Recreation on a Sunday

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AKDee

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I’m a new Catholic (baptized at Easter 2015) and wonder- what is the teaching about recreation on Sundays? I attend Mass every Sunday (occasionally at Saturday Vigil Mass but usually Sunday mornings). I read scripture throughout the week and pray frequently. I try to make our Lord a priority in my life every day.

I work full time Monday-Friday so the only time I have for recreation is Saturday/Sunday. My Parish does the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Saturdays, which generally means I stay around town Saturday so that I can go to Confession so that I can worthily receive the Body of Christ at Mass.

This means that if I have an all day recreational activity planned, generally I need to do it on Sundays.

Is it okay or not okay to do recreational activities on Sundays provided that I meet my Mass obligation? As an example, a couple weeks ago I went to Confession and attended Saturday Vigil Mass to leave Sunday free for my fiance and I to go ATV riding several hours from our house so it was an all day event. I love hiking, biking, ATV riding etc. and often feel very close to the Lord when I’m out in nature. But I got to thinking about it and am wondering now if it was really ok.
 
Thanks but I’m still left with questions.

Is recreation considered to be “work” or “rest”? I could see it go either way. My recreational habits are often intensely physical, but I find them to be restful in that they help me burn off the stress of the workweek and if I couldn’t do them on weekends I couldn’t do them at all.

I don’t think my activities hinder me from worship, as often I am praying as a I walk or drive.
 
Pope Benedict XVI

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)
w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis.html#The_eucharistic_form_of_the_christian_life
 
AKDee said:
Thanks but I’m still left with questions.

Is recreation considered to be “work” or “rest”? I could see it go either way. My recreational habits are often intensely physical, but I find them to be restful in that they help me burn off the stress of the workweek and if I couldn’t do them on weekends I couldn’t do them at all.

I don’t think my activities hinder me from worship, as often I am praying as a I walk or drive.
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You mean your involved in hiking up mountains and the like? That can be fine (just take a look at the Catechism and Pope Benedict XVI to get the rest on rest :)). (see too about “violence” associated…I assume nothing violent…)

(though I being not liking such…I might complain …;))
 
I also would look at the other important aspects of the Lords day…so taking time for prayer, reading scripture etc - keeping the reality of the Lords day at the center.

Take some time to read and meditate on what I sent above.
 
Bookcat said:
You mean your involved in hiking up mountains and the like? That can be fine (just take a look at the Catechism and Pope Benedict XVI to get the rest on rest :)). (see too about “violence” associated…I assume nothing violent…)

(though I being not liking such…I might complain …;))
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Yes. My weekends are often filled with ATV riding, gardening, hiking (definitely mountains!), bicycle riding, fishing, camping, etc. I am making sure that I meet my Mass obligation and will not skip Mass for recreation, but just wanted to make sure that physical activity didn’t automatically mean “work”.
I also would look at the other important aspects of the Lords day…so taking time for prayer, reading scripture etc - keeping the reality of the Lords day at the center.
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I read scripture daily and pray throughout the day every day. As an example, the weekend I was out riding ATV’s, I was often saying the Divine Mercy Chaplet (I count “beads” on my fingers when I don’t have access to a Rosary) while I rode, and praising God for the beauty of the area around the trail, etc.
 
AKDee said:
Yes. My weekends are often filled with ATV riding, gardening, hiking (definitely mountains!), bicycle riding, fishing, camping, etc. I am making sure that I meet my Mass obligation and will not skip Mass for recreation, but just wanted to make sure that physical activity didn’t automatically mean “work”.
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No it does not (as much as I might want to tell my wife that hiking and the like…:))

But while various “recreational activities” can be good for the Lords Day - keep in mind that it is the* Lords Day* -not “the American Weekend”.

Prayer, reading, silence, family, charity, recreation, etc
 
AKDee said:
I read scripture daily and pray throughout the day every day. As an example, the weekend I was out riding ATV’s, I was often saying the Divine Mercy Chaplet (I count “beads” on my fingers when I don’t have access to a Rosary) while I rode, and praising God for the beauty of the area around the trail, etc.
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Great. Take a New Testament etc with you too 👍

And of course take care safety wise …no reading and driving etc 🙂

Your “on the right trail”.
 
Keeping the answer to the question short and simple, yes, you can engage in clean recreational fun on Sundays.

Remember, Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath,

So to the Lord’s Day.

