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Dies
Domini
"Practicing"
the Day of the Lord
(from the Nov./Dec. 1998 issue)
IN HIS RECENT APOSTOLIC
LETTER, Dies Domini, (released in July, 1998) the
Holy Father calls us to spiritual growth. If we reclaim
the practice of keeping the Sabbath, he instructs us, we
will see a significant growth in the culture of life, a
time of peace and spiritual maturing. Sunday, the
Lord’s Day, is a great gift from the Almighty which
we need to practice. Christianity is a
"practical" religion: "Be ye doers of the
Word."
Pope John Paul II writes:
"’Remember the Sabbath day in order to keep it
holy’ (Exodus 20:8)...Before decreeing that
something be done, the commandment urges that
something be remembered.....It is a call to awaken
remembrance of the grand and fundamental work of God
which is creation, a remembrance which must inspire the
entire religious life of man and then fill the day on
which man is called to rest. Rest therefore
acquires a sacred value: the faithful are called to rest
not only as God rested, but to rest in the
Lord, bringing the entire creation to Him, in praise and
thanksgiving, intimate as a child and friendly as a
spouse...Therefore, the main point of the precept is not
just any kind of interruption of work, but the celebration
of the marvels which God has wrought" (Dies
Domini, 16). Of course, the greatest marvel is the
Redemption of man through Christ Jesus. Sunday is the day
to celebrate this act of love.
Toward building a
culture of life
A great factor in the
decline of Catholicism’s effectiveness in building a
culture of life—evangelizing—is the abandonment
of the practice of the Lord’s Day. People are so
busy they miss the natural and supernatural refreshment
which comes from practicing the Lord’s Day.
They are tired; hence, at times, violent, disrespectful,
stressed, bored and confused. Families ought to make
Sunday "the Lord of days" in the home.
People need rest—not
just more time off, not mere interruption—rest; rest
in the Lord. God commanded: "Remember the
Sabbath day in order to keep it holy," knowing that
left on our own we would wear ourselves out with the time
He gave us. Time is precious.
When Sunday loses its
importance and becomes merely part of a
"weekend," people cannot see the heavens. We
need to "see the heavens," the Pope
reminds us, to contemplate the mysteries of God and to
spend time with Church and family; and to do this we need
to stop for Sunday.
Sunday is time for God and
us: the Day of the Lord (a celebration of the
Creator’s work) is the Day of Christ (a
celebration of the Risen Lord) is the Day of the
Church (a celebration of the Mystical Body: at Mass,
in moments of family life, social relationships,
listening to each other, relaxation, prayer, catechesis )
is the Day of Man (a celebration of the day of
joy, rest and solidarity) is the Day of Days (a
celebration of the meaning of time which is found in
Christ, the Alpha and the Omega.) To reclaim Sunday is to
reclaim evangelizing the world for Christ, who came in
the "fullness of time."
—Fr.
Roger K. Arnsparger
Father
Arnsparger is pastoral administrator of St. Barnabas
Church in Arden, North Carolina
[ St. Catherine Review ]
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