The third commandment can be stated in many different ways, but often simply as “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath” or more commonly for us as Christians, “Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.” 

 

The difference between calling it the Sabbath (or the seventh day) and the Lord’s Day (the first day of the week, coinciding with the day the Resurrection took place) is simply a statement of our belief that with Jesus’ Resurrection, God has recreated the world and by so doing reoriented our worship to conform with this event, which is the basis of our faith. 

 

This shift in days of worship is attested to by those first generations of Christians who saw the day of the week on which God was to be principally worshipped as itself a statement of Christian faith pointing to the new covenant ratified by Jesus’ Blood. 

 

Just walking into the church on Sunday is a public statement on our part that we believe that Jesus is the Savior of humanity and that we are beneficiaries of His passion, death and resurrection. 

 

While we may take being able to do so for granted, at other times and places in Christian history just gathering to worship on Sunday could get you killed. Yet despite this, Christians still saw it as important enough to take the chance. 

 

Even though this commandment can be stated with such simple words, its implications for us can be rather far reaching. One such implication that can be easily overlooked is the fact that this commandment requires us to orientate our schedules around it. Following it not only has an effect on our behavior but on our calendars as well. Doing so helps to ensure that the central event of our faith becomes central to our daily lives.

 

But keeping holy the Lord’s day is also a way to rebel … to rebel not against God, but against all those things (even some good things) that could possibly keep us from Him. Insisting on keeping Sunday as a day for God first and foremost means that we refuse to let the busyness of life or work become our god. 

 

It’s also a refusal to let the day of the Resurrection pass by as “just another day of the week,” not really any different than the others, or as just a day off. Truly keeping the commandment will mean that Sunday looks markedly different. 

 

It’s also easy to forget that while the first three commandments deal with our proper relationship to God, they ultimately are for our own good. God is not just imposing a rule on us, making us do something, but is instructing us as to what it means to be fully human, fully ourselves, fully the reflection of His image and likeness we were created to be. 

 

This is echoed in Jesus’ own words in Mark’s Gospel (2:27): “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Living the third commandment fully means that we open the door to life more fully lived.

 

With all of that said, what then actually “fulfills” the commandment’s requirement? We can try to answer this question by examining in turn some common questions that arise. Doing so will eventually paint a picture of the ways in which Sunday should look different than other days of the week. 

 

Specifically, some of the more frequent questions regarding the third commandment are: Do I need to attend Mass every Sunday? Is it a sin if I don’t? A mortal or venial sin? What if I’m sick or the weather is bad? Can’t I just pray to God on my own? Can I do work on Sunday? How much work is too much? What if my job requires me to work? What about Holy Days of Obligation?

 

Future articles will examine these questions to arrive at a better understanding of this commandment’s demands.