As long as we’ve attended Mass for Sunday, whether it’s the Saturday night vigil or Sunday, we can engage in rest and relaxation, however you prefer to do that.

Jim
 
CCC

Christians will also sanctify Sunday by devoting time and care to their families and relatives, often difficult to do on other days of the week. Sunday is a time for reflection, silence, cultivation of the mind, and meditation which furthers the growth of the Christian interior life.

Be that on at home…traveling …or on the trail!
 
As long as your Sunday recreation is this side of Hunger Games, your’re fine…time spent in the out doors with or without scripture is fine, as you ponder the wonder of creation and how God has blessed you to be part of it.
 
The Catechism:
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.
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Recreation is not work. And I can’t think of a better form of recreation than getting outdoors and enjoying the handiwork of God. :tanning:
 
AKDee said:
I’m a new Catholic (baptized at Easter 2015) and wonder- what is the teaching about recreation on Sundays? I attend Mass every Sunday (occasionally at Saturday Vigil Mass but usually Sunday mornings). I read scripture throughout the week and pray frequently. I try to make our Lord a priority in my life every day.

I work full time Monday-Friday so the only time I have for recreation is Saturday/Sunday. My Parish does the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Saturdays, which generally means I stay around town Saturday so that I can go to Confession so that I can worthily receive the Body of Christ at Mass.

This means that if I have an all day recreational activity planned, generally I need to do it on Sundays.

Is it okay or not okay to do recreational activities on Sundays provided that I meet my Mass obligation? As an example, a couple weeks ago I went to Confession and attended Saturday Vigil Mass to leave Sunday free for my fiance and I to go ATV riding several hours from our house so it was an all day event. I love hiking, biking, ATV riding etc. and often feel very close to the Lord when I’m out in nature. But I got to thinking about it and am wondering now if it was really ok.
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Yes. It’s fine.
 
What about hunting? or fishing?

Hunting can be a very intense activity and involves the field dressing of the animal and hauling out of the woods afterward. Fishing also involved the dressing of the animal but on a much smaller scale. If I do this with or without a family member, does it make a difference?
 
chopstocky said:
What about hunting? or fishing?

Hunting can be a very intense activity and involves the field dressing of the animal and hauling out of the woods afterward. Fishing also involved the dressing of the animal but on a much smaller scale. If I do this with or without a family member, does it make a difference?
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One thought that came to me in addition for consideration:

I personally would shy away from hunting (I do not hunt though to begin with) from simply the perspective of violently killing the animal for sport. That is my thought. But others may judge it differently.

(though I suppose you may get a text from a fish …“hey that hook too can’t we call that too rather violent?”…;))

Read the various texts on the Lords Day in the Catechism etc and make a prudential judgment (perhaps discuss with your confessor noting those texts).
 
AKDee said:
Yes. My weekends are often filled with ATV riding, gardening, hiking (definitely mountains!), bicycle riding, fishing, camping, etc. I am making sure that I meet my Mass obligation and will not skip Mass for recreation, but just wanted to make sure that physical activity didn’t automatically mean “work”.

I read scripture daily and pray throughout the day every day. As an example, the weekend I was out riding ATV’s, I was often saying the Divine Mercy Chaplet (I count “beads” on my fingers when I don’t have access to a Rosary) while I rode, and praising God for the beauty of the area around the trail, etc.
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I think gardening is considered servile work and you should try to do it on another day if it is not necessary to do on Sunday
 
cena said:
I think gardening is considered servile work and you should try to do it on another day if it is not necessary to do on Sunday
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Gardening in most cases today is a hobby and form of recreation.

It’s not servile work for most people who do it in this sense.

Jim
 
That’s how gardening is for me- it’s relaxing and it’s something I do as a hobby, not something I do because I need to do it.

But that’s kind of where I’m confused. Are we supposed to avoid physical work even when we enjoy it and view it more as relaxation/entertainment and feel more fulfilled for having done it?
 
I’ve tried to get an answer in regards to hunting and fishing on Sunday, based on the CCC stating something to the effect of Sunday/Sabbath/Lord’s Day is for saving life, not taking life (paraphrased of course). Well, this obviously is not referring to human life, as no day is for taking human life. Because of this text in the CCC, I do not hunt or fish on Sundays, and not only is hunting and fishing recreation for me, but I use the meat to supplement what we buy. I sure wish I could get an answer to this.
 
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