[Erin] The habit of worship
Sunday June 22, 2008
Categories: Christianity (general)
In a little while, my family and I will be attending Mass. As Catholics we take the obligation to go to Mass on Sundays and on Holy Days of Obligation very seriously. Catholics are required to go to Mass on...
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Advertisement
Advertisement
Search This Blog
Recent Posts
About Crunchy Con
Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
Subscribe
Archives
Blogs Worth Reading
- Front Porch Republic
- The American Conservative
- Patrick Deneen
- Conventional Folly
- The American Scene
- First Things
- Andrew Sullivan
- The Plank
- Eunomia
- Get Religion
- Postmodern Conservative
- Alex Massie
- The Corner
- Contentions
- Sharon Astyk
- Barry Ritholtz
- The Oil Drum
- Mere Comments
- First Principles (ISI)
- Brian Kaller
"God does not need us to worship Him; but perhaps one of the reasons He commands us to do so each Sunday is because He knows how much we need each other--and how easily we can make excuses to remain apart."
So beautifully put, and absolutely true.
Thank you.
Thank you for this posting. Observance of the Lord's Day, in public worship and also refraining from unnecessary works, is one of the most powerful and noticeable ways we can witness to our faith; and in particular, how our faith actually makes a difference in our lives.
Your title, The Habit of Worship, is an important one. We are Lutherans who practice every-Sunday attendance (although we aren't required to, under pain of hell, like Catholics). A couple years ago when the kids were about 8&11, on the Sunday between Christmas and New Years, I intended to sleep in. I got up about 30 minutes before we needed to leave for church, and they were both ready, and expecting, to attend church. I pulled myself together, and we did. It was a reminder of how much what we do matters more than what we say.
And the reason I attend church every week is because it was important to my mother. (Well, that, plus what we receive there.)
but perhaps one of the reasons He commands us to do so each Sunday is because He knows how much we need each other
...or, perhaps, how much we need Him.
perhaps one of the reasons He commands us to do so each Sunday is because He knows how much we need each other--and how easily we can make excuses to remain apart.
Well, if this is the case we've foiled God's plans once again.
I don't miss mass, and yet I have never seen a real, functioning community that "needs each other" at any church I've attended. Too diverse, too much sprawl, too many cultural divisions. The value gap is so wide that to claim worship brings those people somehow "together" is absurd. Now talk to Mormons or JW, and it might be different, but they don't get this community from Sunday worship but through many other activities.
For the average mass-attending American, the community part is all just make believe, cool sounding words designed to make everyone feel justified. And it works: hey, John Kerry, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Ted Kennedy could well be at my mass today. Together? Shudder. Remaining apart? Golden!
But it also goes back to the Ten Commandments, and specifically the commandment to keep the Lord's day holy.
FWIW, the 10 Commandments (assuming you mean the set that are popularly referred to as such, and not the real set of commandments that are actually called "The 10 Commandments" - see Exodus 34:28) do NOT say "to keep the Lord's day holy." They say to keep the Sabbath Day holy, which is the seventh, not the first, day of the week. The Sabbath has always been the Seventh Day, and that was never changed in the New Testament. The First Day of the Week, however, seems to have acquired the name "The Lord's Day" (see Revelation 1:10 and Acts 20:7) by Christians, and some say that the First Day of the Week fulfills/replaces the Sabbath Day observance for Christians.
Just ... thought ... some ... might ... want ... to ... know.
Trivia is good.
the community part is all just make believe...
Community is expressed by the celebration of the eucharist. We are part of a worldwide communion (community) that we are joined to throught the eucarist, which Pope John Paul II called the life blood of the church... Even if we don't know all of our pew - neighbors. (though that is an added bonus, if possible.)
For what it's worth, Eric W., Sunday is the seventh day in some countries. For instance, I learned in Spanish class that they consider Monday (Lunes) to the be the first day of the week, making Sunday the seventh. Just some trivia.
Barbara C.:
Interesting factoid.
But the Biblical religion from which we get our Jewish/Christian Sabbath counts our Saturday (honoring, of course, that famous Jewish God, Saturn) as Day Seven, so Sunday (honoring, of course, that famous Christian God, the Sun - just ask Constantine) is not a possible contestant or claimant for the title of "Sabbath" for Judeo-Christians.
I love the sound of trivia in the morning. It smells like victory!
My understanding of this is limited, but I believe the above comments have strayed from the essence of the issue.
For Catholics, the decision of which day is to be the day of rest, or the Lord's day, is a matter of ecclesiastical discipline. It's no different than the number of hours that one must fast before receiving Communion. As a quick proof, prior to VII, Saturday evening Masses did not fulfill one's Sunday obligation. Now they do.
We are under no obligation to observe the traditional Jewish Sabbath (Friday night until Saturday night) nor are we bound to observe any particular day. We are free to choose whatever day we wish. Not "we" individually, of course, but we, the Church.
As for Protestants, I imagine they continue to observe Sunday because the Bible mentions in Acts that the early Christians met regularly on the day after the Sabbath, which would be Sunday. Of course, the early Christians also observed the Sabbath, being mostly Jews and Jewish converts, so it's a questionable example.
And of course, there are secondary reasons about why we observe Sunday. It commemorates Our Lord's resurrection. It symbolizes "New Creation". It symbolizes the end of Jewish Temple worship and the institution of the new covenant, fulfilled in Holy Mass. It stamps out (or co-opts, if you like) the pagan pseudo-Jewish "day of rest" which was meant to honor an anonymous monotheistic god, symbolized by the sun, hence Sunday. It's been the unbroken tradition of the Church since apostolic times. And many more...
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.