Why do Catholics say Sunday as the Sabbath day, but do not keep It holy?

Remember Exodus 20:8-11 ("Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy..")

-- Lyn (lynjimiol@yahoo.com), January 12, 2000

Answers

Lyn, It is sad that sometimes we condenm large groups os people by our expressions. How did you come to the conclusion that catholics do not keep Sunday holy?

Enrique

-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), January 13, 2000.

Enrique, Lyn has a point. why dont you just answer the question instead of trying to change the topic. Statistics do show that many (greater than 30%) of sunday mass going Catholics dont even believe in transsubstantioation (sp?) (i.e. the real presense of Christ's flesh and blood at the mass); and an even greater percentage believe in artificial means of birth control. I am a Catholic ( I do not know what Lyn is) but her point is valid and deserves a response.

Lyn, I believe the reason is because they are catholics in name only and in actuallity have given up the faith in the eternal truths protected by and taught by the Holy Catholic Church. There are are a huge number of people who claim to be catholic but when confronted with a catholic dogma they will usually say "well on that point I have formed my own opinions". When they do this they reject and cut themselves off from the Church which is the wellspring of all graces.

In Christ Jesus and the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Patrick

-- Patrick (pmwalshjmj@yahoo.com), January 13, 2000.

Dear Lyn, Who is anybody to judge how others keep the Sabbath holy? Why do you have the idea that Catholics don't keep the Sabbath holy? Was there a poll or something I missed? How a person keeps the Sabbath holy is between him and God and should not be judged by anybody else. I do not have to "look like I'm keeping the Sabbath holy" just to placate anybody. As to the first response you got to your question, I seem to remember that the Catholic church, in all her wisdom, excommunicated people who did not adhere to the belief that the world was flat. The RCC is made up of human beings and they make mistakes. Only time will tell on the birth control issue. Ellen

-- Ellen K. Hornby (dkh@canada.com), January 14, 2000.

Patrick, how could I answer Lyn's question? How many catholics do I know? Very few, and the way the keep Sunday will apply to them and not to catholics in general. I have no idea how the rest of catholics in the world keep the Sunday. But, being honest , I can't judge the millions of catholics there are on earth. The ones I know are devout catholics. Does that mean that the rest are the same way? Of course not. If a few don't keep Sunday holy, does that give me the right to say that MOST catholics don't do it either? Of course not. So,you see, it would be very presumptous on my part to answer Lyn' question.

Enrique

-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), January 14, 2000.

Patrick, it would very helpful to know exactly what is meant by *keeping Sunday holy*. You mention mass-going catholics who do not believe in transubstantiation. By going to mass do they keep Sunday holy? Do they have to do something else? By not believing in trans. don't they keep Sunday holy? Doubting or denying some catholic teaching does that make people unable to keep Sunday holy?

Enrique

-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), January 14, 2000.

Patrick it would be better if you would not try to answer for a Faith you have not part of and stick to explaining what you believe and why. I gather that you do not believe in the Lord's day? Coule you explain why?

Lynn,

Have you read "Dies Domini - On Keeping the Lord's Day Holy" by John Paul II (May 1998) This little (95 pages) document explains the fundamental importance of Sunday in the Catholic Church.

Br. Rich S.F.O.

-- Br. Rich S.F.O. (repsfo@prodigy.net), January 19, 2000.

lyn and Enrique, Catholics may think that Sunday is the Christian sabbeth, but it is not.

1. The “Promise” of rest was “Fulfilled” in Jesus, so the “holy” Sabbath day of rest pointed to Him and His work. Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them" Matthew 5:17. Jesus is our Sabbath! It is fulfilled in Him. The Sabbath promise of rest was fulfilled on the first day of the week, making it "the Lord's Day."

2. As we rest in the gift of his salvation we stop trying to establish our own worth before God. In other words, we stop trying to save ourselves. Our Sabbath rest is accomplished through faith in the Messiah! Therefore as we trust in him everyday becomes our Sabbath (I’m not taking it back this time). Another reason why I would rather not play video games, watch TV, nor listen to “earthly” music, etc. on any day.

