It is very easy that in our fast-paced lives, Sunday becomes the same type of day as any other day of the week. For that reason, many Catholic and other Christians have found it useful to have a ceremony Saturday evening that helps them enter into this very special day of the week. Sunday is the day that we commemorate Christ’s Resurrection; it is the ideal day to worship God. For that reason, in addition to calling the first day of the week, Sunday, it is called the “Lord’s Day”. It is a day to slow down, to rest. Rest is not necessarily inactivity, but a change in focus. It consists of stopping the type of work that we normally do during the work-week (the work that allows us to cover the common expenses of our life, buying food, paying for gasoline, etc.).
Sunday is therefore a day of gathering, of prayer, of Christian study, of giving alms, of doing good deeds (for example, visiting the sick). It is a special day for the Christian community and for the family. The prophet Isaiah (58:13, 14) explains what should be our attitude and its consequences:
If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
from following your own pursuits on my holy day;
If you call the sabbath a delight,
the LORD’s holy day glorious;
If you glorify it by not following your ways,
seeking your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs—
Then you shall delight in the LORD,
and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
it is a day to honor God.
This “Lord’s Day” has roots in the Jewish faith, their “Sabbath”, their period of rest that begins on Friday evening and ends on Saturday evening. The Jews recognize that the Sabbath is a very special day for "delighting in the Lord." It is a day when the joy of the Lord motivates them (and us!) to rejoice with him, and this can become our strength!
May this observance help us learn how to celebrate more fully what the Lord has done for us. May it also help us prepare for Sunday Mass, the perfect prayer of Jesus to the Father.
Please find below booklets with the Lord’s Day ceremonies (in English and Spanish):
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