Should Sunday rest be a requirement from the Church?

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I work almost every Sunday. I am an RN and it goes without saying that the sick need me, regardless of the day or the hour. However, I try to set time aside to “rest” as the Lord asked. We attend Mass each Sunday, even though it means I must stay awake for many hours post-shift (I work nights…so I work Saturday night and Sunday night) and thus I lose a bit of sleep before my next shift. Other than attending Mass, my family tries not to impose work upon others. We don’t go out to eat, or grocery shop or what not.

Before I became a nurse, I worked as a waitress. Weekends were a must and I was required to work every other Sunday. You know who the WORST customers were? The people who just came from church. They sure were enjoying their day of rest, let me tell you. I cannot tell you how many bible tracts about the Sabbath I received instead of tips! We even had members of a local church ask if we would open an hour early so their congregation wouldn’t have to wait in such a long line to get a table! Before I became a Christian, it was exactly these kind of people that drove me away. You know what we called that group of Sunday customers? Savages.
 
Bezant said:
I’m undecided about this question. As it stands, CCC 2185 sounds more like a recommendation:

"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. 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.

The charity of truth seeks holy leisure - the necessity of charity accepts just work"

Thoughts?
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The Code of Canon Law…notes that they are “bound” to.
 
“74. 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)”

~ Pope Benedict XVI

vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis_en.html
 
“““Sine dominico non possumus!” Without the gift of the Lord, without the Lord’s day, we cannot live: That was the answer given in the year 304 by Christians from Abitene in present-day Tunisia, when they were caught celebrating the forbidden Sunday Eucharist and brought before the judge. They were asked why they were celebrating the Christian Sunday Eucharist, even though they knew it was a capital offence. “Sine dominico non possumus”: in the word dominicum/dominico two meanings are inextricably intertwined, and we must once more learn to recognize their unity. First of all there is the gift of the Lord – this gift is the Lord himself: the Risen one, whom the Christians simply need to have close and accessible to them, if they are to be themselves. Yet this accessibility is not merely something spiritual, inward and subjective: the encounter with the Lord is inscribed in time on a specific day. And so it is inscribed in our everyday, corporal and communal existence, in temporality. It gives a focus, an inner order to our time and thus to the whole of our lives. For these Christians, the Sunday Eucharist was not a commandment, but an inner necessity. Without him who sustains our lives, life itself is empty. To do without or to betray this focus would deprive life of its very foundation, would take away its inner dignity and beauty.”

–Pope Benedict XVI
 
I remember one Sunday going to an EF Mass (a rare chance for me), and the Gospel was one of those that Jesus talked about Sabbath & work. The priest mentioned he is aware that people have to work by necessity on Sundays like medical, law enforcement, food service, gas stations, certain types of computer/tech workers, etc because there is a need for them to work to provide essential services to the public. He also encouraged us to try not to do unnecessary work (inside/outside home) & shopping on Sundays so that others not as fortunate as we are can have some rest also. He also understands that people must do some essential chores in the home to care for themselves and their families even on Sundays.

My job requires me to work on Sundays as I work in the IT industry providing technical support for various computer things. I have been fortunate enough to be able to get off early on Saturdays to go to Saturday evening Mass. I try not to run errands on Sundays if at all possible unless I have a dire need.
 
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