THE FIRST PRECEPT OF THE CHURCH (PART 2)

 A CONTINUATION OF OUR REFLECTION FOR THE 16TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The Church’s commandment to keep holy the Lord’s day has two parts.  The first is the positive command to attend Mass on Sundays and holydays of obligations, and this we discussed last week.  But there is a second part which is prohibitive in nature—it tells us what we are not allowed to do on Sundays and holydays.  So just what should we avoid exactly?

We should remember the basic rule, which is that we shouldn’t participate in any activity that distracts from our duty of keeping the Sunday holy.  Our first duty therefore is to avoid anything which is sinful, indeed any thought, word or deed that may be deemed an imperfection.  We should try harder on Sundays not to be disagreeable, to show more patience, to avoid vulgarity, impatience, boastfulness, and so on. Riotous recreations, gambling, drunkenness, reading improper matter or watching improper movies—none of these have any place in our lives but especially so on Sundays.

Secondly, we should avoid things, which although they be perfectly acceptable any other day of the week, would take us away from our higher duty on Sunday which is to give our time first and foremost to God. Excessive or unnecessary servile work is therefore forbidden.  If it can be done on another day of the week, then it should be put off to one of those other days.  Laundry, shopping, major cleaning, and in fact any kind of work that causes bodily fatigue that distracts us from religious thoughts, should not be performed on Sundays.  A small amount of work or shopping may be done, but try and reserve it, if you can, for those important things that can’t wait for Monday.

Similarly, commercial labors of a worldly kind are unsuitable for the quiet and recollection of the Sabbath.  We shouldn’t work at our regular job on Sundays if we can help it.  Teenagers in particular should be dissuaded from taking jobs which would force them to work on Sundays, especially if this would be a regular occurrence, and most especially if it would cause them to miss Mass.  After all, if they still live under their parents’ roof and have no family of their own to support, they should not normally be in urgent need of the income that their job provides, and there is therefore no proportionate cause for working it on a Sunday. 

For those whose duty to provide for their family forces them to work on Sunday, care should be taken to avoid it as much as possible.  Certain jobs, however, are considered essential to the common good and cannot therefore be omitted.  Nurses, law enforcement officers and other first responders, are all included in this category.  Other less essential but nevertheless useful categories, such as restaurateurs, waiters, shopkeepers, and so on, are treading on thinner ice…  Is it a sin to work a Sunday shift at McDonald’s?  On a regular basis, probably; now and again, probably not; switching to Chick-Fil-A, which closes on Sundays, preferable!

Remember, works devoted to the service of the mind are not forbidden.  No great bodily exertion is required and they are therefore not looked upon as unsuitable for the Sabbath.  Thus, teaching, reading, writing, studying, embroidering, and so on are all okay to do.  Football and other highly physical sports should be avoided, but more moderate sports and diversions, such as tennis, baseball, fishing, chess and video games are permitted.

Again, we should not become obsessed with the quantity or even quality of the servile works we may be tempted to perform when evaluating their morality.  The most important thing is whether they inhibit us from our supreme focus of the day, which is to worship God and rest from anything which would prevent or even distract us from doing so.  Let your conscience be clear!