SEPTEMBER 2012
"Rightly, then, the Psalmist’s cry is applied to Sunday: 'This is the day which the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad in it' (Ps. 118:24)."[1]
Note: In this report I may occasionally use bold print, italics, CAPS, or word underlining for emphasis. These will be my personal emphasis and not that of the source that I am quoting. Any footnote preceded by a number in (parenthesis) is my personal library numbering system.
Q:
Can you give me a definitive answer concerning if a Catholic can or cannot perform non-essential manual work on a Sunday? M.E.
A:
The answer to this question, for me, is much more difficult than it seems. I have had priests, with the best of intentions, answer both affirmatively and negatively. My best discernment suggests that this is an area where Satan has successfully slipped 'between the cracks' into our Church. With that said I have decided to report only with documentation compiled by Holy Church or her representatives. With a few exceptions, your answer is NO!
I begin with this statement:
"Commandments of God – Ten precepts bearing on the fundamental obligations of religion and morality and embodying the revealed expression of the Creator’s Will in relation to man’s whole duty to God and to his fellow-creatures. Written by the Finger of God on two tables of stone, this Divine code was received from the Almighty by Moses. Christ proclaimed them (the Commandments) binding under the New Law in St. Matthew 19 and in the Sermon on the Mount, St. Matthew 5. The Church, after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, to the first, made the Third Commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord’s Day. THESE DIVINE MANDATES (10 COMMANDMENTS) ARE REGARDED AS BINDING ON EVERY HUMAN CREATURE, AND THEIR VIOLATION, WITH SUFFICIENT REFLECTION AND CONSENT OF THE WILL, IF THE MATTER BE GRAVE, IS CONSIDERED A GRIEVOUS OR MORTAL OFFENCE AGAINST GOD. THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ESTEEMED AS THE MOST PRECIOUS RULES OF LIFE AND ARE THE BASIS OF ALL CHRISTIAN LEGISLATION."[2]
"They (10 Commandments) are pre-eminently the words of God. The Decalogue is a path of life."[3]
"It is most certain that we are not bound to obey the Commandments because they were delivered by Moses, but because they are implanted in the hearts of all, and have been explained and confirmed by Christ Our Lord."[4]
Our Lord said, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word (Commandments) (St. John 14:23)."[5]
"I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon their children, to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."[6]
"This, however, is the crime of all sinners; for as he that hath God’s commandments and keepeth them, loveth God, so he who despises His law and violates His Commandments, is justly said to hate God."[7]
The teaching on St. Matthew 5 says, "To fulfill the law (Commandments) appears at first to mean a literal enforcement of the law in the least detail: UNTIL HEAVEN AND EARTH PASS AWAY NOTHING IN THE LAW WILL PASS."[8]
"Works Forbidden: THOU SHALT DO NO WORK ON IT (SUNDAY), SAYS THE LORD, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. These words teach us, in the first place, to avoid WHATEVER MAY INTERFERE WITH THE WORSHIP OF GOD. Hence it is most difficult to perceive that all servile works are forbidden, not because they are improper or evil in themselves, but because THEY WITHDREW THE ATTENTION FROM THE WORSHIP OF GOD, which is the great end of the Commandment."[9]
"The Ten Commandments, which explicitly define what is sinful activity, forbid idolatry and blasphemy, and mandate weekly observance of the Sabbath, are an example of supernatural revelation."[10]
"The Third Commandment: Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days halt thou labour, and do all thy works; but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; thou shalt do no work on it, neither thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and sanctified it."[11]
"Avoidance of Servile Work: Neither do ye any work; sanctify the Sabbath day. And so also it is said in the Law: You shall do no servile work therein. Now, SERVILE WORK IS BODILY WORK; whereas free work (i.e., non-servile work) is done by the mind, for instance, the exercise of the intellect and such like. And one cannot be serviley bound to do this kind of work. When Servile Work Is Lawful: We ought to know, however, that servile work can be done on the Sabbath for four reasons. The first reason is necessity. Wherefore, the Lord excused the disciples plucking the ears of corn on the Sabbath, as we read in St. Matthew (12:3-5). The second reason is when the work is done for the service of the Church; as we see in the same Gospel how the priests did all things necessary in the Temple on the Sabbath day. The third reason is for the good of our neighbor; for on the Sabbath the Saviour cured one having a withered hand, and He refuted the Jews who reprimanded Him, by citing the example of the sheep in a pit. And the fourth reason is the authority of our superiors. Thus, God commanded the Jews to circumcise on the Sabbath."[12]
"In the Scriptures KEEPING HOLY THE SABBATH MEANS A CESSATION FROM BODILY LABOR AND FROM BUSINESS, as is clear from the following words of the Commandment: Thou shalt do no work on it. But this is not all that it means, otherwise it would have been sufficient to say in Deuteronomy, Observe the day of the Sabbath, but it is added, AND SANCTIFY IT; and these additional words prove that the Sabbath is a day sacred to religion, set apart for works of piety and devotion. The true and proper meaning, therefore, of this Commandment tends to this, that we take special care to set apart some fixed time, when, disengaged from bodily labor and worldly affairs, we may devote our whole being, soul and body, to the religious veneration of God. The Sabbath is consecrated to the Lord, that we are required on that day to render Him the duties of religion, and to know that the seventh day is a sign of the Lord’s rest. That on it (Sunday) men are bound in a special manner to practice holiness and religion."[13]
