Why do we even shop on Sundays?

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Boudreaux0830

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I’ve been around and around with this issue within my own mind, my own family, and even from my local churuch. The Church seems to be clear on this: don’t work on Sundays unless _______. The ______ has no really good references that I can find.

Now. Why have I decided to create an account and post this in the wee hours of the morning on the east coast?

Because I am SICK of having to miss mass so I can work on Sunday.

Now, before anyone here pipes up with the pachydermal “If you don’t like it there, then just quit”, I have to say that I AM looking for other work. My profession used to not be so Sunday intensive (I’m a computer admin). However my most recent job went from an interview where I was told that there would be no problem with me needing 1 hour a week to be unavailable so I can go to mass to what it is now: every sunday I’m LUCKY to get to go to mass.

I know there’s mass on Saturday afternoons too. I try to go to the sunday mass because my children (1 boy, 1 girl) do not do well at all in the afternoons. They are very crabby after about 4:30 most days.

Anyway… This is a horribly written article. I’m really just here to say that when you go out to eat and use your credit card or bank card to buy anything, you are indirectly forcing me and hundreds of other people who work in the financial world to work.

Granted, I think I’m one of 2 catholics in the entire industry (the financial world is littered with schoolyard bully rejects who got lucky and now practice their bullying in the workplace instead of in the school yard). So there’s pretty much no one except for me complaining about having to work on Sunday.

So… thoughts on this? I’m getting tired of confessing twice a month that although I planned to go to mass I had to miss because someone started screaming about a credit server going down or because (tonight) some machine that I don’t have any responsibility for isn’t backing up.

Am I just being typically anti-american in my non-puritan belief that we should REST on at LEAST one day of the week?

(and for what it’s worth, I am actively pursuing another place to work.)
 
Regrettably the world doesn’t stop turning on Sundays, and so some professions are necessarily or as a sideffect 24/7 jobs. Ask any doctor or policeman - people don’t stop getting sick or committing crime on Sundays. Plenty of them miss Mass occasionally or weekly as a result. Or car repairmen or electricians - people’s cars and appliances don’t stop breaking down either.

And I may choose not to use my card on a Sunday, sure. Doesn’t mean I won’t, for example, lose said card on a Sunday. And thus still need people like yourself working so that I can organise to have it cancelled before someone misuses it.

Then again, people DO through no fault of their own run out of or forget to buy essential items, little things like food. Would you rather they starved because it was Sunday? They need accommodation, which if they’re travelling must be paid for, even on Sundays. Would you rather they were homeless for a night? I seem to remember Jesus allowing HIS Apostles to gather food on a Sunday even though it was against Levitical law.

And it won’t stop all the non-Catholics from shopping either. Which prompts me to ask, have you ever spared a second’s thought for all the Muslims out there who are forced to work on Fridays (their holy day) for your and my convenience? All the Jews forced to work on their Saturday Sabbath for our sake? Use this to inspire you to fight for the rights of ALL people of faith to be allowed to observe their particular holy days.

Besides which, if through no fault of your own you have to work on a Sunday, and have no alternative, which it appears you don’t, apart from losing your job, you’re committing no sin and have nothing to confess.

Working to support your family is a gift from God too, as well as a duty laid upon us by Him, and oftentimes it’s also the cross which we can take up to show ourselves Christ’s true disciples.

Why not leave the children at home on Saturday afternoons and go to Mass by yourself? And offer up the suffering your Sunday work causes for those who would love to have work, any work, and can’t find it.

Finally, if your bosses agreed to time off for Mass then remind them of it loudly and often, and tell them of the importance of Mass as a family activity for you if nothing else will make them think.
 
I have to chime in on this one, too. I am a nurse, and people need medical care on Sundays. I work every Sunday. Fortunately, my church has Masses on both Sat and Sun evenings. There have been times when I’ve had to work double shifts on both days, though, and missed Mass. I don’t believe shopping on Sunday is causing people to miss church, no matter what their particular religious practice, Protestant, Baptist, Judaism, Islam, etc… All of the shopping in the U.S. reveals a love for material things, and unfortunately, this has created a secular type of thinking. If someone really wants to go to church, there are enough services scheduled on various days of the week for that person to find one. We move heaven and earth to go to functions we would like to attend, but the least little thing comes up and we miss church. Besides, how many people would lose their jobs if the entire nation stopped shopping on Sunday? Think about the economy and then picture no business at all being transacted on Sunday. Jobs lost. Revenue lost. Honoring the Sabbath is more than just refraining from buying. Besides, many people find shopping to be relaxing, so if they go out to eat after church, or visit a flea market or whatever, where is the sin? Deliberately refusing to worship God on Sabbath is the problem, not what else you do.
 
