Work on Sundays

[EasterJoy]

What sorts of work do you refrain from doing on Sundays, no matter what?

What sorts of work do you not even try to avoid on Sundays?

I have to admit, sometimes my lack of organization leaves me doing work that I ought to have done before Sunday came but that cannot wait until Monday. There are certain things I will not do on Sundays, though. Cleaning floors and bathrooms are two of them. I still feel I ought to be much better than I am about anticipating what clothing is needed on Monday morning, for instance, so I won’t have to do any laundry on the Lord’s Day.

Also, to what degree do you limit how much you frequent businesses on Sundays with business that could wait for a week day? When I was little, many stores would be closed on Sundays, so you either bought what you needed or went without. There were no ATMs and banks closed on the weekends, so if you needed cash you had better have gotten in on Friday. Now, there are more businesses that close on Mondays than on Sundays!

Thoughts? Experiences? Comments?

 

[Confiteor_Deo]

I usually do some homework or study for exams on Sundays since I will forget what I studied if I do it on Saturday. I refrain from cleaning the house or doing yard work since it is servile work. I also don’t do any shopping if I can avoid it. On Friday, I look at what needs to be done and set aside all of the shopping and servile work for Saturday so that I don’t have to do it on Sunday.

 

[truetofaith]

We already had this topic but here goes…

I make sure I go to Mass on Sunday but if I get a band job or I have shopping, gardening, washing the car or whatever needs to be done …I do it.

If we can just relax or go for a drive, we do that.

I hope our home in heaven or hell is not hinging on how we spend our Sunday after Mass.

Actually, I was told I’m lost because the Sabbath is Saturday, not Sunday which was a pagan holiday.

 

[pensmama87]

Basically, I try to only cook that day’s meals and do that day’s dishes. I try to avoid laundry or other regular housework, but if it absolutely has to be done (some horrid mess occurs or I realize somebody doesn’t have clean underwear), then I do it. Same with shopping - I try to avoid it, but if we’re out of milk, then I go get it. I don’t run other errands that day.

One nice thing is that we have a standing invitation to my in-laws’ on Sundays, so our day is frequently breakfast, Mass, and then going over to their house until evening, at which point we come home, put the boys to bed, and then just do the couple things that need to happen before morning.

I’ve gotten so I actually really enjoy Sundays. Even if we don’t go over to my in-laws’, we spend the day relaxing and playing, we eat simple stuff (including a treat after Mass for everyone who behaved well ), and usually everybody gets to take a nap. It’s pretty amazing.

 

[Edmundus1581]

I never shop on Sundays. Never. Not once in about 20 years!

Once I realise that shopping is out, I either make an extra effort to get essentials on Saturday, or just go without.

I do, however, use restaurants and gas stations. I try to avoid buying milk, etc., at the gas station. There are also a small number of business, such as hardware and gardening, which I feel it is appropriate to shop at on Sunday, so that I can get through any chores which can’t be done during the week.

I feel that this gives some rest on Sunday.

I also try to avoid the internet, internet banking, and computer “fiddling”. I work as a computer programmer and sometimes I have to work on projects on Sunday. When that’s the case I am careful to stick to what is necessary. When I’m on top of things, I usually turn my computer off on Sunday morning.

I find that doing housework or house repairs, in moderation, is quite restful. I guess it would be different if I did housework every day.

Whatever work or chores I do on Sunday, I make a point of getting to Mass, and also stopping and relaxing by 5:00 PM (if not earlier).

That’s the theory - I mostly succeed, but I also have a problem with organisation and procrastination. If I slip up, it’s usually in the area of the internet - just wasting hours on facebook, news, and cyber-surfing.

 

[pianistclare]

I am employee of the Catholic church.
I work Mon Tues Weds from 8-5
Saturdays 4-9
Sundays 9-9

I don’t think that since the children have to come to church to be taught the faith by me and my volunteer staff, that they are sinning by needing me to be there to educate their children.

