Daily Retreat 02/09/08
2008 Feb 9 Sat: Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Is 58: 9b-14/ Ps 85(86): 1-2. 3-4. 5-6/ Lk 5: 27-32
From today’s readings: “If you hold back your foot on the Sabbath from following your own pursuits on MY holy day.... You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon You.... Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners....”
Whose day?
I’m only 39 years old, so I certainly don’t pretend to speak with the wisdom of age, and it’s ludicrous for someone of my generation to pine away for “the good old days.” However, one of the societal ills which I wince to see steadily advancing every year is the Profaning of the Sabbath, the dwindling Christian commitment to clearly identify all of Sunday as the Lord’s Day!
The sanctification of the Sabbath goes all the way back to Creation (cf. Genesis 2:3), and is confirmed in the Decalogue (cf. Exodus 20:8-11). Then, the Sabbath of the Old Testament was transferred from Saturday to Sunday when Jesus made that His day of resurrection - Revelations 1:10 mentions “the Lord’s Day,” which St. Ignatius and St. Justin and other patristic writers confirm is celebrated on Sunday.
As the number of Christians grew in the Roman Empire, so did the commitment for keeping the Lord’s day holy, until the practice became firmly established everywhere Christianity flourished, bolstered by unanimous custom and, often enough, even the force of civil law.
Only a few short decades ago, Sunday was universally recognized as being the “Lord’s Day,” the first (and most important) day of the week! Now, however, in America and other nations, Sunday has slipped from first to last place, consigned, as it is, to the tail of a shady partnership with Saturday as the “week end,” which nowadays is clearly considered prime time for shopping, yard work, travel, and athletic events. Oh, and if you feel especially inspired, you might go to church on Sunday as well, as long as it doesn’t interfere too much with other plans.
While the nonchalant air of impunity is a peculiarly perturbing modernization of Sabbath infringement, Scripture attests that it’s not entirely new, this commercial encroachment on God’s evidently unsecured claim to a whole day of the week. For the word of the Lord was heard in Isaiah’s day:
“If you hold back your foot on the Sabbath from following your own pursuits on MY holy day;
If you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD's holy day honorable;
If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice– Then you shall delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Will the word of the Lord be heard in our day? That depends on you and me, and all those we can interest in rebuilding ancient ruins and raising up the foundations from ages past - clearly, there is a great breach to be repaired, for the good Lord (who gives us every day of our lives) is certainly entitled to weekly worship and a bit of our “quality time,” and the virtuous and easiest way to insure it fits well in our schedule is to mark the Lord’s day as the first day of our week.
Is 58: 9b-14/ Ps 85(86): 1-2. 3-4. 5-6/ Lk 5: 27-32
From today’s readings: “If you hold back your foot on the Sabbath from following your own pursuits on MY holy day.... You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon You.... Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners....”
Whose day?
I’m only 39 years old, so I certainly don’t pretend to speak with the wisdom of age, and it’s ludicrous for someone of my generation to pine away for “the good old days.” However, one of the societal ills which I wince to see steadily advancing every year is the Profaning of the Sabbath, the dwindling Christian commitment to clearly identify all of Sunday as the Lord’s Day!
The sanctification of the Sabbath goes all the way back to Creation (cf. Genesis 2:3), and is confirmed in the Decalogue (cf. Exodus 20:8-11). Then, the Sabbath of the Old Testament was transferred from Saturday to Sunday when Jesus made that His day of resurrection - Revelations 1:10 mentions “the Lord’s Day,” which St. Ignatius and St. Justin and other patristic writers confirm is celebrated on Sunday.
As the number of Christians grew in the Roman Empire, so did the commitment for keeping the Lord’s day holy, until the practice became firmly established everywhere Christianity flourished, bolstered by unanimous custom and, often enough, even the force of civil law.
Only a few short decades ago, Sunday was universally recognized as being the “Lord’s Day,” the first (and most important) day of the week! Now, however, in America and other nations, Sunday has slipped from first to last place, consigned, as it is, to the tail of a shady partnership with Saturday as the “week end,” which nowadays is clearly considered prime time for shopping, yard work, travel, and athletic events. Oh, and if you feel especially inspired, you might go to church on Sunday as well, as long as it doesn’t interfere too much with other plans.
While the nonchalant air of impunity is a peculiarly perturbing modernization of Sabbath infringement, Scripture attests that it’s not entirely new, this commercial encroachment on God’s evidently unsecured claim to a whole day of the week. For the word of the Lord was heard in Isaiah’s day:
“If you hold back your foot on the Sabbath from following your own pursuits on MY holy day;
If you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD's holy day honorable;
If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice– Then you shall delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Will the word of the Lord be heard in our day? That depends on you and me, and all those we can interest in rebuilding ancient ruins and raising up the foundations from ages past - clearly, there is a great breach to be repaired, for the good Lord (who gives us every day of our lives) is certainly entitled to weekly worship and a bit of our “quality time,” and the virtuous and easiest way to insure it fits well in our schedule is to mark the Lord’s day as the first day of our week.
posted by FrPitstick | 2/05/2008
<< Home