Always Advent

Mom, Dad, and the kids hurry in the front door and kick off their shoes. Three loads of laundry — which she should have done two days ago — are calling to Mom from the back room. After that there’s the week’s grocery shopping to do. Dad’s already at the computer, trying to get some work in on an eleventh hour proposal before hitting Home Depot’s “today only!” power tool sale. Their fourteen year old daughter hurries right back out for an all-day baby-sitting gig across town, and the twelve year old impatiently waits for his buddy to arrive–Halo V just came out on X-Box and he’s planning on playing ‘til he’s as bug-eyed as the aliens in the game.

It’s Sunday morning, and the only one resting is the 3 year old, who fell asleep in the car on the way home from Mass.

Is this any way for Catholics to spend their day of rest?

The Church would say no:

“On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass; they are also to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord’s Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body.” (Code of Canon Law, 1247)

Most faithful Catholics understand and assent to the first part of this instruction and have little difficulty meeting the requirement. It’s the second part that trips us up, partly because the Church is necessarily vague on this point. But most of the time this second part of the teaching confuses us because we live in a culture that has forgotten what the Sabbath is. Americans know how to go to church, but we don’t know how to rest.

So, besides going to Mass, how can Catholics keep the Sabbath properly? Over the next five days, I’ll list and discuss 5 keys to living the Sabbath as Catholics. The first one is:

1 – Request Sunday off

Some occupations, out of charity, must continue on Sundays, such as doctors, nurses, people who care for animals, and those who ensure public safety and the smooth operation of societal infrastructure such as law enforcement, utilities and transportation.

But if you work in retail, the restaurant business, or other service industries, can you bring yourself to request Sunday off? If you work at a corporation, can you plan your workweek so that you don’t need to go in on Sunday or bring work home?

Andy Eells, in his excellent little booklet The Catholic Challenge, wrote, “Many people work on Sunday because their employer has scheduled them to do so. As employees, we should request Sunday off in deference to our religious convictions. Such consideration will not be granted if [it is] not requested, and the requests have been rare. Doing this may make us feel self-conscious, but shouldn’t we be more embarrassed about making no attempt to do God’s will?”

What if your employer threatens to let you go if you make such a request? Eells points out that employees who are dismissed for refusal to work on the Sabbath can take legal action to protect their rights. Organizations like The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and The Thomas More Center specialize in these types of cases. You could also consider this a type of “green martyrdom”—willingly suffering financial burdens and disadvantages for the sake of our Catholic beliefs.

Some companies do respect their employees’ wishes to have Sundays off. Consider making an extra effort to support these businesses, not only by your patronage but with actual words of encouragement.

Check out the motion picture Chariots of Fire, in which world-class runner Eric Liddell refused to participate in an Olympic race scheduled to take place on a Sunday, thereby losing his chance at a gold medal in that event. Would you be willing to do something like that?

What’s the second thing Catholics can do to keep the Sabbath? Check back tomorrow for part two of this series!
(Copyright 2007 by Clare Siobhan)

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This series of articles is an expanded adaptation of a much shorter article I originally wrote for the National Catholic Register (July 18-24, 2004) called “Take Back the Sabbath”.
Subscribers can access the original article at this link:

http://ncregister.com/site/article/5383

When you go there, note the attempt to make “Siobhan” more pronouncable by changing the spelling. :)

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Links:

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights — http://www.catholicleague.org

The Thomas More Center — http://www.thomasmore.org

“Green Martyrdom” — http://claresiobhan.stblogs.com/2007/12/15/green-martyrdom/

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2168-2195
http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s2c1a3.htm#I

Apostolic letter Dies Domini
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters  /documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_05071998_dies-domini_en.html

Apostolic letter Novo Millennio Ineunte
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters  /documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20010106_novo-millennio-ineunte_en. html

“Take Back Your Time” Day website: www.timeday.org

Make Room for God by Susan K. Rowland. Available at St. Anthony Messenger Press:
http://catalog.americancatholic.org/product.aspx?prodid=I167 78&pcat=73
Clare’s review of the book is available at The National Catholic Register:
http://ncregister.com/site/article/3370
(If you already subscribe to the print version of the paper, you can log on and read it online. Otherwise, you will have to register/subscribe online.)

Note: Andy Eells’s booklet, The Catholic Challenge, appears to be out of print. It was published in 1990 by Max Cotto Books. I couldn’t find any resources on the internet, but the mailing address for Max Cotto Books is 2322 E. Oakland Park Blvd., Fr. Lauderdale, FL 33306. Don’t confuse this booklet with a similarly titled book by Thomas W. Rezanka: The Catholic Challenge: A Question of Conscience. Rezanka’s book promotes dissident Catholic ideology and the website for the book (thecatholicchallenge.com) links to dissident groups Call to Action and Voice of the Faithful.