Some of us put in the 60 hour weeks M/F and only have the weekends to buy our kid some shoes or have lunch out with family.

The great thing about the Church, there is a Vigil Mass on Saturdays, most towns have several Masses on Sunday. Crabby kids after 4:30? Are they infants or old enough to learn to behave in the afternoon? Perhaps if you made the Sat or Sunday evening your regular Mass, the kids would get used to Mass then?

And keep looking for that better job!
 
I work for the biggest, baddest, ugliest retail monster in the universe (it starts with Wal and ends with Mart, any guesses???) When I went to my orientation, I was given an “availability” sheet and advised just to write “open” on it. I asked what it meant and they said it meant that in order to be hired, I had to be available to work ANY shift, ANY day.

I put my pen down and said, “I don’t work on Sunday”. They said if I didn’t put down “open availability”, I might not get hired and, even if I did, I might not get scheduled for a full week. So, not knowing any better, I did put down “open availability”. Then I found out that several people (including managers) did not work on SATURDAYS because they were Seventh-Day Adventists! Saturday is probably the biggest day of the week in retail, yet no one gave these folks any hassle. So I took myself back into the personnel office and said, “Look, if these people can request Saturdays off for religious reasons, then surely I can take Sundays off for the same reason!” They argued with me, but the fact was that they didn’t really have a horde of people requesting to have Sundays off (because they offer an extra dollar an hour incentive to work on Sundays) and I offered to help out on occasional Sundays when we were very busy (I’m a cake decorator, so that means Mother’s Day and graduation weekend… but NOT Easter Sunday!) or if they needed me to cover a decorator who was on vacation. It has worked well over the last ten years, with me having to work an occasional Sunday once in a great while, and I’ve never had to miss Mass (even if on rare occasions, my family has had to go without me.)

I think maybe discussing it with the boss is the best bet and asking for a set Sunday schedule (one on, one off, or one Sunday a month on) so you can plan when you’ll go to Mass. Keep after it, too. Be willing to work with them, but be firm about what’s fair to you also. People can arrange their work schedules to allow them to take classes and employers HAVE to allow National Guardsmen to have one weekend off a month, so I think if you sit down and talk with the one in charge, you can work out some kind of schedule that works for all of you.

Good luck!
 
Well, if the issue is “crabby kids” preventing you from attending the Saturday Vigil Mass, how about your husband taking them on Sunday so that you can attend on Saturday and have that be a witness to the importance of the Sunday Mass in our lives?

On a side note, if I were to misbehave in Mass such that my mom had to miss Mass, I’m sure either she or one of the nuns at school would be yelling at me about how I was forcing my mom to commit a mortal sin and how she would be going to hell on account of my msibehavior. Sometimes the old Catholic guilt trips and “fear of hell” have their use in leading people to behave. I know it kept me in line!
 
Sunday is usually the only day in the week I can shop. I apologize very deeply for making you work that day.

One thing is strange though. I thought credit card purchases were completely automated at the back end. Why can’t you audit in the afternoon after mass?
 
I agree with the OP. It seems hypocritical to not want to work Sundays, yet feel it’s OK to shop, or do other things that cause others to be working on Sundays. I definitely wrestle with this myself. The best answer I can come up with is that if this is a deep concern for someone, find a job that doesn’t require Sunday work and then don’t shop on Sundays.
 
I don’t shop on Sunday. I rarely do any kind of business on Sunday at all. I know some people have to but since I can shop at another time, I do.
 
I remember as a young child (about 20 years ago) most places (stores and restaurants) being closed on Sundays. That was nice, because then employees could be w/ their families. Why the heck did that change? Because of the the almighty dollar!! Silly in my opinion that it did change. I understand that nurses and doctors need to work in hospitals/urgent care centers but as for other places, they in my opinion should have remained closed on Sundays as they did in days past.

With that being said we don’t shop on Sundays and don’t go out to eat (have in the past but really changed our thinking on this recently after much praying since we felt guilt over it) because we feel that if everyone that is Catholic did the same (which would be a lot of people) that places would start to lose money on Sundays and in my own little world I think/hope that places would again close on Sundays.

That’s my opinion and 2 cents, so don’t blast me for wishful thinking 😉 🤷
 
Heh, actually I never shop on Sundays because I’m always working a full shift on Sundays. During the evening Sunday is one of our busiest days (for some reason people like to come and buy clothes at that time because THEIR places of employment are either off or close early). Not in retail though. Although I have noticed out in Pittsburgh though that it’s pretty difficult to find places excluding restaurants that are open later than 7. Everything closes early!
 
