The Sunday Break

The Sunday Break

At the end of the creation story in Genesis, we hear that God rested on the seventh day, blessed it and made it holy.  This is what we know as the Sabbath.  The Jewish people count the 7th day as Saturday on our calendar.  As Christians, we also recognize this, but we choose to celebrate our Sabbath on Sunday, the day of the Resurrection. 

This illustrates how radical the Christian event truly is.  Jesus was not a historical blip on the radar as more and more people would like us to believe,  Jesus transformed how we view and live in the world.  The Resurrection of Jesus is the birth of the new Creation in which grace reigns supreme for those with eyes to see it.  But how do we develop the vision to see this grace?

This information alone should be enough for us to take seriously a day of rest for our faith.  But, just in case we are not motivated enough, we also hear the call to keep holy the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments.  I think when most people hear the word commandment, they are turned off.  No one likes being told what to do, even if it is actually for their benefit.  The Ten Commandments are just that though: prescriptions that are for our benefit.  This is precisely how we should look at the Ten Commandments.  If a physician gave you a remedy to something that was making you sick, would you refuse to take it?  If an eye doctor offered you glasses to improve your sight, would you not use them?

The idea of a day of rest, is a concept that our culture has already embraced.  In fact, every week the general academic and working world shares two days of rest.  Anyone who has ever bought something on-line understands that shipping takes 5-7 business days (Monday-Friday).  Even though we provide an entire extra day of rest to our schedules, we still cannot find the time to take advantage of the call though.

Now, I know several individuals whose profession keeps them for enjoying what God and our society have provided in the idea of a weekend.  These individuals don’t let that keep them from seeking out an alternate day of rest though.  Ideally we will all take 15 minutes a day to find God and ourselves among the rest of our lives.  But especially on our Sabbath, we should take time to rest and praise.

I would like to invite you to create for yourself a Sunday Break this week.  Come and join us for “the Sunday Break” at 4p.m. in the Campus Ministry Lounge each week if you would like to enjoy the Sabbath in a community.  We will meet for an hour each Sunday before dinner and Mass to make ourselves more open to God’s presence in our lives.  See you there!  Blessed be God forever.