Keeping Holy the Sabbath: Christians and Jews playing baseball together

[Matt_Collins]

Living in a very Jewish neighborhood I am continually edified by the Jews who practice the commandment to “keep holy the Sabbath”. Just this morning (Saturday) my son was driving me to the office (to study for my final exam for a course I’m taking for my Master’s degree) and we discussed how our Jewish bretheren are such a good example for us. It is a hot and humid day here, and groups of Jewish men and women are walking around the neighborhood, back and forth from each other’s homes, to and from the synagogue, etc., all in their “Sunday Best”, as we might say in the Christian world. We have a family joke that there is never a traffic jam in our area on Friday night or Saturdays. The strength of their family life is remarkable.

My son is the token gentile on an all-Jewish baseball team in a mostly all-Jewish league. They never play on Saturday. I’ve wondered if they regard our willingness to play baseball on Sunday as a failure to keep holy our Christian Sabbath. I don’t see it that way. Attending my son’s baseball game is a way of enjoying each other’s company and relaxing. I view it very much as keeping holy the Sabbath. Of course, baseball very clearly takes a back seat to Mass and prayer, but relaxing on the Sabbath is an obligation.

While it is an obligation to refrain from unnecessary work on the Sabbath, it is not an obligation to refrain from necessary work. Even the orthodox Jews recognize that it is sometimes necessary to work on the Sabbath to save human life, defend the weak, etc. But they are much stricter about what is considered “necessary” than we in the Christian world tend to be. My pediatrician growing up was Jewish, and he was my son’s pediatrician, too, before he retired. Calling him on Saturday was never an issue. But he did not hold office hours on Jewish holidays.

During our drive I was commenting to my son that when his mother and I were growing up almost all the stores were closed on Sunday. We really did take the obligation to relax and refrain from work much more seriously. When I was in college I was one of the first in my family to begin to work on Sunday. I was working in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit as a medical technician. I would work weekends from 7am until 7pm both days. On Sunday I would attend Mass in the hospital at noon. If I was unable to attend because of the need to care for the babies, I was excused.

The commandment to keep holy the Sabbath and to refrain from unnecessary work on the Sabbath is real, and we in the Christian community tend not to take it as seriously as we ought.

This post is a general invitation to open a discussion on this topic. To get things rolling, how do people feel about doing the following activities on the Sabbath?

Studying for school
Working (and I mean WORKING) on the computer
Cutting the grass (I find it relaxing)
Working in a hospital
Working in a convenience store
Attending a movie
Travelling for work-related business
Travelling for personal business
Travelling for recreation
Going to a restaurant
Browsing the internet

I have read the Pope’s encyclical Dies Domine (or was it an apostolic letter, or some other type of document?), but I don’t remember any specifics from it. Any particularly insightful comments from that letter would be helpful to this discussion.

I would also be interested in comments from others comparing the Christian way of living the Sabbath with the Jewish way. As for myself, I consider myself blessed to live among so many faithful and practicing Jews. Their example is truly inspiring.

 

[CCM08]

I guess the first issue here is the Lord’s day (Sunday) vs. the Sabbath. Stictly speaking we don’t keep the Sabbath as Christians, we celebrate Christ’s victory over death on the 8th and the 1st day. As such I don’t see any obligation to try and mimick Jewish legalism on Sundays. Christ was exceptionally fond of quoting the passage, “God desires mercy, not sacrafice.” As such I think God is more concerned that I love my fellow man and conduct an honorable and generous life then whether I turn on a light swtich on Sunday.

 

[DanteAlighieri]

Studying for school
Working (and I mean WORKING) on the computer
Cutting the grass (I find it relaxing)
Working in a hospital
Working in a convenience store
Attending a movie
Travelling for work-related business
Travelling for personal business
Travelling for recreation
Going to a restaurant
Browsing the internet

1. Is it urgent and or pressing? If so, it’s necessary.
2. Again, is it urgent? In your case, you do it for relaxation and/or exercise – acceptable.
3. Part of the job = necessary.
4. See 3.
5. Leisure activity = fine. Consider, however, the value of doing so, as well as the content.
6. See 3.
7. See 5.
8. Leisure, plus we have to eat.
9. Browsing is by definition leisurely.

