sunday

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angell1

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I know we primarily keep sunday holy by going to mass

but when it comes to working, what does the church teach? is it actually a sin to work or not? isn’t it supposed to be the day of rest also?

what about while resting, you have others working? such as going to restaurants, sports, going to stores, ETC… I know the catechism mentions these as traditional activities, why is it not a sin to do this kind of work?

I’ve asked many people but no one has been able to give a good answer. thanks
 
angell1 said:
I know we primarily keep sunday holy by going to mass

but when it comes to working, what does the church teach? is it actually a sin to work or not? isn’t it supposed to be the day of rest also?

what about while resting, you have others working? such as going to restaurants, sports, going to stores, ETC… I know the catechism mentions these as traditional activities, why is it not a sin to do this kind of work?

I’ve asked many people but no one has been able to give a good answer. thanks
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Think of it this way. Having to work on Sunday in order to provide for you and your family is not sinful. Choosing to work on Sunday instead of going to Church or spending time with your family is sinful.

When you have a clear choice, you should choose not to work on Sunday.

NOTE: just because one works on Sunday does not mean they can skip Mass. They should be doing everything in their power (within reason) to make Mass. Either on Saturday evening, early Sunday morning or Sunday evening. Even if it’s at another parish in your area.
 
angell1 said:
ok, I read it but it’s pretty vague, it doesn’t really explain doing activities that are rest for you but cause others to work. what are we supposed to think of that
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Sorry for missing part of your question.

You presume causation, but that’s pretty iffy in this secular society. If you didn’t go to a restaurant on a Sunday, many of them would still be open to serve secular customers. So you didn’t “cause” one of their employees to work. Those people may need to work on Sundays, even despite their best wishes, otherwise they might be fired, and they need the income to support others. It might even be considered unjust to call for general Sunday closings along these lines. The Lord said that the Sabbath was made for Man, not vice versa. Therefore if there is a legitimate need (for you or them), it should be fine. I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
 
phil19034 said:
Think of it this way. Having to work on Sunday in order to provide for you and your family is not sinful. Choosing to work on Sunday instead of going to Church or spending time with your family is sinful.

When you have a clear choice, you should choose not to work on Sunday.

NOTE: just because one works on Sunday does not mean they can skip Mass. They should be doing everything in their power (within reason) to make Mass. Either on Saturday evening, early Sunday morning or Sunday evening. Even if it’s at another parish in your area.
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well a lot of restaurants or cafes require people to work on sundays, would it be sinful to take those jobs even though it’s not an absolutely requirement for society to function? or what about being a customer on sunday, doesn’t that encourage employers to stay open and make other work? I’m still not really seeing the difference.
 
angell1 said:
I know we primarily keep sunday holy by going to mass

but when it comes to working, what does the church teach? is it actually a sin to work or not? isn’t it supposed to be the day of rest also?

what about while resting, you have others working? such as going to restaurants, sports, going to stores, ETC… I know the catechism mentions these as traditional activities, why is it not a sin to do this kind of work?

I’ve asked many people but no one has been able to give a good answer. thanks
Click to expand...
It is not a sin to work on Sundays.
 
angell1 said:
what about while resting, you have others working? such as going to restaurants, sports, going to stores, ETC… I know the catechism mentions these as traditional activities, why is it not a sin to do this kind of work?
Click to expand...
I can tell you that my family has a practice of not engaging in commerce on Sundays. We don’t go to restaurants. We don’t shop at stores. We survive just fine and I find it to be a very enriching practice. It does require you to plan ahead, which is a good thing in our culture where we demand immediate gratification. The funny thing to me is that a hundred years ago when life was much harder most people didn’t engage in work on Sundays and they survived.

There is some work that must be performed on Sundays. This would include those who protect people and property. This would include the communication, power, water and sewer. This would include hotels and restaurants to serve visitors. There would be other necessary work, but so much of the work people do engage in on Sundays is not necessary.

Many jobs require Sunday work only because so many people do engage in commerce on Sundays. If Christians stopped shopping on Sundays the stores would not be open. No business is going to pay employees to work when there are no customers. One problem is modern corporations don’t generally care about Sunday rest. In the old days when you had local businesses things were different. A lady I know related that in her small hometown an agreement existed between the three different pharmacies to rotate being open on Sundays. CVS and Walgreens would never do that! Chick-fil-A manages to not be open on Sundays and this no doubt costly. But it can be done even by a large corporation.

I highly recommend abstaining from engaging in commerce and eating out on Sundays. Again, I’ve found it very rewarding and consider it a small way to witness to the world.
 
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