Keeping the Lords Day

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KathleenElsie

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RERUM NOVARUM
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII
ON CAPITAL AND LABOR *
*

*To Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs,
Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other ordinaries
of places having Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See.

**Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor **
*
vatican.va/holy_father/leo_xiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum_en.html
  1. From this follows the obligation of the cessation from work and labor on Sundays and certain holy days. The rest from labor is not to be understood as mere giving way to idleness; much less must it be an occasion for spending money and for vicious indulgence, as many would have it to be; but it should be rest from labor, hallowed by religion. Rest (combined with religious observances) disposes man to forget for a while the business of his everyday life, to turn his thoughts to things heavenly, and to the worship which he so strictly owes to the eternal Godhead. It is this, above all, which is the reason arid motive of Sunday rest; a rest sanctioned by God’s great law of the Ancient Covenant-“Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day,”(31) and taught to the world by His own mysterious “rest” after the creation of man: “He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.”(32)
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As traditional Catholics do you also follow rest and worship on Sundays?
 
After fighting the company I worked for about the necessity for me to go to Mass, I quit my job. My money was not necessary (it made life easier and give us luxuries we won’t have now). But, I also was placed in the situation of missing Sunday and Holy Day obligations to God.

This was personal and not a judgment on others decisions. But, it might be nice to hear how others have handled this situation. I believe that the younger Catholics will have an even harder time getting to Mass.

The work week is now 7 days 24 hours for many places.
Fewer priests mean fewer Masses.
Closed parishes mean longer drives to Mass.
Outside obligations and demands no longer take into consideration the worship of God or family needs of time together.

It makes me sad to see this happening. With all the technology there should be better more humane work week not longer harder work weeks.
 
KathleenElsie said:
As traditional Catholics do you also follow rest and worship on Sundays?
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Yes. Beginning of the year I started a new job. After several weeks, they required me to work on Saturday evenings and Sundays,no compromises, take a few days off mid-week.

I quit, found something else.
 
I am not a traditional Catholic (“not that there is anything wrong with that”), having only been confirmed last easter Vigil. But still…

Yes, I try to keep secular activities to a minimum. I try to avoid shopping, but refuse to be anal-retentive about it. Sometimes I need to do shopping on Sundays. If I ever get saturdays off from the Post Office, I can do the big shopping then.

On Sundays, as on other days, I scoop out the cats’ litter boxes. Sometimes a box or two needs a thorough scrubbing and cleaning. I bet our Blessed Mother had to change Jesus’s diapers on the sabbath, and probably had to do laundry as well.:rolleyes:

Of course I go to mass on Sunday. I also go to an AA meeting at 7:30 PM Sunday evenings. Is this a secular activity or a spiritual activity or both?

I make an effort to read books on Sundays, but no guarantees. Currently working my way through IMITATION OF CHRIST.

It could be argued that if you work 8 hours a day at the Post Office, ANY day not at the Post Office is a true day of rest:D

I try to keep the sabbath as best as I can, but try to avoid being “holier then thou” about it. I have no one to impress except the cats

PS: The cats are NOT impressed.:crying:
 
Pope Benedict and John Paul II speak highly of the **Sunday **obligation

SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS

vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis_en.html

Living the Sunday obligation
73. 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)
 
Considering the modern age we live in, sometimes it is hard to not “work” at all on Sundays. Attending Mass is a priority for me on Sundays, but afterwards I’ll do laundry or something…
 
Andruschak said:
I try to keep the sabbath as best as I can, but try to avoid being “holier then thou” about it. I have no one to impress except the cats

PS: The cats are NOT impressed.:crying:
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Cats never are impressed if you try too hard to impress them :yup: - I find the best relationship tends to be one where I treat them with … well, preferably ignore them as much as possible apart from feeding and hygiene 😉
 
We attend 9:00am Mass on Sunday, then have breakfast together at a local diner.

We don’t work on Sundays unless absolutely necessary. I refuse to do any laundry on Sunday since I do laundry every day. Any other type of housework can wait till Monday. My dh sometimes wants to do yard work on Sundays, but I suggest he just let me do it during the week and he should rest.

My kids play tournament baseball from March-July. Tournaments are on weekends. Unfortunately, we usually play baseball on Sundays (we always make Mass, don’t worry). It’s not work, but it’s also not something I feel 100% comfortable with.
 
PaulaB52 said:
We attend 9:00am Mass on Sunday, then have breakfast together at a local diner.

