Moses: “Remember the sabbath day and

keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do

all your work, but seventh day is sabbath for
Yahweh your God. You shall do no work that
day. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens
and the earth and the sea and all that these hold,
but on the seventh day he rested; that is why
Yahweh has blessed the sabbath day and made it
sacred.” (Exodus 20:7)

Jesus: “Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had

been brought up, and went into synagogue on
the sabbath day as he usually did.” (Luke 4:16)

3rd Commandment:
“Remember to Keep Holy the Lord’s Day.”
 The Sabbath day:

For what reason has the Sabbath been

changed to Sunday for Christians?

 Most Catholics tend not to use the word

"Sabbath" in reference to the Lord's Day, but
typically use it instead to refer only to the
Jewish Sabbath. Christians use the term
"Lord's Day" instead of "Sabbath," because
Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath, "Sabbatum,"
in Latin, means "Saturday.“

 Sunday should not be called “the Sabbath”;

rather, it is the Lord’s Day, the first day of the
week, when Christ rose from the dead. Each
Sunday is a commemoration of that first
Easter Sunday. The Sabbath, holy day of the
Hebrews, was replaced by the Church with
Sunday, the day of Jesus’ resurrection hence
the “Lord’s Day.” (MFC, 145).
The Sabbath day: For what reason has the Sabbath been
changed to Sunday for Christians?

 “By a tradition handed down from the apostles

which took its origin from the very day of Christ’s
Resurrection, the Church celebrates the Paschal
mystery every seventh day, the day that is
appropriately called the Lord’s Day or Sunday.”
The day of Christ’s Resurrection is both the first
day of the week, the memorial of the first day of
creation, and the “eighth day,” on which Christ
after his “rest” on the great Sabbath inaugurates
the “day that the Lord has made,” the “day that
knows no evening.” (CCC 1166).
The Sabbath day: For what reason has the Sabbath been
changed to Sunday for Christians?

As “the first day of the week” (Mark 16:2) it recalls

the first creation; and as the “eighth day”, which
follows the sabbath, it symbolizes the new creation
ushered in by the Resurrection of Christ. Thus, it has
become for Christians the first of all days and of all
feasts. It is the day of the Lord in which one with his
Passover fulfilled the spiritual truth of the Jewish
Sabbath and proclaimed man’s eternal rest in God.
Commands
1. To Participate In The Holy Mass
 We must attend the mass on Sundays and holidays of obligation. Those who
cannot attend because of sickness, old age or a very serious reason, should at least
listen to the Mass through any mass media.
 To keep it holy. This four-word phrase in English is only one word in Hebrew. It
means “consecrate,” “set apart,” or “sanctify.” It was to be dedicated to the Lord.
Keeping the Lord's Day holy means, above all, going to Mass in order to fulfill
our "Sunday duty" by participating in that Sacrifice. The sick, those who must
care for the sick, women who've given birth in the past 6 weeks, and children
under the age of reason (the age of 7), are not obliged if their presence would
cause undue hardship, but all should do their best to attend, whether 6 months or
106 years of age.
 1. To Participate In
The Holy Mass
 Also, one does keep the Lord's Day holy
by refraining from those activities which
impede the worship of God and disturb the
joy proper to the day of the Lord or the
necessary relaxation of mind and body.
Activities are allowed on the Sabbath
which are bound up with family needs or
with important social service, if they do
not lead to habits prejudicial to the
holiness of Sunday, to family life and to
health.
1. To Participate In The Holy Mass

"Sunday is the property of our good God; it is His own day, the
Lord's day. He made all the days of the week: He might have
kept them all; He has given you six, and has reserved only the
seventh for Himself. What right have you to meddle with what
does not belong to you? You know very well that stolen
goods never bring any profit. Nor will the day that you steal
from Our Lord profit you either. I know two very certain ways
of becoming poor: they are working on Sunday and taking
other people's property.“ – St. John Marie Vianney
 Holidays of Obligation

10) Christmas – December 25

1) Mary, Mother of God – January 1
2) Epiphany – January 6

3) St. Joseph – March 19

4) Ascension – 40 days after Easter

5) Corpus Domini - 2nd Sunday after Pentecost

6) Sts. Peter and Paul – June 29

7) Assumption – August 15

8) All Saints – November 1

9) Immaculate Conception – December 8

 2. To Rest and Spend Quality
time with the Family

 Sunday is a day of rest and recreation,

including sports, to be spent with family
members and friends. As God instructed:
“This day is sacred to Yahweh your God.
Don’t be mournful, do not weep. Go, eat
the fat, drink the sweet wine, and send
portion to the man who has nothing
prepared ready. For this day is sacred to
our Lord.” (Nehemiah 8:9-10)
Forbids
 1. Unnecessary
Servile Work
 We must avoid all the works
which prevent us from sanctifying
the Lord’s Day. Policemen and
other necessary servicemen can
work also on Sundays, provided
they will attend the Holy Mass on
Saturday evening.
 In addition to attending Mass, we
are to focus the day on God and
His gifts to us by refraining from
"servile work," that is, work that
is necessary for a living. Catholics
must do their best to refrain from
work that is servile and arrange
with their employers as much as
possible to have Sundays free.
1. Unnecessary Servile Work

