Monday, July 30
Liturgical Color: Green
St. Leoplod Mandic, Capuchin priest,
died on this day in 1942. His request to
work as a missionary was denied
because of his poor health. He became
a great confessor, spending 12 hours a
day in the confessional absolving
thousands of penitents.
How do Christians make Sunday "the Lord's day"?
A Catholic Christian attends Holy Mass on Sunday or on the vigil of Sunday. On that day he refrains from all work that would prevent him from worshipping God or disturb the festive, joyful, restful, and restorative character of the day.
Since Sunday is an Easter celebration that occurs each week, Christians from the earliest times have gathered together on that day to celebrate and thank their Redeemer and to reunite themselves with him and with others who are redeemed. So it is a central duty of every conscientious Catholic Christian to "keep holy" Sunday and the other holy days of the Church. One is exempted from it only by urgent family duties and important responsibilities in society. Because participation in the Sunday Eucharist is fundamental for a Christian life, the Church explicitly declares that it is a serious sin to stay away from Sunday Mass without good reason.
Why is it important for the State to preserve Sunday?
Sunday is a genuine service to the good of society, because it is a sign of opposition to the total absorption of man by the working world.
Therefore in lands that have a Christian character, Christians not only demand the governmental preservation of Sunday, they also do not ask others to do work that they themselves do not want to do on Sunday. Everyone in creation should take part in this "breather". (YOUCAT questions 365-366)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (2177-2186) and other references here.