & ourselves spent a lot of Sundays taking lawn chairs to the field & watching a pick-up baseball game. Those were GOOD years & I’ll always miss “Grandma & Grandpa” most on Sundays. My Father’s been gone for 20 yrs. & Mom died 11 yrs. ago.

 

[CradleCath]

May I suggest spending some time in meditative prayer? I.e. take a book of meditations and set aside some time to read a portion of it then pray about it, while turning it over in your mind?

I’m always going back to St. Francis’s meditations. And I am trying to gather more and make my own from inspirational quotations.

The Psalms are good to pray…
**
Take the day slower… don’t let anything disturb your peace… Don’t do unnecessary physical labor (mowing the lawn, etc.) or shopping that can be done tomorrow or the day before…**
Contemplate nature… sit with a book…

**For a Catholic I would say… go early and stay late at the Sunday mass… **sit in the pew and adore Christ in the tabernacle… or read a prayerbook for awhile… if the church is kept open… it’s a peaceful place to stay. And you miss out on your weekly brush with death in the parking lot. Too.

Great message!!!

 

[Vasian]

As recent revelations have led me back to the 10 commandments , I decided to start with really keeping the Sabbath. As I am following Jesus’ example, I have decided to celebrate from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. The trouble is I dont even know how! I have some general ideas, but I was hoping that other Sabbath keepers ( whether its Sat or Sun or even some other day of the week) could give me some suggestions. I am going to Church on Saturday and not do any unecessary work.

You are aware are you not, that the Ten Commandments you refer to are only 10 of a total 623 Commandments that were given by God to the Israelites?
Are you also following/adhering to the rest of them as well?
If not, then why not?
To follow only 10 out of 623 seems to be a bit selfish, and very pointless is it not?
It is for a fact, not a very complete worship for you to only adhere/follow only 10.
If your aim is to follow The Law then you have to follow ALL of the law.
Yet, Christ died for our sins, and in fact the bible states that Christ “fulfilled the law for all time and for mankind”.
Yes! Christ fulfilled The Law (623 Commandments) It was nailed to the cross!

My young friend, I’ve been following your posts, and what I read is comments by someone who is very aware of their spiritual needs and this is a good thing!
Yet many of your statements read like a cue ball bouncing off of every object that it meets.
Everyone’s spiritual soundness of mind starts with heart felt prayer.
As others have noted for good reason, and most likely through personal experience, may I too suggest slowing down, and working on the basics and finer points of the faith.
Crawl before you walk:thumbsup:

 

[FCEGM]

As recent revelations have led me back to the 10 commandments , I decided to start with really keeping the Sabbath. As I am following Jesus’ example, I have decided to celebrate from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. The trouble is I dont even know how! I have some general ideas, but I was hoping that other Sabbath keepers ( whether its Sat or Sun or even some other day of the week) could give me some suggestions. I am going to Church on Saturday and not do any unecessary work. Some things I have read, and Jesus modeled were healing the sick and tending to the needy.The trouble with that is since that is sort of what I do all week, doing that on my day of rest is sort of missing the point. Since I love animals , I wondered if ministering to them in some way would be approriate. Praising God and spending time appreciating his creations also come to mind. Since this is my very first day of Sabbath keeping, I have already made mistakes and run into temptation. I was not properly prepared houseworkwise and had to explain to my husband that I did not want to go the store or discuss our finances until tomorrow evening. On the other hand, knowing that tomorrow I am free to rest and worship God is a joyous feeling!

You will find the late John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter, Dies Domini (Day of the Lord) of interest, then:

vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_05071998_dies-domini_en.html

 

[chrisb]

As recent revelations have led me back to the 10 commandments , I decided to start with really keeping the Sabbath. As I am following Jesus’ example, I have decided to celebrate from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. The trouble is I dont even know how! I have some general ideas, but I was hoping that other Sabbath keepers ( whether its Sat or Sun or even some other day of the week) could give me some suggestions. I am going to Church on Saturday and not do any unecessary work. Some things I have read, and Jesus modeled were healing the sick and tending to the needy.The trouble with that is since that is sort of what I do all week, doing that on my day of rest is sort of missing the point. Since I love animals , I wondered if ministering to them in some way would be approriate. Praising God and spending time appreciating his creations also come to mind. Since this is my very first day of Sabbath keeping, I have already made mistakes and run into temptation. I was not properly prepared houseworkwise and had to explain to my husband that I did not want to go the store or discuss our finances until tomorrow evening. On the other hand, knowing that tomorrow I am free to rest and worship God is a joyous feeling!