3. Jesus rising from the dead proclaims the truth that he is the source of our "new life" of grace. This occurred on Sunday, the first day of the week. His resurrection on Sunday is the point in time when the Sabbath rest was fulfilled and expanded to include the entire life of the believer, not just ONE day a week. It is for this reason that remembering Christ's resurrection on Sunday is so important because it facilitates the believer, you and I, in our quest to live by God's grace "Today" and everyday.

4. What does this mean?

First, Jesus is our Sabbath Rest; He is Lord of the Sabbath Rest and directs us to do good on the Sabbath. In other words, as we live in Him he enables us to desire and do what God commands. Therefore, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving" Col. 3:23-24. We rest in his grace yet we move through life working and doing good! We observe our Sabbath rest by doing good to others!

Second, the first day of the week was referred to as the "eighth day" because Jesus rose from the dead on it. It marks the new creation. Therefore the early church called it "the Lord's Day" Rev. 1:10. It was the day they met to hear God's word and celebrate the Lord's Supper. It is the day in which God the Father put his stamp of approval on the sacrifice of his Son and began the new creation! Because of the resurrection "the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17. Anyone who has faith in Christ is a part of the New Creation.

Third, while the Lord's Day for historical reasons is the preferred day for the Church to meet it should not be defended to the point that we judge others who keep another day (I would never judge you). If we do we violate the nature of God who is Lord of every day. "One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind" Romans 14:5. Also please read:

Colossians 2: 9-20: esp. 16 (read carefully, you’ll LOVE this one)

Colossians 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. 16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. 19 He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. 20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules

Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 (These doesn’t mean much, but it is good to keep this in back of your mine as a reminder to how things changed after the death and resurrection of Jesus)

Acts 20 7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.

1 Corinthians 1 Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

Matthew Chapter 5 (What is missing there? Look in your Bible cause the Lord isn’t giving me the will to type it right now)

Fourth, what I do on that day does matter. It belongs to the Lord no matter what day it is! Fellowship, prayer, worship, hearing the Word and celebrating the Lord's Supper are all important things for those who gather around the Lord! I Refrain, even more than I would on any other day, from doing things that take the place of worship: Work, TV, VIDEO GAMES, and other uncool stuff.

MY CONCLUSION

Sunday is not the Christian's Sabbath, Jesus Christ, himself is our eternal Sabbath! As we rest in his grace we find the power necessary to serve God in every area of life: family, Church, Work, school, society and play. Yet as believers who rest in his fellowship we need to gather with other believers in order to be built up and encouraged. "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching" Hebrews 10:25. We gather weekly because it is God's will and we want to please God not ourselves! We love him because he first loved us! We also meet "all the more" regularly because the Day of Judgment will be coming soon (not as soon as you think, but that’s my opinion)! "The Lord will judge his people" Hebrews 10:30. We normally gather around Jesus on the first day of the week, "the Lord's Day" because that's when Jesus rose from the dead! This is the preferred day because it is the day our Lord and Savior rose from his Grave, but I would never judge those who meet on another day. What about those who drop out of church and no longer hear God's word? I will answer quoting Hebrews 10:29, "How much more severely do you think man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace!" To treat the body and blood of Christ as an unholy thing is an insult to the spirit of God!

I hate to take things out of context, so please refer to your bible and read before and after the quotes that I have given you.

Also the Catholic Church has nothing to do with me worshiping on Sundays.Let me know what you think! Happy Holidays and may God bless you!

Here is a good web page to go to that may better explain my views. It also talks about Ellen G. White and has a link to her “fact sheet”. Please read this, it is important: http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/sabbath.htm

-- Lamont Frazier (lamfrazier@yahoo.com), December 02, 2000.

redirecting L's new reply to the top

-- Slave Nolonger (free@long.last), December 02, 2000.

