Volunteering at a mall on Sunday

[Ms_Manners]

Normally we avoid shopping on Sundays.
There are some exceptions, like travel if it can’t be avoided (I do need to eat when travelling and bringing my own isn’t always an option), special one-day events (like a Renaissance fair or similar, usually smaller business owners selling their own products) where you can purchase things you can’t buy elsewhere, or emergencies.

I don’t have a problem with volunteering on Sunday in general, when it’s for individual people or at special events. (Maybe I should?)

But now my family is asking me to consider volunteering on Sunday at a 3-day event inside a mall, to accommodate others’ plans for the weekend.
I am free to pick another day if I want, but Sunday would be best for the rest of my family and, to be honest, for the organization. I can see that Sunday afternoon is still not covered.
I’d be able to go to church in the morning, so that’s not an issue.
The only issue is that it’s a mall.

What would you do?

 

[Mintaka]

This is a matter of prudence.

Since you’re doing it as a volunteer action and you’d be helping with your family, it’s pretty clearly a case of sacrificing your own preferences. You say that you make a few exceptions to your usual rule, and this can be one.

OTOH, if people in your family know that you try not to go shopping on Sunday, etc., you could pick another time and do it alone without doing anything wrong.

If you can’t make a decision, flip a coin just to get it over with.

 

[Ms_Manners]

I’m sorry, I wasn’t clear.
The event has nothing to do with my family.
I’d just be volunteering for a charity.
It’s just that I can see from the schedule that no one has signed up for Sunday afternoon yet.

My family is only concerned since they have plans on Saturday and this way I’d be in the neighbourhood on Sunday when they’re home.
(Which is a half-argument since they live only 10 miles away anyway.)

Of course I can’t prevent others from going to the mall/doing the event on Sunday, but the event is supposed to attract shoppers, not just help the charities which will be participating.
I’m not sure the charitable nature of the event justifies helping force the regular employees to work on Sunday.

 

[LightBound]

I’m going to leave you good folks at CAF something to think about…

Every week there is someone posting in Moral Theology or another sub-forum worrying and stewing over whether they should do a specific activity on a Sunday after they’ve met their Mass obligation. There have been teens trying to get out of shoveling snow or raking leaves, helping their family clean or paint a room, even doing homework or studying. If it’s not those scrupulous young ones, it’s the older crowd worrying over grabbing a bite to eat after Mass or stopping by a store to pick up groceries, or the most recent post was a young woman worrying about getting her hair cut.

Now, you adults must follow your well-formed conscience on what you think you should or shouldn’t do on a Sunday, but this obsession over thinking you are making others work on a Sunday because you choose to shop, eat, or get a haircut needs to stop. Even if every Catholic in America went directly home after Mass and sat around on the sofa all day, the stores would still be open. The restaurants would still be open. The minimum wage and barely above minimum wage employees who depend on their weekend hours to keep food on table and their family off of welfare would still be working. They would just be minus your tips for their table service or hair-cutting skills.

Keep that in mind…most of the working class and those making minimum wage in service and retail jobs depend on Sunday to help pay their bills. Those with time to spend on CAF don’t always realize that.

If you opt not to do anything other than attend Mass on Sunday, well that’s great, but let’s get over this “I’m causing someone to work if I go out and do something on Sunday” mentality.