As we place this aforesaid quote into perspective it becomes 'reality' that some common occurrences are sinful, such as conducting a garage or lawn sale. Isn’t a sale with the exchange of goods for money a business? Some people justify mowing the lawn on Sunday because they pray a devout fifteen decade rosary while mowing. Well, praying the rosary may show a mental and spiritual devotion to God but physically you are being devoted to labor – mowing the lawn! I used to be one of those Sunday workers. I prayed the rosary while driving my lawn mower. BUT – as sincere as my intentions were about praying - I was paying more attention to mowing a straight line, backing up, etc. I could not tell you how many times I forgot what decade I was on or which set of mysteries! The bottom line is this – I was more involved in the 'manual work aspect' of mowing than the spiritual act of prayer! "By the Third Commandment we are commanded to keep Sundays holy. We are to keep Sundays holy by hearing Mass and RESTING FROM SERVILE WORK on that day. We are commanded to rest from servile work, that we may have time and opportunity for prayer, for going to the Sacraments, for hearing instruction, for reading good books, and for gaining rest and refreshment for the coming week."[14] How do we get rested by performing manual labor? "SERVILE WORK: ACTIVITY THAT IS PERFORMED BY PHYSICAL EXERTION. The Church forbids servile work on Sundays or holy days of obligation unless it is necessary for the good of society or for the welfare of the family."[15] "OBSERVE THE SABBATH DAY BY KEEPING IT HOLY, AS THE LORD YOUR GOD HAS COMMANDED YOU."[16]
There is a church approved apparition by Our Lady on September 19, 1846. Part of the apparition message says, "I have appointed you six days for working. The seventh I have reserved for myself. And no one will give it to me. This is what causes the weight of my Son’s arm to be crushing. The cart drivers cannot swear without bringing my Son’s name.
These are the two things which make my Son’s arm so burdensome. As we ponder this apparition, the message of our Blessed Mother is as pertinent now as then: How many people forsake Sunday Mass but take time for the newspaper, sports or shopping?"[17]
"Jesus answered them: Amen, amen I say unto you: 'that whosoever commiteth sin, is the servant of sin'."[18]
"The obligation to refrain from unnecessary work, however, still remains on Sunday, because it’s the Day of the Lord for Christians all over the world."[19]
"The third commandment forbids doing any servile work – unnecessary hard labor – on the Lord’s Day, because it is a day of rest."[20]
"The Catholic on Sunday and other holy days of obligation should not do heavy manual work, or do business tasks that interfere with the worship they owe God. Nor should they make heavy demands on others that would hinder them from keeping Sunday holy."[21]
"The fact that they (early Christians) met together and offered public worship on Sunday necessitated a certain rest from work on that day. Tertullian (circa 202) is the first writer who expressly mentions the Sunday rest: 'We however (just as tradition has taught us), on the day of the Lord’s Resurrection ought to guard not only against kneeling, but every posture and office of solicitude; deferring even our businesses lest we give any place to the devil'. These and similar indications show that during the first three centuries practice and tradition had consecrated Sunday to the public worship of God by the hearing of Mass and resting from work. In the Apostolic Constitutions, which belong to the end of the fourth century, both the hearing of Mass and rest from servile work are prescribed, and the precept is attributed to the Apostles."[22]
"From the eighth century the law began to be formulated (civil law) as it exists at the present day, and the local councils forbade servile work, public buying and selling, pleading in the law courts, and the public and solemn taking of oaths."[23] "As it was the 'day of the resurrection', fasting or kneeling were traditionally not observed. Its observance as a day of rest came about in the fourth century, first by ecclesiastical encouragement (Council of Elvira, c. a.d. 306) and then by civil edict of Constantine, which specified it as a day when no work was to be done. Church legislation combined required attendance at the Sunday Eucharist with abstaining from servile work."[24]
"The disciples of Christ, however, are asked to avoid any confusion between the celebration of Sunday, which should truly be a way of keeping the Lord’s Day holy, and the 'weekend', understood as a time of simple rest and relaxation."[25] "Sunday, is the day of rest because it is the day 'blessed' by God and 'made holy' by Him, set apart from the other days to be, among all of them, 'the Lord’s Day'."[26]
"For several centuries, Christians observed Sunday simply as a day of worship, without being able to give it the specific meaning of Sabbath rest. Only in the fourth century did the civil law of the Roman Empire recognize the weekly recurrence, determining on 'the day of the sun' the judges, the people of the cities and the various trade corporations would not work."[27]
"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."[28]
"The Lord’s Day is the original feast day, and it should be proposed to the piety of the faithful and taught to them so that it may become in fact a day of joy and of freedom from work."[29]
"The third Commandment forbids all unnecessary servile work and whatever else may hinder the due observance of the Lord’s Day. Servile works are those which require labor rather of body than of mind. Servile works are lawful on Sunday when the honor of God, the good of our neighbor, or necessity requires them."[30]
"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."[31]
"Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God’s law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin."[32]
"Since they express man’s fundamental duties towards God and towards his neighbor, the Ten Commandments reveal, in their primordial content, grave obligations. They are fundamentally immutable, and they oblige always and everywhere. NO ONE CAN DISPENSE FROM THEM. THE TEN COMMANDMENTSY ARE ENGRAVED BY GOD IN THE HUMAN HEART."[33]