I agree with the notion that you shouldn’t be overly legalistic, but for the sake of answering your questions, one must discern whether the activity in question is work, and if so, whether it’s necessary. (By the way, it may be a good idea to set aside another day for rest and devotion if one must work Sundays).

There is not a list of things which Catholics must or must not do on Sundays, other than we must attend Mass (unless there is a serious reason preventing it) and we must avoid unnecessary labor.

Peace,
Dante

 

[blessedtoo]

I do love how the Orthodox Jews observe their Sabbath. I enjoy listening to my favororite radio host, Michael Medved, talk about how he and his family walk everywhere, including the 4 miles to synagogue, during this time.

I was recently lamenting this same issue with a dear Catholic friend. I’ve taken 2 jobs in the last month that both fell on a Sunday. After the last one, I promised myself I would not do this again because it interferes so completely with my primary focus for the day, which is the Lord. It messes with my Sunday Mass schedule, forcing me to attend Churches I wouldn’t normally, and keeps me preoccupied to the point where I don’t even realize what day it is. This is just so wrong. While it’s tempting to accept a job for excellent money when it is so desperately needed, it is not worth it when I must sacrifice my peace of mind and my one special day with the Lord.

As a rule, I do next to nothing on Sunday. I attend Mass, perhaps coffee afterwards, spend some time on CAF or with a good book, and REST. It’s such a gift from God, this day we have to be still and quiet.

BTW: I absolutely remember the days when all businesses were closed on Sunday. It’s a lovely memory.

 

[CCM08]

I’m curious, if we work 6 days a week and then sit around and do nothing on Sundays when do we feed the poor, clothe the naked, visit the sick, or any work of mercy? Scripture is pretty clear on what separates the goats from the sheep, sitting around the house on Sunday isn’t included.

 

[DanteAlighieri]

I’m curious, if we work 6 days a week and then sit around and do nothing on Sundays when do we feed the poor, clothe the naked, visit the sick, or any work of mercy? Scripture is pretty clear on what separates the goats from the sheep, sitting around the house on Sunday isn’t included.

Scripture also doesn’t direct us to set aside Sunday for this purpose, either. Acts of charity and mercy are to permeate our lives – even if we work 6 days a week.

The OP was asking, however, if certain things are acceptable activities for a Sunday, not what we should be doing.

Peace,
Dante

 

[Bennie_P]

I’m curious, if we work 6 days a week and then sit around and do nothing on Sundays when do we feed the poor, clothe the naked, visit the sick, or any work of mercy? Scripture is pretty clear on what separates the goats from the sheep, sitting around the house on Sunday isn’t included.

Your heart is in the right place but…
From the CCC

IN BRIEF
2189 “Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Deut 5:12). “The seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord” (*Ex *31:15).
2190 The sabbath, which represented the completion of the first creation, has been replaced by Sunday which recalls the new creation inaugurated by the Resurrection of Christ.
2191 The Church celebrates the day of Christ’s Resurrection on the “eighth day,” Sunday, which is rightly called the Lord’s Day (cf. SC 106).
2192 “Sunday . . . is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church” (CIC, can. 1246 § 1). “On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass” (CIC, can. 1247).
**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). **
**2194 The institution of Sunday helps all “to be allowed sufficient rest and leisure to cultivate their amilial, cultural, social, and religious lives” (*GS *67 § 3). **
2195 Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord’s Day.

Get the complete teaching starting at para 2168.

I sorry I posted before seeing that you are not in communion with Rome so of course you are not obligated to accept this instruction as your own, but please consider it. PAX - Until we meet in Jerusalem.