Teen Sunday rest rules

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lilpinky080

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I’m not sure how exactly to name this, and where to put it, but hopefully this will work.

I’m wondering about keeping holy the Lord’s day. I’m sure there have been many, many threads about it, but searching, I could not find any.

I cut my Grandma’s grass once a week, and it seems to come up that the best day to do it ( the day that I have the most time) is Sunday. Last week I did it and this week I will have to again. Ideally, after this week I’ll do it on Saturday. I felt awful doing it last week, 😦 and I just would like to know what exactly the rules are. 🤷 I LOVE cutting it, so I don’t class it as “work” It never gets in the way of my Sunday duty, either.

Also, about twice a year I have a dance rehearsal on Sunday, but that is very, very rare. I always go after Mass, or go to Mass on Saturday. Thoughts?
 
cutting grass for your grandma sounds more like a work of good will than a work of personal gain.
 
Can she mow her lawn herself? If not, I don’t see why you shouldn’t do it for her, if the only time you can do it is on a Sunday.
 
lilpinky080 said:
I do get paid ( you know Grandma’s they would insist.) to mow, trim and blow.
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You are allowed to do almsgiving on Sundays, and works of charity. You are also not barred as a Catholic from taking work you need, even if it has to be done on a Sunday. Since she is your grandmother, this also has the honor due to parents and grandparents aspect to it.

My grandfather owned a farm when I was in grade school, and had a commercial strawberry field. One year, the weather and crop were such that the harvest of the field could not be completed on Saturday. Had the remaining berries not been harvested on Sunday, the crop would rot in the heavy rains forecast for early in the next week and the field would have been ruined.

His solution was this: he told the pickers that those who decided not to work that Sunday would still get their end-of-the-year bonus for attendance if that was the only work day that they missed, but that they were needed that Sunday. The field was harvested by those who chose to pick. All of the money that the processor gave him for the berries was split between the pickers, based on how many berries they picked that day. He made no profit himself, but the berries and field did not go to waste. I thought that was a pretty good solution.

You are doing your grandmother a favor by doing it, and are probably taking below the market rate for doing it. It is OK, particularly since her lawn isn’t going to get mowed if you don’t do it on a Sunday. It undoubtedly qualifies as a work of charity, even if you keep what she insists on paying you.

Since you would do it for nothing, though, except that we know how Grandmas are, you would do even better to take money she gives you for working on Sunday, and give it to the food bank or St. Vincent de Paul, to help to feed those who don’t have enough work (or ability to work) to feed themselves. I think you will feel very good about that.
 
there is no rule from the Church that we cannot work on Sunday. Sunday is not the Sabbath, Saturday is. and since we’re free from the Jewish laws asking us to observe the Sabbath, we don’t have that restriction

plus, doing work for a family member is never a bad thing.
 
Here’s what the Catechism says

vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7O.HTM

This part seems to be talking directly about your situation.

*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.123 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.124

2186 Those Christians who have leisure should be mindful of their brethren who have the same needs and the same rights, yet cannot rest from work because of poverty and misery. Sunday is traditionally consecrated by Christian piety to good works and humble service of the sick, the infirm, and the elderly. *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.
 
shondrea said:
Can she mow her lawn herself? If not, I don’t see why you shouldn’t do it for her, if the only time you can do it is on a Sunday.
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No, all things considered, she should not mow the lawn herself.

Thank you all for your replies, I really appreciate it!
 
**from the Catechism **

2042 The first precept (“You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation and** rest from servile labor**”) requires the faithful to sanctify the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord as well as the principal liturgical feasts honoring the mysteries of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the saints; in the first place, by participating in the Eucharistic celebration, in which the Christian community is gathered, and by resting from those works and activities which could impede such a sanctification of these days.82

A day of grace and rest from work

2184 Just as God "rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done,"121 human life has a rhythm of work and rest. the institution of the Lord’s Day helps everyone enjoy adequate rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social, and religious lives.122

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.123 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.124

2186 Those Christians who have leisure should be mindful of their brethren who have the same needs and the same rights, yet cannot rest from work because of poverty and misery. Sunday is traditionally consecrated by Christian piety to good works and humble service of the sick, the infirm, and the elderly. 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.