I think that this fight is all very childish and stupid. Frankly, i believe that the sunday is the sabbath day as the great majority of the christian faith is based upon jesus, as he was the inspiration for christianity. Even though god said to use the sabbath as a saturday and keep it holy, what proof dowe have of god making it a saturady. why not a monday, or it could have been a tuesday. Moslty jews celebrate it on a saturady as they believe in god and not jesus and that is why they do not celebrate it on the sunday, and christians do. I think that it is very strange how christians celebrate their sabbath on the saturday. I have been told many times that jesus did not actually preach to people to change the sabbath to the sunday, but that is because when he preached, he did not actually preach christanity, he was preaching god. When he died and was ressurected, the disciples started the christian faith in honour of jesus, and made the sabbath day a sunday. We are not jews or n e other religion, and from the beggining of the faith, sunday had been kosha. Suddenly we get these idiots who read the JEWISH part of the bible, and follw by all of its rules. I know that there are still very valuable lessons about christianity in that section (as it christianity did branch form judaism) but judaism is completely different religion to chrisianity. The old testement is still a good thing to read, but the faith of christianity should not be based on it. The new testiment should however. It focuses more on jesus and his doings on earth.

In the old testement we have bogus stroies about adam and eve, which is physically impossible as it is interbreeding. Snakes cannot talk, and where did adam and eve exist??? Yes it was the garden of eden, but how did all of their children multiply and then go acroos the sea with no boat. And what about dinosaurs, because ive never heard an account from adam himslef about the rex!

-- Janice Waerman (dr_dood2000@hotmail.com), June 25, 2001.

Itis not hard to find out the History behind Sunday worship. Go to a libray, Look for a book titled, "History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Centry" You might be surprized to find out Why so many people were killed. And who killed them. Thanks to God all these questions can be aswered. Happy reading, Lisa

-- Lisa Adamczak (lisadiane@yahoo.com), March 10, 2003.

I believe that in many Christian circles, we focus so much on doctrines and practise rather than the intrinsic significance revealed in the New Testament.

On the one hand, Christ said He came to fulfill the law. This has been a standpoint for those who focus heavily on the Mosiac Law. On the other hand, Paul said in his epistles that Christ has abolished the law in ordinances, and not to judge others in the matter of keeping feasts, new moons etc. This standpoint has served those who believe that the Mosiac Law is antiquated.

In actual fact, we must take both sides by realising the significance of Christ becoming a man, living a human life according to the will of the Father, and being obediant even to the death of a cross.

Firstly, God does not make mistakes. If He created the law, He did it for a reason. Secondly, if Christ came to fulfill the law, then it is obvious that the Mosiac law is neither antiquated, nor to be abolished.

Jesus Christ, in His resurrection became the life-giving Spirit. That means that by becoming born again of the Holy Spirit, we are children of God and as such possess the divine life of Christ within our human spirit. Christ now is the law written in our hearts. By allowing His life to grow within us, through feeding upon His word, and praying to Him, this law is fulfilled through us.

The keeping of the Sabbath is not an outward practise, rather it is taking Christ as our Sabbath, our rest. There are so many things in the world today that distract us from God, but the Christ Himself has become our rest, that we may be freed from such things.

Does this mean that we stop "keeping the sabbath" in outward practise ? In a sense yes, because we have Christ Jesus within us who is our Sabbath. However, when we take this Christ as our rest and enjoyment, we actually fulfill the law of keeping the Sabbath outwardly.

It is the same with all the other commandments. Does God want us to keep the commandments through self effort and outward practise ? Man always loves to flaunt his holiness in outward ways yet God desires that man has a personal, affectionate relationship with Him, that in all things, man would come to Christ.

When we allow this Christ to be the one who stops us from lying, or stealing or whatever the case may be, this is the fulfillment of God's economy, that Christ would be all in all to us.

By nature we are not Holy, only Christ, as the embodiment of the Triune God is the Holy one. Therefore the only way we can keep the Sabbath Holy is by remaining in Christ.

-- Oliver Fischer (spicenut@excite.com), March 10, 2003.

UR ALL NUTS.....

-- ZUBUS (make-it happen@yahoo.com), May 17, 2003.

I don't get it, Zubus.
Are you saying that everyone in Abraham's hometown was crazy?

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@Hotmail.com), May 17, 2003.