How to Rest (1)

A pharmacist once told me that in 20 years he had never seen someone come for a prescription on Sunday that could not wait until Monday. Those people who needed their medication as a "life and death" issue, apparently, never waited until Sunday; they took care of it on Saturday or before. This should tell us something; there may be people out there who were different, but this is the experience of someone who served as a pharmacist for years.

Much of the big difference in what we distinguish as "necessary work" and "unnecessary work" has to do with whether we are willing to plan ahead and "keep the Lord's Day holy" or not. Those who intentionally do little to nothing to obey the required observance of Sundays and Holy Days are definitely not "keeping it holy". We cannot allow ourselves to become so lax that we can do anything we want on Holy Days; but neither can we be so legalistic that the Lord's Day is a drudgery and all we can do is sit and read the Bible all day (which is not always bad to do, but to require it of everyone in the household every Sunday is a misunderstanding of what holiness is). Our rules as Catholics are not supposed to be more strict than the Jews whom Jesus condemned for being legalistic!

Just out of curiosity, I did a search for what your average lay Catholic thinks about the rules for resting on Holy Days. Sadly, Catholics are just as diverse in their opinions as are protestants. Many of the "lists" that I found that gave approved and unapproved works are pretty clearly written with a view to justifying one's own actions (both for laxity and rigidity) and not because it is the teaching of the church or clearly laid out in Scripture.

A few claim that, "anything you can get paid for is servile work". That does not hold much water when we examine it carefully. That would mean that no one can eat on Sunday, no one can comb their hair, no one can drive to church, no one can play the piano, no one can go swimming, etc. I can find someone who will do these works for pay quite easily. This principle does not work because it is not what God said. Furthermore, there are those who limit the restriction only to what you actually got paid for doing. In other words, if you do not make any money doing it, it is ok. That is definitely not the point of the commandment.

Most would agree that if it is your regular job by which you earn a living that it is not allowed on Sundays and Holy Days of obligation (excepting works of mercy). What, then, are those "allowed works" that do not inhibit the worship of God which are spoken of in yesterday's post? Many should be obvious. We all need to eat, so cooking and serving (at home) is understandable; but if we think about the principle of rest, then Mom should be given at least a bit of a break, and others should help with the meals and cleanup afterwards. Most people need to drive to Church, so driving is fine, but you can get gasoline the day before. It should be clear that planning ahead and thinking about the context should make this commandment fairly easy to follow.

A few quotes from the great St. Thomas Aquinas should help here:

“We ought to know, however, that servile work can be done on the Sabbath for four reasons. The first reason is necessity. Wherefore, the Lord excused the disciples plucking the ears of corn on the Sabbath, as we read in St. Matthew (12:3-5). The second reason is when the work is done for the service of the Church; as we see in the same Gospel how the priests did all things necessary in the Temple on the Sabbath day. The third reason is for the good of our neighbor; for on the Sabbath the Saviour cured one having a withered hand, and He refuted the Jews who reprimanded Him, by citing the example of the sheep in a pit. And the fourth reason is the authority of our superiors. Thus, God commanded the Jews to circumcise on the Sabbath.”

St Thomas is here making it clear that there are boundaries to the work, but that it is a simple principle he is aiming at: necessity as opposed to personal choice.

Another quote from St. Thomas:

[One] is bound to provide necessaries both for himself and for his neighbor, chiefly in respect of things pertaining to the well-being of the body, according to Proverbs 24:11, “Deliver them that are led to death”: secondarily as regards avoiding damage to one’s property, according to Deuteronomy 22:1, “Thou shalt not pass by if thou seest thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, but thou shalt bring them back to thy brother.” Hence a corporal work pertaining to the preservation of one’s own bodily well-being does not profane the Sabbath: for it is not against the observance of the Sabbath to eat and do such things as preserve the health of the body. For this reason the Machabees did not profane the Sabbath when they fought in self-defense on the Sabbath day (1 Maccabees 2), nor Elias when he fled from the face of Jezabel on the Sabbath. For this same reason our Lord (Matthew 12:3) excused His disciples for plucking the ears of corn on account of the need which they suffered. In like manner a bodily work that is directed to the bodily well-being of another is not contrary to the observance of the Sabbath: wherefore it is written (John 7:23): “Are you angry at Me because I have healed the whole man on the Sabbath day?” And again, a bodily work that is done to avoid an imminent damage to some external thing does not profane the Sabbath, wherefore our Lord says (Matthew 12:11): “What man shall there be among you, that hath one sheep, and if the same fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not take hold on it and lift it up?

Again, simple principles of seeking to rest, while making sure that the work done is necessary and not for sake of personal gain.

More tomorrow...