On August 28, 2024, an article titled “The Rest of Ordinary Time” was published in The Pilot, which is regarded as the oldest Catholic publication in America. According to the article, Sunday was given to us by God for our physical and spiritual well-being and we are unable to reap its benefits due to the fast-paced lifestyle of contemporary society. The Pilot expressed that when the Blue Laws were in effect, it was easier to enjoy the benefits of rest and worship, and that perhaps recovering Sunday is even more urgent today.
The Pilot stated the following about Sunday rest and worship:
• “I know that Sunday is a day we are commanded to ‘keep holy’ and that it is a day to be set aside for rest, just as God Himself rested on the seventh day. I know that Sunday should be devoted first and foremost to the worship of God and, then, for that sacred rest that allows us to recreate ourselves and spend time caring for and being cared for by our loved ones. I know that there is a loving God who planned this order of things, knowing that rest refreshes and renews.” [1]
• “Yet, it is so easy to resist this plan. Sundays, it seems, have become just as hectic as the other six days of the week. Stores bustle with shoppers. Work emails are sent and received. Online orders are filled and ubiquitous delivery trucks prowl the neighborhoods. The early morning cacophony of lawn mowers and string trimmers breaks the peace of quiet streets, while Sunday traffic jams rival those of weekdays. Youth sports – even in Catholic leagues and Catholic schools – maintain grueling Sunday schedules. Many employers, customers, and clients now expect 24-7 availability, not merely 24-6 access. The urge to keep up with others and not fall behind makes it ever more difficult to see Sunday as a special day, distinct and different from the others.” [1]
• “It is easy to look back with nostalgia at a time when so-called ‘blue laws’ slowed the treadmill of life a bit and may have made it easier to keep Sundays as a day of worship and rest. Nevertheless, even though it seems harder now, the importance of a restful, prayerful Sunday may be more urgent than ever before.” [1]
• “Our attitudes toward Sundays are especially worth reflecting upon as our nation celebrates Labor Day.” [1]
• “In a particular way, labor leaders influenced by Catholic social teaching fought strenuously for the right of workers to have their Sundays as a day of worship and rest. In 1891, Pope Leo XIII spoke of this in ‘Rerum Novarum.’ In addressing the obligation to protect workers on their days of rest and worship, he wrote that a worker ‘has interests in which he should be protected by the State; and first of all, there are the interests of his soul. … From this follows the obligation of the cessation from work and labor on Sundays and certain holy days.” [1]
• “As a new season comes and we celebrate the dignity of workers, there is a chance to think of Sundays anew, to recommit to their sacred purpose, and celebrate the holy rest of ordinary time.” [1]
Rome is intentionally pushing to make Sunday the day of rest not just in America but also for the world. The Sunday rest advocates are not slowing down with their effort to generate interest for the reinstatement of the Blue Laws. There is a growing sentiment in society that says we should return to the good old days when family, church, and Sunday were at the center of public and private life. This is a call to fast-tracking measures that will strike directly against religious liberty.
Freedom of religion has been one of America’s most cherished liberties and one of the reasons why America became a great refuge for the persecuted. On the other hand, Blue Laws mandated Sunday rest. People were urged to attend church on Sundays by these oppressive religious laws. They discriminated against minorities who kept the seventh-day Sabbath, Saturday, holy while helping the Sunday-keeping majority. Those who disobeyed these rest mandates were also subject to fines and imprisonment under the blue laws.
Great horrors await this nation if this trend continues. Now is the time for the third angel’s message to be proclaimed with power. May we share the present truth, God’s last-day message to this perishing world.
“They are working in blindness. They do not see that if a Protestant government sacrifices the principles that have made them a free, independent nation, and through legislation brings into the Constitution, principles that will propagate papal falsehoods and papal delusions, they are plunging into the Roman horrors of the Dark Ages” (Review and Herald, December 11, 1888).
Sources
[1] https://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.php?ID=198030
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