New Catholic Evangelization Foundation in Spain: “Sunday Fulfills the Moral Prescription to Give God Visible, Public and Regular Worship”

Religion in Liberty is a news website owned by the New Evangelization Foundation for the 21st Century, a Catholic organization in Spain that operates under the direction of the Archbishop of Madrid. This Catholic group was established “in response to the urgent call of Benedict XVI” to “carry out” a “new evangelization” for the twenty-first century. [1]

On May 14, 2023, Religion in Liberty published an article titled “Happy Sunday, the Day that Gives Meaning to the Week.” Through its new evangelization for the twenty-first century, this Catholic website teaches that Sunday is a special day for Christians and that it holds great significance and a moral obligation for rest and worship. The article said, in part:

• “In the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, we are given a Jewish, Israelite scheme of the week: six days full of activity, of work, which culminate in the sabbatical break, in the Shabbat.” [2]

• “In the New Testament, the weekly and temporary scheme changes.The ‘feast day’ is no longer the last of the week, but the first. We started the week backwards.” [2]

• “The Catechism reminds us that ‘the celebration of Sunday fulfills the moral prescription, inscribed in the heart of man, to ‘give God an external, visible, public and regular worship under the sign of his universal goodness towards men’ (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, 2-2, q. 122, a. 4).” [2]

• “Sunday worship performs the moral precept of the Old Covenant, whose rhythm and spirit it collects by celebrating every week the Creator and Redeemer of its people.” [2]

• “Sunday is a day to worship God, to go quietly to Sunday Mass.” [2]

• “The Sunday institution contributes to everyone enjoying ‘enough rest and leisure to cultivate family, cultural, social and religious life’.” [2]

• “On this note, there is a frequent farewell given by Pope Francis when he finishes praying the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square. ‘Buena domenica … e buon pranzo’. Happy Sunday, and good lunch.” [2]

Rome hasn’t changed and will never change, despite all of its sweet talk about finding common ground and focusing only on what we agree on. Sunday is being exalted in a new Catholic evangelism campaign, and we know what comes next. Sunday laws will soon be enforced, and the time of trouble will begin. These were the same scenes that occurred when papal doctrines were being imposed on society during the Dark Ages, as the papacy rose to power. It was the papacy that determined what was right and wrong. It was the papacy that decided what the truth was. There was no higher appeal than the Pope of Rome. The pope was both the spiritual head of the church and he also held temporal powers over the affairs of the state. All political powers bowed to Rome in order to obtain her favor.

In contrast, God’s word says: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God … For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11.

First of all, the Sabbath is a sign that the Son of God (Col. 1:16, 17; John 1:1–2) made the world in six days, and therefore, being a sign of creation, it cannot be changed. The Sabbath must stand as long as the world stands.

Second, if we are going to speak of a day of rest for humanity or for creation, only Jesus can tell us which day is the Sabbath, what it is for, and how we can keep it. Any statement made by men or by the church about which day is the true Sabbath rest or how we honor the Creator is just a man-made addition to God’s word. Human ordinances, human decrees, and human encyclicals will always be wrong. Only the Word of God should be our guide.

“And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man (all mankind), and not man for the sabbath: therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.” Mark 2:27–28.

Finally, God has stated in Revelation 14:6–12 that the work of exalting the false Sunday Sabbath by the beast and the image of the beast in preparation of the mark of the beast will not go unchallenged. God’s faithful people will be giving a stirring warning message against the beast, the image, and the mark, as predicted in Revelation 14. Praise the Lord! When the apostasy of Revelation 13 is seen to be fulfilling, the truths of Revelation 14 will also be proclaimed with power at the same time!

At the time when everyone is wondering after the beast and when Protestants betray the Reformation, Seventh-day Adventists must be presenting the final testing truths for this time. Have we not seen the growing influence of the papacy throughout the world? Are we not witnessing the growing ecumenical unity among the churches? Now there are calls to restore Sunday once again! We must be very active and earnest in making the truth known to as many people as possible before the storm breaks upon us.

“It is time for the whole Christian world to search the Scriptures for themselves; for in the pulpits all through our land the law of God is made void by precept and example. The papal power has thought to change the law of God by instituting a Sabbath for the world and the Christian church; and this spurious Sabbath is exalted and revered, while the Sabbath of Jehovah is trampled beneath unholy feet. But will the Lord degrade his law to meet the standard of men? Will he accept a man-made institution in place of the Sabbath which he has sanctified and blessed? No; the convenience or profit of men is not to supersede the claims of God; for he is a jealous God. He does not alter his precepts to gratify the desires of the ambitious or the covetous. ‘Thus saith the Lord’ should be sufficient to settle all controversy” (Review and Herald, March 18, 1884).

Sources

[1] https://www.religionenlibertad.com/quienes.html

[2] https://www.religionenlibertad.com/opinion/566057352/feliz-domingo-sentido-semana.html