We don’t work on Sundays unless absolutely necessary. I refuse to do any laundry on Sunday since I do laundry every day. Any other type of housework can wait till Monday. My dh sometimes wants to do yard work on Sundays, but I suggest he just let me do it during the week and he should rest.

My kids play tournament baseball from March-July. Tournaments are on weekends. Unfortunately, we usually play baseball on Sundays (we always make Mass, don’t worry). It’s not work, but it’s also not something I feel 100% comfortable with.
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ANY other type of housework? Including dirty dishes in the height of summer? :eek:

Look, the Church does give us a lot of latitude as to how best to keep the Lord’s Day, whilst noting that Mass attendance and avoidance of servile work are required unless impossible. And yes, it is important to do things appropriate to the significance of the day.

But truth be told, different ways of keeping the Sabbath work for different people. Some are happy or even longing just to recreate at home, for others a good uplifting (not immoral) movie or music concert, or even an outing to a sporting event (and yes, sports can bring you closer to God!) might be just the ticket.
 
The kingdom of Christ was established on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1), which always fell on “the morrow after the sabbath” (Lev. 23:15-16), hence, on Sunday.
So the church started out meeting for worship on the first day of the week (cf. Acts 2:42).
The disciples at Troas “were gathered together” upon “the first day of the week” to break bread, i.e., to worship, (Acts 20:7).

The specific day of meeting was no accident. Though Paul was anxious to get to Jerusalem (20:16), he waited seven days for the opportunity to assemble with the church.

The saints in Corinth were assembling, and contributing into the church treasury, “every first day of the week”

On the isle of Patmos, John was “in the spirit” on “the Lord’s day” (Rev. 1:10). The term for “Lord’s” is kupiakos, which is defined here as “relating to the Lord.”

The Gospel narratives, of course, make it clear that the resurrection occurred on Sunday

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons (Mark 16:9).
 
LilyM said:
ANY other type of housework? Including dirty dishes in the height of summer? :eek: That is what the dishwasher is for in our house. LOL We women need a day off also:D

Look, the Church does give us a lot of latitude as to how best to keep the Lord’s Day, whilst noting that Mass attendance and avoidance of servile work are required unless impossible. And yes, it is important to do things appropriate to the significance of the day. Since in these modern times everyone is sooooo busy. The family gets together on Sunday and goes to Mass, eats, plays and prays together. House work gets in the way of this.

But truth be told, different ways of keeping the Sabbath work for different people. Some are happy or even longing just to recreate at home, for others a good uplifting (not immoral) movie or music concert, or even an outing to a sporting event (and yes, sports can bring you closer to God!) might be just the ticket. Well I have seen the World Soccor Cup on the sattelite not exactly a Godly experience :tsktsk: :nope: 👋 LOL /quote]

No really I understand there are times when work is needed (yes even servile) on the Lords Day. But, how many of us actually ask if what we are doing on Sunday is what Jesus would approve of? Maybe we as a culture need to ask this question more often.😃
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As a fire-fighter, I have to work 3 out of every 9 Sundays, but lately have started attending Mass as many as two or three times a week.

People have house fires, automobile accidents, and heart-attacks on Sundays also,…so I’m pretty sure God understands. 🙂
 
abirdrrl said:
Keep in mind that by having breakfast at a local diner, you’re forcing others to work on a Sunday.
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I don’t know what to say to this other than when this diner DOES close on Sunday’s (Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas Week, New Year’s Week, Thanksgiving Week) we don’t eat anywhere else, but come home. I figured if the owners wanted to be closed on Sunday for a day of rest, the owners would do it. And if I didn’t go, they’d still be open and then I’d have to cook. 😛

ANY other type of housework? Including dirty dishes in the height of summer?
My job is a homemaker, so I don’t want to do any unnecessary housework on Sunday. I’ll pre-cook or crockpot my dinner, dishes can wait till Monday (it’s just one night), and I don’t do any laundry (did I mention I hate laundry? LOL). I usually make sure the house is picked up on Saturday night before I go to bed, so it doesn’t really make a difference.
 
Here is John Paul II’s letter on this topic:

Dies Domini (On Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy) May 31, 1998 [Apostolic Letter]

I have always tried to keepy my Sundays free and to do spiritual reading and go outside and enjoy Creation 🙂 (after Mass fo course 😃 ).
 
