A Concord Pastor Comments: Sunday in the Church with God

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When I visited my sister and her family in Colorado in January, we went to Mass on Saturday afternoon and so I experienced a rare thing: a Sunday morning with no place to go and nothing to do - except sleep in, relax and take my Sabbath rest! It was a real taste of what I suspect keeps many at home and away from church on Sunday mornings.

On St. Patrick's Day, Timothy Dolan issued his first pastoral letter as Archbishop of New York - which he chose to publish on his blog!

Titled Keeping the Lord's Day Holy, the letter addresses Sunday as the Sabbath and how Catholics "keep holy the Lord's day" as the commandment instructs. The letter is well-written and very accessible to a wide audience. Here's a snip which includes a lengthy quote from Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter, Dies Domini (The Lord’s Day):

Are we Catholics then living for Sunday? I am afraid if you were to ask someone today whether he lives for Sunday, he might think that you are asking whether he is a football fan!

Don’t get me wrong. I grew up in a family where no sooner were we home from Mass on Sunday than my father was putting the beer in the cooler and looking forward to the baseball game and a barbecue. But that was after we got home from Sunday Mass!

Do we Catholics think that Sunday is the “climax of living”? Do we look forward to Sunday as a day dedicated to the Lord which gives meaning and purpose to our whole week? Or have we become accustomed to a weekend mentality, wherein we sleep late, catch up on chores around the house, run errands, drive the kids to sports, do a little recreation and then fit Sunday Mass in between everything else, if at all?

Pope John Paul II, in an apostolic letter entitled Dies Domini (The Lord’s Day) wrote about the difference between the weekend mentality and a proper Christian Sunday observance.

“The custom of the ‘weekend’ has become more widespread, a weekly period of respite, spent perhaps far from home and often involving participation in cultural, political or sporting activities which are usually held on free days. This social and cultural phenomenon is by no means without its positive aspects if, while respecting true values, it can contribute to people’s development and to the advancement of the life of society as a whole. All of this responds not only to the need for rest, but also to the need for celebration which is inherent in our humanity. Unfortunately, when Sunday loses its fundamental meaning and becomes merely part of a ‘weekend’, it can happen that people stay locked within a horizon so limited that they can no longer see the heavens. Hence, though ready to celebrate, they are really incapable of doing so. The disciples of Christ, however, are asked to avoid any confusion between the celebration of Sunday, which should truly be a way of keeping the Lord’s Day holy, and the ‘weekend’, understood as a time of simple rest and relaxation.” (Dies Domini, #4)

What do you think of the distinctions here between "weekend" and "rest" and "the Lord's Day?"

The whole letter (don't worry, it's not too long!) can be found here.