No Work On Sunday

“For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” // Matthew 12:8

“Mom,” my teenage son asked, “aren’t we supposed to rest and not work on Sunday?” I could tell he was wrestling with the morally-correctness of my request for help with yard work one Sunday afternoon.

I love the time outdoors, sprucing up our yard and cooperating with the Lord to make a beautiful space around our home. While I find it rejuvenating (albeit sweaty and dirty), it doesn’t feel like work in the way doing laundry, scrubbing toilets, or managing business is work.

When I answered my son’s question, I told him some agree that yard work should be avoided on Sunday. We talked about how some Christians don’t prepare any food on Sunday. In contrast, our family prepares and enjoys a brunch every Sunday morning. Some rest by reading quietly, others by hiking with friends.

Volumes can be said about how best to live the sabbath and keep the Lord’s day holy. Jesus Himself met with criticism about His actions on the sabbath, as we read in today’s Gospel (see Matthew 12:1-8). 

Perhaps a few questions we ought to ask ourselves are these: What holds my attention on Sunday? What or whom is my priority? Is Jesus Lord of my Sunday?

I could rest, yet avoid prayer and Mass, ignoring the Lord. I could make an idol of “how” to rest, forgetting why we rest, and lose sight of the joy of living in God’s love. Or I can rejoice in the Resurrection, attend Mass, rest from normal work, and live in a way that glorifies God in my state in life (which sometimes includes a smidge of “work” for me, as a wife and mother).

Like Hezekiah who cried out, “O LORD, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly I conducted myself in your presence, doing what was pleasing to you!” (Isaiah 38:3), I want to live faithfully and wholeheartedly for Jesus. 

With that in mind, I pray the Holy Spirit will convict me as needed when I need to adjust how I rest, work, and play. Let’s pray together, sister, that we’ll glorify God with our actions on Sunday and every day.