Could you clarify your work a little more?

What type of job do you have, that makes it impossible to attend a 1-hour mass sometime Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon?

If you are working that long of a shift, do they also refuse a lunch break?

It sounds as if your company is breaking some kind of law.

If your job is not really that restrictive, but still does not accommodate your religious observations, have you considered suing them?

I have school from 7am to 6pm two days a week, so I have to get my 50hrs of work in on 5 days, which means I work every Sunday. Sometimes I have to wake up earlier than 8am, but I sure haven’t been unable to attend Mass.
 
Water, Sewer, Roadways, Emergencies, Airports, Traveling, gasoline, baby milk, Electricity, communications, telephones,

I’m sure we could build a much larger list. But people don’t like it when their sewer manholes burst open with raw sewage flowing out…It happened in my neighborhood. Water pipes break all the time. A truck could explode on a bridge and put it out of commission. Fires, crime, medical emergencies, elderly care. People use copiers at church to prepare for bible class…CCD. Need I say more?

It sounds like you’re not commiting a mortal sin. And if you can attend an early service or even a Saturday Vigil mass…maybe you can try that. Or just change jobs. Draw lines in the sand.
 
hasikelee said:
What type of job do you have, that makes it impossible to attend a 1-hour mass sometime Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon? If you are working that long of a shift, do they also refuse a lunch break?
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This question was not addressed to me, but, hey–I’ve missed Mass due to my work, so I’ll answer. I am a nurse who works at a prison, and I work every Saturday and Sunday, from 6 am -2:30 pm. I am not permitted to leave my job until and unless I am relieved by the oncoming nurse. There have been a few occasions where I was required to do “back to back” mandatory doubles. In other words, no relief arrives (usually because the nurse is sick or there is a blizzard) and I can’t go home. In that case, my hours on both Saturday and Sunday become 6 in the morning through 10 pm at night. 32 hours in two days–no way at all to get to Mass. As to the having a lunch break argument, the prison where I work allows only a half hour meal break, and it would take me that long to even drive from the jail to the closest church. 😦
 
If your job interferes with the rest of your life, whether commitments to family, duty to God, or any other area, quit and find a new job.

people shop when they shop because that is when they have free time to shop. true, some people do recreational shopping, but if that bothers you, don’t work in a store that is open on Sunday.
 
I don’t know how it is where you live, but I believe in CA at least the law requires that employers allow their workers time off to vote and to attend religious services. Perhaps you could investigate the laws in your state to see if you have some legal ground to stand on. If so, I would remind them that they need to work around that. Good luck!
 
I used to work in retail and still fit in Mass. Nothing wrong with both if you give the first fruits to God.
 
I’m sorry, I’m one of the guilty ones who shops on Sundays. I usually cook for my boyfriend and our friends after Mass. He goes to Mass on Sunday afternoon and then phones me to tell me how many people I’m cooking for. Once I know how many people are coming, I run out to buy supplies. I live alone, so I don’t want to buy too much because I’ll never use it up.

My boyfriend is also often required to work Sundays. He works in a book printing factory, and if the order isn’t finished by Saturday, he has to work Sunday. His boss is not Christian, and doesn’t care that BF is missing Church. Given that BF is a migrant worker, he’s not well-protected by labour laws. The labour office refused to press charges on his behalf when he was beaten by his co-workers, so I hardly think they’d respond to his complaint that he isn’t allowed time off for Church. He was made to work Christmas day, and he’ll probably be made to work on Easter Sunday too. It infuriates me, but there’s nothing he can do if he wants to keep his working visa.
 
goofyjim said:
I used to work in retail and still fit in Mass. Nothing wrong with both if you give the first fruits to God.
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This was the eventual point made by our pastor after a night of discussion on the comandment.
Times change and unfortunately many, many, many businesses are open on Sunday. My husband works for a company that is open 24/7 with the single exception of Christmas day. He always makes time for mass and his employers understand it is a must for him to attend when his family does. We have made that point quite clear from the get-go. I am unsure if there are any labor laws here in Texas on the matter.
We would love for him to not work on Sundays. One day when he advances a bit more in his job. We don’t shop on Sundays usually. Our big grocery shops are usually done sometime during the week. We do on occasion go out to eat after mass.
My husband and I both agree we would love for blue laws to go back into effect. In our area I can only think of two major businesses that are closed on Sunday. There used to be others but due to franchising of the companies everyone ended up open on Sunday for the competition factor. It’s sad.
 
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