St. Jean Marie Vianney - Keeping Sunday Holy

[Shin]

'You labor, you labor, my children; but what you earn ruins your body and your soul. If one ask those who work on Sunday, "What have you been doing?" they might answer, "I have been selling my soul to the devil, crucifying Our Lord, and renouncing my Baptism. I am going to Hell; I shall have to weep for all eternity in vain." When I see people driving carts on Sunday, I think I see them carrying their souls to Hell.'

'Oh, how mistaken in his calculations is he who labours hard on Sunday, thinking that he will earn more money or do more work! Can two or three shillings ever make up for the harm he does himself by violating the law of the good God? You imagine that everything depends on your working; but there comes an illness, an accident. . . . so little is required! a tempest, a hailstorm, a frost. The good God holds everything in His hand; He can avenge Himself when He will, and as He will; the means are not wanting to Him. Is He not always the strongest? Must not He be the master in the end?

There was once a woman who came to her priest to ask leave to get in her hay on Sunday. "But," said the priest, "it is not necessary; your hay will run no risk." The woman insisted, saying, "Then you want me to let my crop be lost?" She herself died that very evening; she was more in danger than her crop of hay. "Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting." [Jn. 6: 27]'

'What will remain to you of your Sunday work? You leave the earth just as it is; when you go away, you carry nothing with you. Ah! when we are attached to the earth, we are not willing to go! Our first end is to go to God; we are on the earth for no other purpose. My brethren, we should die on Sunday, and rise again on Monday.'

'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. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

Here's a sermon on Keeping Sunday Holy. A great refresher of basic catechesis, that often people simply don't know because of gaps in their basic catechesis!

[Shin]

One thing I think needs to be focused on is not a spirit of looking for what one can get away with on Sunday, this is the exact opposite of the spirit to approach Sunday properly with, but instead to look for what one can do to as much as possible do to keep Sunday holy and make it holier.

To find the spirit of Sunday, the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the Day of Rest.

Of giving up the world, its entertainments, its works and efforts, its commerce, etc.

Of spending time focused on acts and works and peaceful prayers that are not work at all, centered around God.  

[Brigid]

What do all of you, who's parents are not observant Christians, feel should be the primary Commandment if that parent asks you to work on Sunday (helping them or whatever) do you obey the 4th or the 3rd Commandment?

[martin]

May God have mercy on us all.. I was just thinking over in my mind lastnight. Of all the commandments of God, how many of them are publically violated and totally ignored as being irrelevant?
The Answer. Them all. Every last one is disobeyed in the public arena of politics and business and any that are observed are kept out of human interest only and not because God commanded it.

I truly believe we are living in a time worse than any in the history of the world but it's a great time to be alive as saint Paul says, "Where sin abounds, grace abounds more." A great time for becoming a saint.

Sunday shopping was introduced here many years ago and I haven't heard one single sermon on the evil of profaning the Lords day. Rather, evening Mass on Saturday was introduced which only facilitated the mass exodus to the shopping malls on Sundays. People can now spend the whole day shopping without being interupted by an inconvenient trip to church to fulfill their Sunday obligation.

Why is Ireland bankrupt?  See above for answer.

What do all of you, who's parents are not observant Christians, feel should be the primary Commandment if that parent asks you to work on Sunday (helping them or whatever) do you obey the 4th or the 3rd Commandment?

The one occasion when we are permitted to disobey parents is when they ask us to do something sinful. We must judge then if what our parents request of us is blatantly sinful. If it is. then we must obey God first but remembering that acts of charity are not considered a violation of the third commandment

Jesus then replied and told him, "Hypocrite, everyone of you on the Sabbath, do you not untie your bull or your donkey from the stable and go to the stream?
"This then is the daughter of Abraham, and behold the devil has bound her these eighteen years, was it not Lawful that she be unbound from this bondage on the Sabbath day?" (John 13: 15,16)

[Brigid]

If it is. then we must obey God first but remembering that acts of charity are not considered a violation of the third commandment

Heavy-duty discernment there in differences of perception between the child and the parent!

[Shin]

Here's a sermon on Keeping Sunday Holy. A great refresher of basic catechesis, that often people simply don't know because of gaps in their basic catechesis!

Just want to remind everyone of this wonderful sermon. Keeping Sunday Holy . . .

With all its basic catechesis on the dos and don'ts of what is allowed on the Lord's Day, and what isn't. 

It's part of the secret to happiness.

When we give God these things.. we always gain more than we lose. There's nothing like a Sunday truly devoted to Our Lord.

It can be tough giving up our worldly activities. We don't know how to live in a way that pleases God normally in many ways, but setting aside one day is the key and beginning of that journey.

Spiritual reading.. prayer.. walks..  Just doing things that keep God always in mind one way or another. With the family.. alone..

One can take out a book by a saint and start taking notes. You can spend time in Eucharistic adoration. You can pray the Rosary.

[odhiambo]

One thing I think needs to be focused on is not a spirit of looking for what one can get away with on Sunday, this is the exact opposite of the spirit to approach Sunday properly with, but instead to look for what one can do to as much as possible do to keep Sunday holy and make it holier.

To find the spirit of Sunday, the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the Day of Rest.

Of giving up the world, its entertainments, its works and efforts, its commerce, etc.

Of spending time focused on acts and works and peaceful prayers that are not work at all, centered around God.  

I agree completely with the above.
I would, however still like to share what my little book tells me and I quote:
"In determining whether or not a particular work is permissible on Sunday, we have to ask ourselves two questions: is the work more mental than physical......? If not, then is the work genuinely necessary, something that could not have been done on  Saturday and cannot be put off until Monday.....if the answer to either is "yes", then the work is permissible on Sunday."
The Faith Explained by Leo J. Trese.