Plan the week so that Sunday is actually free: do the shopping, the chores and the schoolwork on Saturday. Make Mass the centre of the day rather than an errand within it — read the Sunday Scriptures beforehand, arrive early enough to pray, and go as a household. Canon 1247 states the obligation: on Sundays and other holy days the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass, and are to abstain from those works and affairs that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord's day, or the suitable relaxation of mind and body. So keep the rest of the day different from the other six: a proper meal at a laid table; unhurried time with the people you live with; genuine rest; a walk; a visit to the sick or to a relative living alone; an hour with a book. Do not require needless Sunday work of others any more than of yourself. Sunday begins with First Vespers on Saturday evening, and the evening Mass of anticipation satisfies the obligation. Where illness, distance or duty makes Mass impossible, keep the day by prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours and the Scriptures of the day.

St John Paul II's apostolic letter Dies Domini (1998) treats Sunday under five headings — the day of the Lord, of Christ, of the Church, of humanity, and the day of days. Canons 1246-1248 carry the obligation in law; the Catechism notes that Sundays, centred on the Eucharist, are kept holy primarily by prayer.

Other

The common practice of the whole Church

Weekly

other