# 102
Honor the Sabbath
In Judaic times in the life of Jesus, Saturday was the Sabbath. On the Sabbath people went to Temple and that day was a day of prayer and rest. So too is Sunday in Christian circles but you wouldn't know it. Many go to Church, to Holy Mass, to other Christian churches. Many also do indeed rest, enjoy the day with family, with spouse, children, grandchildren. They go out, to the movies, to rivers and streams to fish, to enjoy boating, to hike or whatever is common in the area you live. Since this message may reach people all over the world, many different ways of leisure activities are involved.
In the United States and probably also in other countries, there has been a shift in overall laws and customs. Stores are open on Sundays and many people, even Catholics, spend their Sunday in the marketplace. Either they work, maybe they are part of that giant sales force manning these stores that are open on Sundays, or they are the shoppers. It is suggested that Jesus doesn't mind. But it's not what He had in mind when He honored the Sabbath!
There is a growing tendency for people to say "Jesus understands me, and besides, everyone does it." That lame excuse is applied to everything not just the desecration of the Sabbath. People live in sin, leading a married-like relationship but they are not married. Upon my exclamation in one particular instance "how could you?" (that's a simplification of what I said), the reply was "It's okay, everyone does it around here." We have diluted our conscience to the point of no longer being able to discern right from wrong. Those people are in a lot of trouble. They live a life of corruption, a life of sin, and they do not see it, or perhaps they are too blind to see it. They are deceiving themselves. We can only pray that God will have mercy on their souls when they breathe their last breath.
Failing to honor the Sabbath is generally the beginning of a difficult life. When you shut Jesus out of your life, evil jumps in with both feet because shutting out Jesus is the ultimate sin of pride. It's like Adam and Eve did - they placed themselves above God and the result was the yoke we bear of original sin. Lord, pardon us for even conceiving the notion that we are better than you. This can never be.
What's happening on Sundays is a growing fascination with things. What things? Well, stuff, you know, material things. People go to the store, usually out of boredom, and they browse just like one does on the Internet. You look at this or that, and that leads to trouble too if careful discernment isn't present. We go to shop and see something that we think we need. We buy it at $60, let's say, because we can put it on the credit card. There are thousands of people who live continually in debt, they live in the red, they live in debt because all they own is in reality held on the credit cards until they pay the bills. They cannot pay the bills because they haven't got the money. The question one has to ask is "do I need it, or do I want it?" Think about it... 99.9% of the time it's "I want it."
What happened to the great example Jesus left us, to live simply, within our means. To love our family, friends, neighbors. To take in the stranger. What do you think happened in Emmaus? Some people were walking down the road and they met a stranger. Since it was late in the day, they invited the stranger in for supper. When He broke the bread to be consumed, they realized the stranger was Jesus! What a wonderful example for us to love all people. And what an awful selfish thing it is to spend all our resources on ourselves and have nothing left to give to that stranger who comes by and knocks on our door! Think about it.
Bring order into your lives. Pay off the credit cards. Get out of debt. The way to do that is to buy only what you need. Nothing else. Honor the Sabbath. Go to your church, and fellowship. Catholics do this by reconciling themselves with God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and by going to Holy Mass on Sundays and Holidays of Obligation and fellowshipping with Jesus by receiving Him in the Holy Eucharist. There in that little piece of bread and that little sip of wine, He is present in Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. What a wonderful, generous Gift He has given us. It is His inheritance to us. Then, having received Him, Catholics turn around and do good to other people, the less fortunate, people who need a helping hand. Unfortunately, there are also people who call themselves Catholic, who are using excuses like "God understands me" in most or everything they do. They are deceiving God and themselves. We continue to pray for these lost sheep.
May you find the joy of keeping the Sabbath holy.
Posted 7/28/2002