When God established the original covenant with Adam, the sign of the covenant was the Sabbath. God spent six days building creation. God "rested and refreshed" on the seventh day.
The idea of honoring the Sabbath carried forward with the new covenants with Noah and Abraham; and it was eventually codified in the covenant with Moses in the form of the third commandment of the Ten Commandments. Keeping the Sabbath (or the Lord's day) holy continues to be an important aspect of the new and everlasting covenant Jesus established with His Church.
The bottom line is that by honoring the Sabbath we honor God, His work of creation, and His savings actions. It is an opportunity to retreat from worldly concerns and the forms of servitude through which work, money, and other worldly concerns can attempt lay claim on us.
There are two points I would like to focus on for us to keep in mind as we attempt to honor the Sabbath in our faith life.
First, we need to make sure we are included in the covenant God has with His Church. Jesus initiates the new and everlasting covenant through His divine nature, and Jesus responds to this covenant through His human nature. Somehow, we need to participate in the response of Jesus. This occurs through our active participation in the Mass and our reverent reception of the Eucharist. As Jesus said, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you." This is why it is imperative to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation, and why the Church makes Mass attendance obligatory to the faith. Objectively speaking, if we are not attending Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation and/or we are not receiving the Eucharist at least during the Easter season, then we are not included in the covenant God established with the Church to be the means of our salvation.
Second, we are called to step away from worldly concerns and allow ourselves and others to rest and refresh. This is where we have to do a bit of an examination of conscience. Do we spend our Sundays running errands, catching up on unnecessary work, and being absorbed in worldly concerns as opposed to being attentive to how God is operating in our life? The Chief Information Officer of the company I work for recently challenged us to block 90 minutes on our calendar to step away from our work to do something nice for someone else. What if we took that attitude in terms of how we plan to spend our time on Sunday and how we give honor to the Lord? Is there an opportunity to spend 90 minutes after Mass reconnecting with God, self, and others? Are there opportunities to spend that time purposefully practicing one or more of the Corporal or Spiritual works of mercy? How is God calling you to spend your Sunday?
Ultimately, Jesus is trying to lead us to spiritual perfection, and it is in how we love God, self, and others that we ultimately find our fulfillment and true happiness. Properly honoring the Sabbath will help to free us from the worldly pressures and anxieties of life. This will enable us to better hear how the Lord is calling us in our spiritual journey.
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