A Beacon Of Light… The Sabbath Is At The Heart Of The Church’s Life
By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON
(Editor’s Note: Fr. Richard D. Breton is a priest of the Diocese of Norwich, Conn. He received his BA in religious studies and his MA in dogmatic theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn.)
- + + In last week’s column we discussed living the Second Commandment. Today we will consider the Third Commandment which is: “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.”
Jewish tradition refers to the Sabbath as from sunset on Friday evening to sunset on Saturday. For Catholics, we observe the Sabbath as Sunday to recall the day of Jesus’ Resurrection. The Sunday celebration of the Lord’s Day and His Eucharist is at the heart of the Church’s life. Sunday is the day on which the paschal mystery is celebrated in light of the apostolic tradition and is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church.
Sunday is also considered the day of rest, because on the seventh day God rested after creating everything. For centuries Catholics have revered Sunday as special because it involved going to church and spending the day with family. Sadly, Sundays have become just another day. We see in society the breakdown of Sunday into an ordinary day when Sunday is supposed to be dedicated to the Lord and our families.
I remember the days of my childhood when Saturday night was the evening of preparation for Sunday morning. We would clean the house and prepare our clothes — our Sunday best for the Lord! On Sunday morning we would all go to Mass as a family to worship the Lord. Following Mass, we would return home for breakfast, or on rare occasions, go out for Sunday brunch.
Today’s culture has influenced a lack of respect for the Lord’s day. When we examine our participation in this lack of respect, we can see how we have fallen in living the Third Commandment. What are some of the ways we do this? One of the primary ways is by missing Mass on Sundays. Missing Mass on Sunday or a holy day of obligation without a serious reason is considered a mortal sin. This sin separates us from God’s gift of sanctifying grace and can forfeit our eternal reward.
More important, by missing Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation, we fail in living our faith by disrespecting the First Precept of the Faith. This precept obliges us to attend Mass each Sunday or holy day of obligation.
Talk To The Lord
Have I set time aside each day for personal prayer to God? In every relationship there needs to be conversation. Just as husband and wife must converse daily, so to, we must converse with the Lord daily. How do we expect our supernatural relationship with the Lord to grow and flourish if we do not talk to Him? So often we hear the woes of people as they share their difficulties in life. Imagine if we took all the energy that we waste on sharing our woes and put that energy into our relationship with God. The rewards we would receive!
Have I committed a sacrilege against the Blessed Sacrament? This is a most serious topic for us to consider. This involves being prepared and showing respect when we receive Holy Communion. Are we prepared to receive Jesus? Being prepared to receive Jesus doesn’t only involve our dress, it means are we properly disposed within our souls to receive the Most Holy Eucharist. When was the last time we went to Confession? Do we have any mortal sins on our soul that would stop us from receiving the Eucharist? And what about the way we receive Jesus? Do we approach the altar, in the Communion line, looking around or focusing our heart and soul on whom we are going to receive?
If we receive Communion on our tongues, do we respectfully present our tongues? If we receive in the hand, do we make a throne of honor with our hands, or do we just grab or take Jesus and run? When receiving Communion, we must take extra care to do so reverently and deliberately all the while maintaining suitable respect for our Eucharistic Lord.
Am I habitually late to and/or do I leave early from Mass without a good reason? This is such a frustration for many priests, including myself! Daily life has spun into such a frenzy that people are always in a hurry to get to the next activity.
Attending Mass requires us to participate in the entire Liturgy. If we attend a Broadway Theatrical Event, and arrive late, most often we are required to wait until an appropriate time when we can enter, or even yet, some will not let you enter at all. Imagine we are going to a see a movie we have wanted to see for a long time. We arrive and the movie starts. Soon latecomers arrive and begin disrupting our experience. It’s the same with Mass! Once Mass begins, having placed us in the presence of the Divine, it is very disrupting to have people coming in late.
This disturbs and disrupts what we have already begun. What about leaving early? We see it all the time! The distribution of Holy Communion has begun, and we hear the opening and closing of the church doors as people receive Jesus and just leave! This is so sad and breaks my heart! I guess Jesus is not that important. He surely isn’t important enough to take a moment and offer a prayer of thanksgiving.
It’s like inviting people over to your house for a delicious dinner. You spend hours preparing a scrumptious meal which included several appetizers, the main course, and a most delicious dessert. Your guests arrive and are seated at the table. You serve the first course, a lobster bisque, drizzled with crème fraiche. This is followed by a roasted beet salad with a classic balsamic dressing and crumbled goat cheese. The best is yet to come! The main course is a slow roasted rack of lamb. You slaved over it for hours and now it is ready! You are just about to serve the rack of lamb, when suddenly, all your guests get up and leave! I think you would be quite miffed!
And yet, this is what happens to Jesus every Sunday! Just as we are receiving the Crème de La Crème, Jesus Himself, people leave! They fail to recognize they have turned their back on the host; they have turned their back on Jesus! They left the banquet early!
Have I shopped, labored, or used technology unnecessarily on Sunday or other holy days of obligation? In the age of technology today, social media can keep us always connected to our phones. We must preserve Sunday as a day of rest and refrain from using technology. It won’t hurt us to put the cell phone, iPad, or tablet away for a few hours and spend time with the Lord and our families.
The Soul Yearns To Know Christ
As a parent, do I take my children to Sunday Mass? Parents have the fundamental responsibility to educate their children in the faith. They accomplish this primarily by making sure their children can participate in Sunday Mass. Children want to encounter Christ! This is one of the fundamental desires of the soul. The soul yearns to know Christ. When parents do not ensure their children attend Mass, they fail in their responsibility to educate the children in the faith.
Have I knowingly eaten meat on a forbidden day (or not fasted on a fast day)? During the year there are days that require us to abstain from meat and or fast from food. During the Season of Lent, we are required to fast twice. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fasting. We are allowed one full meal and two smaller meals that are not equal to another full meal. The law of fast is for those from eighteen years of age to fifty-nine. (Unless there are medical reasons that we cannot fast.)
We are also all required to observe the law of abstinence from meat. This means we are forbidden from eating meat during the Fridays of Lent. These penitential acts unite us to the Lord’s Passion and prepare us for the great celebration of Easter.
Have I broken the Eucharistic Fast by eating or drinking within one hour of receiving Communion (other than medical need)? The Eucharistic fast is important to observe. It prepares us to receive the Lord by reminding us of the need for sacrifice. The Eucharistic Celebration is the Sacrifice of Christ for us. Our Eucharistic fasting before Mass reminds us of how much we need Jesus.
Have I required employees to work on Sunday in nonessential occupations and that make them deny their religious obligations? Some of us are in positions of being responsible for employees. This is a great responsibility that must not be taken lightly.
For the last three weeks we have seen how the chaos around us affects our relationship with the Lord. In the weeks to follow we will see how the chaos affects the people we interact with. Remember that our words, actions, and our sins affect others. The next seven Commandments will give us the opportunity to see where we dragged others into the chaos.
