Remembering is a holy activity. Sometimes it can be indulgent, harboring grudges and such. But in the context of Sunday, of worship, and of faith, sanctification is partly based on our memory. This section and the next fall under the heading of “To ‘keep holy’ by ‘remembering.'”
16. The commandment of the Decalogue by which God decrees the Sabbath observance is formulated in the Book of Exodus in a distinctive way: “Remember the Sabbath day in order to keep it holy” (20:8). And the inspired text goes on to give the reason for this, recalling as it does the work of God: “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (v. 11).
Christian remembering has deep and strong roots in Judaism. And you can’t get deeper into Judaism than the Exodus and the Decalogue.
Before decreeing that something be done, the commandment urges that something be remembered. It is a call to awaken remembrance of the grand and fundamental work of God which is creation, a remembrance which must inspire the entire religious life of (people) and then fill the day on which (people are) called to rest. Rest therefore acquires a sacred value: the faithful are called to rest not only as God rested, but to rest in the Lord, bringing the entire creation to him, in praise and thanksgiving, intimate as a child and friendly as a spouse.
Rest is sacred, and God’s family includes the community of (resting) believers.
Catholic Sensibility 