The whole year was divided into months and weeks. Many days of the week are very similar to each other. However, one day is different from the rest. You say often, that it is not a weekday. Why are you waiting for him like that ? What makes you the most happy on this day ?
This day is also very important in the life of a Christian. Why is it like that ? How a Christian should live this day ?
General values of Sunday
People work all days of the week. You go to school every day, and then you learn, you write homework, you help your parents. The elders perform their professional duties. They spend many hours each day on these matters. And then they come home, and here again they have a lot of work to do. And it is like that every day, except Sunday. There are no compulsory classes at school on this day. Lots of workplaces, shops, workshops, to which thousands of workers rush every day, on this day it closes.
Sunday is a different day from the other six weekdays. You can rest on this day, to regain strength for the new week. This day belongs to us. We decide for ourselves, how will we spend it, although for this day various entertainment and excursions are prepared for people. On other days of the week, we were still among strangers. On Sunday we are among our own, we are in the family home. We can finally be together : parents and children. We sit down at a common table.
On Sunday, we meet our relatives and visit them. We invite friends and acquaintances to our homes. We want to spend some time with them, to maintain our knowledge and friendship. Free from our everyday lives, compulsory classes, we can not only rest, to gain strength for work, but also spend more time with other people, and even the affairs of the entire human family.
Sunday also allows us to think more about it, what we do on the other days of the week. We can think more about it, that through study and work we are not only to provide for ourselves and for others, but develop your abilities, to become better and more perfect, and therefore happier - and to improve the world.
Christian Sunday
In all religions of the world, people, who want to worship God, they not only build temples, they make sacrifices, but they also observe holy days dedicated to public prayer.
The Chosen People had their holy day, dedicated to God. It was a Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. God Himself taught them in His commandment : "Remember, that you should keep holy day ". Therefore, the Israelites on that day refrained from working, to devote more time to God.
The New Covenant people of God also keep this commandment, it has its holidays and a fixed day a week dedicated to God's honor - Sunday. On that day, Christ is risen. Each Sunday is therefore a memory of the Paschal Mystery, that is, of the Passion, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
About that, what the early Christians did on Sunday, this is what the Holy Scripture tells. :
,,On the first day after the Sabbath, when we gathered to break bread, Paul, who was going to leave the next day, he spoke to them and extended his speech until midnight. Many lamps were lit in the upper hall, where we were gathered, […] (then Paweł) he broke bread and ate it, and he spoke for a long time, because until dawn " (Dz 20, 7-8. 11). So Christians from the time of the apostles gathered together on Sunday to hear the word of God and break bread, i.e.. for the celebration of the Eucharist. (Sunday was called the eighth day, that is, this, that comes after the Sabbath of the Old Covenant). It was also called the first day after the Sabbath, this is it, who began a new life in Jesus Christ, or the day of the Lord, it is the day of Christ.
The main moment of the Lord's Day is the Eucharist. Christ makes his Sacrifice present, in which he gave the Father the most perfect honor, and at the same time sanctified people by uniting them to God. In the Eucharistic assembly, God draws close to his people, he speaks to him in word and enriches him with his life in the Eucharist. God's people, united to Christ by Baptism, by uniting with Him in the Eucharist, she honors God in the most perfect way.
Sunday is that day, in which the local Church, that is, the parish, dispersed during the week, gathers together around a common table, it renews its inner bond of love and unity and becomes again a visible sign of the union of all people in God.
For a Christian, Sunday should be a day off from work. A Christian on this day not only glorifies God, but also shows love for his neighbor, especially in your family and among your loved ones. Abstaining from work allows a Christian to fulfill this duty. However, because there are such works, which cannot be interrupted, e.g.. w hutach, or quit, like caring for the sick, preparation of meals, communication - that is why they justify the Christian, if because of them he could not participate in the Holy Mass.
Holy Mass. it is our Passover, and through it we most perfectly worship God, therefore the Church by virtue of authority, which he received from Christ, obligated all Christians, who are seven years of age or older, to participate in it every Sunday. The church also instituted other holidays, which enable us to better live the paschal mystery. The second ecclesiastical commandment reminds us of the obligation to participate in Holy Mass on these days. Belong to them : Christmas, Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Epiphany (Three Kings), Ascension of the Lord, Solemnity of St.. Body and Blood of the Lord (Corpus Christi), Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Wniebowzięcie NMP, Apostles Peter and Paul and All Saints.
How will I answer God ?
Sunday is the Lord's Day. On this day, I should show my love to God and people more than ever before. How am I going through this day ? How do I attend Mass. Sunday ? What do I do on this day for my loved ones ?
■ Think:
1. Czym niedziela różni się od pozostałych dni tygodnia ?
2. Co umożliwia niedziela wszystkim ludziom ?
3. Nad czym ludzie mogą się w niedzielę więcej zastanowić ?
4. Jak w różnych religiach świata ludzie wyrażają swą cześć Bogu ?
5. Jak naród wybrany okazywał publicznie swoją cześć Bogu ?
6. W jaki sposób czcili publicznie Boga pierwsi chrześcijanie ?
7. W jaki sposób najdoskonalej możemy uczcić Boga ?
8. W które dni chrześcijanin jest obowiązany do uczestniczenia we Mszy św. ?
■ Remember :
34. Dlaczego niedziela jest chrześcijańskim dniem świętym ?
Sunday is a memory of Christ's death and resurrection and a day, in which the Church gathers for the Eucharist.
35. Do czego chrześcijanin jest obowiązany w każdą niedzielę i święto ? A Christian is obliged to participate in the Eucharistic Assembly every Sunday and feast day and to refrain from hard work..
■ Task :
Write, what a good Christian's Sunday should look like ?
