What Happened to the Sabbath?

As I was driving to church this morning I started to think about the Sabbath. There are all kinds of references to the Sabbath found in the Bible. One says, "But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:" Exodus 20:10

When I see the word Sabbath written on paper, I automaticaly think of the Italian word Sabbato which means Saturday. This clarifies the confusion I have as to which is the seventh day, the day of rest. If I use the Italian word, Sabbato, which means Sabbath then I should be resting and giving thanks to the Lord on Saturday like the Jewish people do. My Catholic upbringing however tells me different - Sunday is the Lord's day.

I don't want to get caught up on which day the Sabbath is, but want to question the when and why we stopped observing this day as we did in the past whether it be Saturday or Sunday.

Under the "blue laws" of the 1700s, punishments such as whippings, fines, burnt tongues, and severed ears could be invoked for simple misdeeds ranging from shuffleboard to skipping church: such were the Puritan's penalties for breaches of the Sabbath.

In Boston, home of John Winthrop and Cotton Mather, Puritan traditions have thrived. Many recall days, just decades ago, when stores were shuttered on Sundays. "What did we do back then?"

I remember Sunday being set aside as a day to be with family. You would put on your Sunday best, unlike today where people attend church wearing any old thing, and you would spend some time with the Lord. I had to attend the 9:00 AM Mass (the one designated for my classmates from St. Mary's School) at St. Mary's Church on Endicott St. I would go home after church and prepare to make the weekly journey out to Revere where we would have dinner with my step-father's brother and wife. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and seeing other family members who would come to visit later. Other family members visiting meant the arrival of more food. The dinner table was not cleared off until the last person left late that evening. The 3 F's would rule on Sunday, Family, Food and Frivolity.

Laws making Sunday a day of rest began deteriorating during World War II, when women entered the manufacturing sector. A hundred years ago, women could shop six days a week, and take the Sabbath off. Shopping became compressed into the weekend with more women in the labor force.

My mother, a widow, had to go to work to put food on the table. I don't remember her doing any shopping on Sunday. I do remember that even though we didn't have dinner at home she would spend a good part of her morning preparing things such as sauce and soups that she would freeze in preparation for the meals we would have during the week. That was the extent of her work on Sunday.

Now Sundays are spent worshipping at the Church of the Seven Day Consumerists (SDC). A lot of these 'churches' are mega in size, some even have valet parking offering Novenas to Saint Thirty Percent Off. These 'churches' even provide weekly lectionaries mailed to your home in preparation for the following week's 'services.' They will also provide you with coupons to offset your weekly contributions. I grew up with St. Anthony and St. Francis but now these Seven Day Consumerists have replaced them with Sts. Barry, Elliot, Bernie and Phyl.

I almost got converted to the Church of SDC, but have reconciled myself to try to follow the Lord's teaching on observing the Sabbath. I hope that you too will see the light, before it's too late.