I feel fine about it. I’m working for God. It’s good work.
Obviously I do hardly anything for myself or my family on a Sunday because by the time I get home…I’m ready to pass out.

 

[Confiteor_Deo]

I hope our home in heaven or hell is not hinging on how we spend our Sunday after Mass.

I read that doing servile work for more than two hours is a mortal sin, so I suppose it does hinge on how we spend our Sundays.

 

[pianistclare]

I read that doing servile work for more than two hours is a mortal sin, so I suppose it does hinge on how we spend our Sundays.

Citation for that?

 

[pensmama87]

I am employee of the Catholic church.
I work Mon Tues Weds from 8-5
Saturdays 4-9
Sundays 9-9

I don’t think that since the children have to come to church to be taught the faith by me and my volunteer staff, that they are sinning by needing me to be there to educate their children.

I feel fine about it. I’m working for God. It’s good work.
Obviously I do hardly anything for myself or my family on a Sunday because by the time I get home…I’m ready to pass out.

Thank you for all your hard work!!!

 

[LongingSoul]

Our Sundays are mostly always a day of Mass and relaxing. That’s mainly because in an effort to encourage my two children still living at home to come to Mass… we go at midday and then stop for a counter lunch on the way home which is always a lot of happy conversation. Then we watch movies or my husband has an afternoon nap. My daughter will always go to gym after that and my son does assignments etc. But it’s always a day that feels different to the rest without me having planned it that way. It’s just the result of my motherly manipulating to keep my kids up with Mass as adults.

 

[Irishmom2]

The only work I do is cooking meals and cleaning up from them. I sometimes do yardwork, but that is because for me, that is a fun hobby, not “work.” I would only shop if I needed something immediately for meals. Fresh bread, milk, things like that, but I try to plan ahead to avoid that.

 

[Irishmom2]

Basically, I try to only cook that day’s meals and do that day’s dishes. I try to avoid laundry or other regular housework, but if it absolutely has to be done (some horrid mess occurs or I realize somebody doesn’t have clean underwear), then I do it. Same with shopping - I try to avoid it, but if we’re out of milk, then I go get it. I don’t run other errands that day.

One nice thing is that we have a standing invitation to my in-laws’ on Sundays, so our day is frequently breakfast, Mass, and then going over to their house until evening, at which point we come home, put the boys to bed, and then just do the couple things that need to happen before morning.

I’ve gotten so I actually really enjoy Sundays. Even if we don’t go over to my in-laws’, we spend the day relaxing and playing, we eat simple stuff (including a treat after Mass for everyone who behaved well ), and usually everybody gets to take a nap. It’s pretty amazing.

Your day sounds lovely! Enjoy it as long as you are able to!

 

[Confiteor_Deo]

Citation for that?

It is from My Catholic Faith: A Manual of Religion and a Catechism in pictures by Most Reverend Louis LaRavoire Morrow, D.D., Bishop of Krishnagar. Here is the quote I was referring to:

Servile work performed on Sunday is not considered a grievous sin unless it is continued beyond two hours, or becomes the cause of scandal or bad example.

The emphasis is in the original text.

 

[LongingSoul]

I am employee of the Catholic church.
I work Mon Tues Weds from 8-5
Saturdays 4-9
Sundays 9-9

I don’t think that since the children have to come to church to be taught the faith by me and my volunteer staff, that they are sinning by needing me to be there to educate their children.

I feel fine about it. I’m working for God. It’s good work.
Obviously I do hardly anything for myself or my family on a Sunday because by the time I get home…I’m ready to pass out.

You are feeding the hungry and saving the sheep as Matthew records in his gospel…

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

3 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’[a] you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

11 He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. - Matthew 12 1-14

 

[Allegra]

I go to Mass and in the afternoon, we usually do something together as a family. On rare occasions, we go out to eat dinner, or we visit extended family. When I worked retail, I felt compelled to work on Sunday, but when I was hired, I put my availability as none before one in the afternoon, so I could attend Mass. Because of that, I was rarely scheduled, except during the pre-holiday season when they had extended hours.