Grace and Peace,

You know, in the old days, many Catholics went to Mass ‘everyday’ and attended Vespers on Saturday evenings to close out the Sabbath Day of the Old Creation. Sunday was considered to glimpse into eternity as ‘that eighth day’…

Very interesting concept to bring up to Seventh Day Adventists.

Servile work isn’t work for one’s on family ‘even’ under the Old Testament rubrics as Our Lord even said who among you do let your goats out in the morning so you might be going a bit overboard with not talking to your husband about the household finances but my guess is you’re not familiar with Catholic definitions of Servile Work and are just coming up with your own rule.

 

[Shin]

I would avoid talking finances on Sunday, definitely. While it may be acceptable in and of itself, it’s not the most peace inducing type of discussion, nor oriented towards the day.

 

[CradleCath]

You will find the late John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter, Dies Domini (Day of the Lord) of interest, then:

vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_05071998_dies-domini_en.html

WOW!! Thank you for the link to Dies Domini. I had not read that before & it has answered questions that I’ve had concerning today’s “celebration” of Sunday…the Sabbath of the New Law.

Having worked in retail most of my life, I’ve often wondered why one must shop on Sunday. I was probably the last shop owner that closed on Sun. Many of my grandchildren’s sporting events are held on Sun., the mall is open on Sunday, grocery stores, movie theatres, etc., ETC.

[SIGN]SIGN]From Pope John Paul:

. "Until quite recently, it was easier in traditionally Christian countries to keep Sunday holy because it was an almost universal practice and because, even in the organization of civil society, Sunday rest was considered a fixed part of the work schedule. Today, however, even in those countries which give legal sanction to the festive character of Sunday, **changes in socioeconomic conditions **have often led to profound modifications of social behaviour and hence of the character of Sunday. The custom of the “weekend” has become more widespread, a weekly period of respite, spent perhaps far from home and often involving participation in cultural, political or sporting activities which are usually held on free days. This social and cultural phenomenon is by no means without its positive aspects if, while respecting true values, it can contribute to people’s development and to the advancement of the life of society as a whole. All of this responds not only to the need for rest, but also to the need for celebration which is inherent in our humanity. Unfortunately, when Sunday loses its fundamental meaning and becomes merely part of a “weekend”, it can happen that people stay locked within a horizon so limited that they can no longer see “the heavens”.(7) Hence, though ready to celebrate, they are really incapable of doing so."/SIGN][/SIGN]
I wish I knew the answer, but I feel better just knowing that Pope John Paul was concerned about the same things that have troubled me. Of course, if women did not have the financial need to work outside of home, they would probably not shop on Sunday & I’ll not lie here…the fact that I didn’t open the store on Sunday, hurt us in the beginning…but we solved that problem by offering superior service & keeping in plain sight a little sign that said,

“This store is closed on Sunday in order to make it possible for our employees to attend worship services with their family.” For years I expected the ACLU to descend upon us for violation of the “Separation of Church & State” clause in our constitution. Thank God, we were to small for them to notice.

Now that I’m retired, while I do attend my grandchildren’s games on Sun…that’s where my whole family is & the catholic schools schedule their basketball tournaments on Sat. & Sun. Otherwise the day is spent at Mass & with my husband & we do only the necessary chores such as cooking/doing the dishes/etc.

I know that many people on this forum have to do their errands on the weekends, but just TRY not to purchase your groceries, clothes & household items on Sunday. It means a great deal to the people who are helping you…if they can do that on the other 6 days of the week.

 

[char1963]

Some of you gave me some great ideas! I am a little perplexed by those who responded by talking about obligations. I was talking about spending time with God because I wanted to , not because some law told me to

 

[char1963]

I realize it may have appeared that way in my first post, but it was all about finding ways to please God. Some of you may be surprised to learn that I actually went to Church Saturday AND Sunday