Saturday evening Mass was instituted by Pope Paul to “enable the Christians of today to celebrate more easily the day of the resurrection of the Lord.” Convenience is not a very good reason.
 
stmaria said:
Saturday evening Mass was instituted by Pope Paul to “enable the Christians of today to celebrate more easily the day of the resurrection of the Lord.” Convenience is not a very good reason.
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Given that those of us who go to Mass on Sunday mostly have more than one Mass time available to us, whichever time we choose is really based on ‘convenience’.

Whether you go to an earlier Mass to have the rest of the day to yourself, or a later morning Mass so that you can sleep in or have a leisurely breakfast, or leave it till evening so that you can go visiting or what have you.

We most all choose, and that choice is based on what is convenient to us, no?
 
stmaria said:
Saturday evening Mass was instituted by Pope Paul to “enable the Christians of today to celebrate more easily the day of the resurrection of the Lord.” Convenience is not a very good reason.
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With so few priest in many areas and many of them being in charge of more then one parish convience my mean the difference of going to Mass and not going to Mass at all.
 
LilyM said:
Given that those of us who go to Mass on Sunday mostly have more than one Mass time available to us, whichever time we choose** is really based on ‘convenience’**.

Whether you go to an earlier Mass to have the rest of the day to yourself, or a later morning Mass so that you can sleep in or have a leisurely breakfast, or leave it till evening so that you can go visiting or what have you.

We most all choose, and that choice is based on what is convenient to us, no?
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adoremus.org/eucharisticummysterium.html

Eucharisticum mysterium
28. Anticipating the Sunday and Feast Day Masses on the Previous Evening
Where permission has been granted by the Apostolic See to fulfill the Sunday obligation on the preceding Saturday evening, pastors should explain the meaning of this permission carefully to the faithful and should ensure that the significance of Sunday is not thereby obscured. The purpose of this concession is in fact to enable the Christians of today to celebrate more easily the day of the resurrection of the Lord.

Going to Mass on Sunday in the morning or afternoon because you need to go somewhere, like visiting parents, kids etc is completely different than going on a Saturday. You are making Sunday a special day. You are making a sacrifice to go on Sunday even though it might be more inconvenient.

It is clear to see that Saturday Mass was made for one purpose only “to celebrate more easily the day of the resurrection of the Lord”
 
I find this interesting of what was taught over 350 years ago.

The Douay Catechism of 1649

The Third Commandment Expounded
Q. 431. WHAT is the third commandment?
A. Remember that thou keepest holy the Sabbath day.
Q. 432. When did the Sabbath begin to be kept?
A. From the very creation of the world; for then God blessed the seventh day, and rested
on it from all His works. Gen. ii. 2.
Q. 433. When was this commandment renewed?
A. In the Old Law; when God gave the commandments to Moses on mount Sinai, written
with His own finger in two tables of stone, Exod. xx. 1, &c. xxxi. 18.
Q. 434. Why was the Jewish Sabbath changed into the Sunday?
A. Because Christ was born upon a Sunday, arose from the dead upon a Sunday, and sent
down the Holy Ghost on a Sunday: works not inferior to the creation of the world.
Q. 442. If keeping the Sunday be a church precept, why is it numbered in the
Decalogue, which are the Commandments of God, and the Law of Nature?
A. Because the substance or chief part of it, namely Divine Right, and the Law of Nature;
though the determinating this particular day, Sunday rather than Saturday, be a Church
Ordinance and precept.
Q. 443. Did not Christ, when he confirmed the rest, confirm also this
Commandment?
A. In as much as it belongeth to the law of nature, he did: but not as it belonged to the
ceremonial law of the Jews, and was affixed to Saturday, therefore, now we are not bound to keep Saturday.
Q. 445. To what are we obliged by this precept?
A. To spend Sunday in prayer and divine service.
Q. 446. What is the best means to sanctify the Sunday?
A. By hearing mass, confessing our sins, communicating, hearing sermons, and reading
good books.
Q. 447. What is forbidden by this precept?
A. All profane employments, and servile labours, excepting such as are of necessity, as dressing meat, serving cattle, &c. or such as appertain to piety and works of mercy.
Q. 448. Who break this commandment?
A. Such as without necessity spend any considerable part of the Sunday in servile labours.
Q. 449. How else is the Sunday profaned?
A. By spending all the morning slothfully in bed, or vainly dressing ourselves; by missing divine service when we may hear it, or spending a part of the day in drinking, gaming, dancing, or the like.
Q. 450. Is there any thing now in this first table of the law impossible to be observed?
A. No certainly; for nothing can be more easy and delightful to the true servant of God, than the things that are here commanded.
 
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