 

[EasterJoy]

We already had this topic but here goes…

.

Oops! Sorry about that!

I make sure I go to Mass on Sunday but if I get a band job or I have shopping, gardening, washing the car or whatever needs to be done …I do it.

If we can just relax or go for a drive, we do that.

I hope our home in heaven or hell is not hinging on how we spend our Sunday after Mass.

Actually, I was told I’m lost because the Sabbath is Saturday, not Sunday which was a pagan holiday.

I didn’t mean to raise the topic of whether we were going to go to hell for working on Sundays! I just remember when I was a child that my parents put in very long hours during the week but did refrain from heavy physical labor on Sundays. It was much easier to do back then, because a lot more businesses were closed or only open for limited hours on Sundays. Employers didn’t expect employees to be available 7 days a week, with Sundays just one of those days.

I guess I meant to introduce the idea of rest as a spiritual practice, rather than to debate the juridical idea of whether there would be eternal punishment in the next life for failure to rest.

According to Jewish law, the Sabbath is for Jews alone. It is not among the divine laws intended for all of humankind. For instance, neither Noah nor Abraham observed the Sabbath. Because Jews use Sabbath to remember the years of their bondage in Egypt, however, the Jew will in justice extend the day of rest to his servants, as well.

It is quite clear from Acts and from the writings of St. Paul that a Gentile does not have to become a Jew in order to become a Christian. Therefore, the Lord’s Day is a Christian observance, not a Jewish Sabbath booted to a different day. It is celebrated on Sunday because it is a celebration of the Resurrection, which took place on a Sunday.

 

[pianistclare]

It is from My Catholic Faith: A Manual of Religion and a Catechism in pictures by Most Reverend Louis LaRavoire Morrow, D.D., Bishop of Krishnagar. Here is the quote I was referring to:
The emphasis is in the original text.

And you process that to mean mortal sin?


I have never heard of the good Bishop.
Does he speak universally for the Church?

hmmmm. Now if you had something from the official Catechism…:ehh:

 

[Kelfa28]

It’s really tough in our house right now.

My husband works really crazy hours that include weekends and overnights. When he is on overnights…he’s sleeping during the day and I’m with the kids all the time.

Sometimes I try to make it to Mass and soldier through that.

It’s hard to relax at home during the day. If I find any moment to get something done…on any day…I will try to get it done.

Homework, laundry, general clean-up, dishes and other things that may have been missed because I was busy before.

Plus, I have to prepare in advance for Monday morning…and that requires work…because there is no way I can get three little kids up, dressed, fed, packed and out the door before 8 am without a lot of prep work the night before.

So right now…nothing is off limits. I do whatever I can to keep up and that means working on Sundays.

 

[LongingSoul]

It’s really tough in our house right now.

My husband works really crazy hours that include weekends and overnights. When he is on overnights…he’s sleeping during the day and I’m with the kids all the time.

Sometimes I try to make it to Mass and soldier through that.

It’s hard to relax at home during the day. If I find any moment to get something done…on any day…I will try to get it done.

Homework, laundry, general clean-up, dishes and other things that may have been missed because I was busy before.

Plus, I have to prepare in advance for Monday morning…and that requires work…because there is no way I can get three little kids up, dressed, fed, packed and out the door before 8 am without a lot of prep work the night before.

So right now…nothing is off limits. I do whatever I can to keep up and that means working on Sundays.

Kelfa28, that took me right back to that time! I feel for you. My husband worked full time and studied a degree for the first 7 years of marriage. I did absolutely everything in the house without any help including getting up every night to kids. Everyday was just a blur without the luxury of planning a ‘rest day’. Trust me… time will come quicker than you realise, where you can relax a bit.

 

[ProVobis]

Actually, I was told I’m lost because the Sabbath is Saturday, not Sunday which was a pagan holiday.

You’re right.

The English term actually comes from the Roman dies solis, or the day of the sun.

That’s why I prefer the (Christianized) Lord’s Day, from dies domini, which arguably now includes post Vespers of the previous calendar day. .