2187 Sanctifying Sundays and holy days requires a common effort. Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord’s Day. Traditional activities (sport, restaurants, etc.), and social necessities (public services, etc.), require some people to work on Sundays, but everyone should still take care to set aside sufficient time for leisure. With temperance and charity the faithful will see to it that they avoid the excesses and violence sometimes associated with popular leisure activities. In spite of economic constraints, public authorities should ensure citizens a time intended for rest and divine worship. Employers have a similar obligation toward their employees.

2188 In respecting religious liberty and the common good of all, Christians should seek recognition of Sundays and the Church’s holy days as legal holidays. They have to give everyone a public example of prayer, respect, and joy and defend their traditions as a precious contribution to the spiritual life of society. If a country’s legislation or other reasons require work on Sunday, the day should nevertheless be lived as the day of our deliverance which lets us share in this “festal gathering,” this "assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven."125
 
and read this from;

Pope Benedict XVI:

Iuxta dominicam viventes – living in accordance with the Lord’s Day
  1. From the beginning Christians were clearly conscious of this radical newness which the Eucharist brings to human life. The faithful immediately perceived the profound influence of the eucharistic celebration on their manner of life. Saint Ignatius of Antioch expressed this truth when he called Christians “those who have attained a new hope,” and described them as “those living in accordance with the Lord’s Day” (iuxta dominicam viventes). (204) This phrase of the great Antiochene martyr highlights the connection between the reality of the Eucharist and everyday Christian life. The Christians’ customary practice of gathering on the first day after the Sabbath to celebrate the resurrection of Christ – according to the account of Saint Justin Martyr(205) – is also what defines the form of a life renewed by an encounter with Christ. Saint Ignatius’ phrase – “living in accordance with the Lord’s Day” – also emphasizes that this holy day becomes paradigmatic for every other day of the week. Indeed, it is defined by something more than the simple suspension of one’s ordinary activities, a sort of parenthesis in one’s usual daily rhythm. Christians have always experienced this day as the first day of the week, since it commemorates the radical newness brought by Christ. Sunday is thus the day when Christians rediscover the eucharistic form which their lives are meant to have. “Living in accordance with the Lord’s Day” means living in the awareness of the liberation brought by Christ and making our lives a constant self-offering to God, so that his victory may be fully revealed to all humanity through a profoundly renewed existence.
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)
vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis_en.html
 
Often, when we do a work of charity (a corporal work of mercy) for someone it becomes a sort of prayer. Since you enjoy cutting the grass for your grandmother, and especially if it gives you emotional rest and happiness, you might just consider it a prayer for her.

If you can do this activity on another day, then, of course it is best to choose that time to accomplish it. But, if you only have Sunday available…and you do it gladly with joy in your heart…what could be wrong with that? It’s an unselfish act of charity!

Now…when it comes to going to dance rehersal, or some other activity for yourself, that may be a different matter. Do you see the difference?
 
lilpinky080 said:
I’m not sure how exactly to name this, and where to put it, but hopefully this will work.

I’m wondering about keeping holy the Lord’s day. I’m sure there have been many, many threads about it, but searching, I could not find any.

I cut my Grandma’s grass once a week, and it seems to come up that the best day to do it ( the day that I have the most time) is Sunday. Last week I did it and this week I will have to again. Ideally, after this week I’ll do it on Saturday. I felt awful doing it last week, 😦 and I just would like to know what exactly the rules are. 🤷 I LOVE cutting it, so I don’t class it as “work” It never gets in the way of my Sunday duty, either.

Also, about twice a year I have a dance rehearsal on Sunday, but that is very, very rare. I always go after Mass, or go to Mass on Saturday. Thoughts?
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Love thy neighbor.

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

If I was lucky enough to still have a Grandma, I’d ignore the Scribes and Pharisees and thank God I could mow her lawn.

I hope that helps.
 
Good grief, read Luke. It is o.k. for you to help grandma. Jesus healed on the Sabbath and gathered food. The one thing we should not do is to do unnecessary shopping and we should be mindful of God every day not just Sunday. It if a family day and you are helping family.

As for Saturday, the Sabbath, Choy please speak to a priest, Sunday is now our day to keep holy. The Sabbath did and still is observed by people of Jewish faith and the Seventh Day Adventists I believe. Please someone correct me if I am wrong.🙂
 
Mow. I mow my own lawn on sunday if it needs because I like the excercise and the quiet that comes with mowing. I tend to reflect of the Mass then.

Now when I was young my best friend lived next door his mother would not let him watch TV, ride his bike, play outside or study on Sunday. It was suggested that sweating meant that work had been dune and thus a sin had been committed.
 
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