Dies Domini 68: No Emptiness or Boredom

Sunday rest isn’t about inactivity or laziness. There is a real purpose for the day:

68. In order that rest may not degenerate into emptiness or boredom, it must offer spiritual enrichment, greater freedom, opportunities for contemplation and fraternal communion. Therefore, among the forms of culture and entertainment which society offers, the faithful should choose those which are most in keeping with a life lived in obedience to the precepts of the Gospel. Sunday rest then becomes “prophetic”, affirming not only the absolute primacy of God, but also the primacy and dignity of the person with respect to the demands of social and economic life, and anticipating in a certain sense the “new heavens” and the “new earth”, in which liberation from slavery to needs will be final and complete. In short, the Lord’s Day thus becomes in the truest sense the day of (humankind) as well.

The challenge is for those who facilitate “spiritual enrichment” and the other suggestions here. Best practice is a shared responsibility among all believers in a faith community. Sunday is not an absence of work, but perhaps one of greater interaction and sharing.

The Vatican site has Dies Domini in its entirety.

About catholicsensibility

Todd lives in Minnesota, serving a Catholic parish as a lay minister.
This entry was posted in Dies Domini, post-conciliar liturgy documents. Bookmark the permalink.

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