By the same token, Catholics should refrain from putting others in the
position of performing servile work on Sundays, too. Do not put
others in the position of breaking God's commandments. Note that
some professions require work on Sundays, such as some aspects of
medicine, law enforcement, firefighting, etc. -- work that is necessary,
or which serves charity. This is always allowable on the Lord's Day,
as charity is always the highest law and the very purpose of law.
  The first and most fundamental obligation of Sunday and the holy
days of obligation is to attend Mass. Christians are also to do their
best, according to their state in life, to rest from work or business.
The Code of Canon Law states:
On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are obliged
to assist at Mass. They are also to abstain from such work or business
that would inhibit the worship to be given to God, the joy proper to
the Lord’s Day, or the due relaxation of mind and body. (Canon 1247)
 The Church provides that Catholics can meet the Mass obligation
by attending Mass on either the Sunday or holy day or on the
evening before at the vigil Mass.

What guidance does the Church offer for keeping holy the
Lord’s Day?
 What guidance does the Church offer for keeping holy the
Lord’s Day?

 Most Catholics understand the Mass obligation. However, it is the injunction

to rest from unnecessary work or business that can be confusing. Does this
mean they cannot shop, or eat out at a restaurant? Does it mean they cannot do
their laundry or wash their car? What if they have a job that requires them to
work on Sunday? St. John Paul II, in his apostolic letter Dies Domini, wrote:
Christians are obliged in conscience to arrange their Sunday rest in a way which
allows them to take part in the Eucharist, refraining from work and activities
which are incompatible with the sanctification of the Lord’s Day, with its
characteristic joy and necessary rest for spirit and body (67).
 St. John Paul II’s key point is to urge Christians to arrange their Sunday rest in
a way that allows them to go to Mass and to refrain from work. In other
words, he is suggesting to Christians to plan ahead—to arrange their
schedules, insofar as possible, to allow them to fulfill their obligation to
attend Mass and to rest.
And how might one arrange one’s
Sundays?
 Job obligations. Perhaps right now your job requires you
to work on Sunday. Are you able to attend the vigil Mass
on Saturday? Are you able to attend an early morning or an
evening Mass on Sunday? Does your employer allow you
to indicate to him times you would prefer to have off? You
may not be able to do anything about your work schedule
now, but could you resolve to keep an eye out for
opportunities to change it in the future?
 Home obligations. What do you ordinarily do on Sunday
now? Is there a way to rearrange your weekend activities to
do ordinary household work (laundry, grocery shopping,
home maintenance projects, chores) either on Saturday or
on some other day of the week? Perhaps you won’t be able
to arrange to do all your Sunday work at other times, but
could you work up to that goal by rescheduling just one
chore at a time to another day?
And how might one arrange one’s Sundays?

Resting. Sunday is not a day to do nothing. As St. John Paul II noted:

In order that rest may not degenerate into emptiness or boredom, it must
offer spiritual enrichment, greater freedom, opportunities for
contemplation and fraternal communion. Therefore, among the forms of
culture and entertainment which society offers, the faithful should
choose those which are most in keeping with a life lived in obedience to
the precepts of the gospel. (DD 68)
2. Godless Hedonism

It is wrong to spend the Lord’s day concerned only with

physical pleasures, taking no care for the soul. St. Paul
warned us saying: “ Where a man sows, there he reaps: if he
sows in the field of the flesh he will get a harvest of
corruption out of it ; if he sows in the field of the Spirit he
will get from it a harvest of eternal life.” (Galatians 6:8)
 BALANCE NEEDED
 Throughout history, these two reasons for the
Sabbath commandment have sometimes been set
against each other. If the worship reason alone is
stressed, the then Sabbath tends to become a day of
Pharisaic legalistic piety, with its social
humanitarian dimensions gravely restricted.
 On the other hand, if as seems to be the more
common case today, only the human social rest
dimensions of the Sabbath are emphasized, the holy
day becomes simple a holiday for physical
relaxation and enjoyment, with only minimal
concern for any religious aspect.

"It is vain for you to rise early and put off your rest at
night; to eat bread earned by hard toil; all this God gives
to his beloved in sleep." (Psalm 127:2) (New American
Bible Revised Edition)