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Sharing the insights I discover as I explore and experience the mystery that is our reality. Join me in my journey and share yours.




Sunday, April 3, 2011

Keeping Sunday Sacred

"Sunday is a day of contemplation not because it is a day without work, a day when shops and banks and offices are closed, but because it is sacred to the mystery of Resurrection. Sunday is the "Lord's Day" not in the sense that , on one day out of the week, one must stop and think of Him, but because it breaks into the ceaseless, "secular" round of time with a burst of light out of a sacred eternity. We stop working and rushing about on Sunday not only in order to rest up and start over again on Monday, but in order to collect our wits and realize the relative meaninglessness of the secular business which fills the other six days of the week, and taste the satisfaction of a peace which surpasses understanding and which is given us by Christ. Sunday reminds us of the peace that should filter through the whole week when our work is properly oriented.

...Sunday is a contemplative day...because everyone, Christian or not, who celebrates the day spiritually, and accepts it as its face value, opens his heart to the light of Christ, the light of the Resurrection. In doing so he grows in love, in faith, and is able to "see" a little more of the mystery of Christ. He certainly may have no clear idea of what is happening, but the grace of God produces its effects in his heart. Sunday, then, is a day of grace, a day of light, in which light is given."
                    ~ Thomas Merton, The Inner Experience, p. 138-139




The sun had already made it's ascent above the treeline as I opened the backdoor to take our dogs out this morning. The warm breeze carrying with it a subtle and spontaneous chill, the kind that plays with the senses, greeted me. A chorus of birds sang in the new day, giving praise to the God who sustains their hearts, who fills their tiny lungs with air and who gives them their song.  A vibrant blue above, soft and gentle light filtering all around, my heart, like a flower in early morning sprung open, eager to be drenched in the light of God.

Sometimes the revelation of the radiance and presence of God can almost be overwhelming, and very humbling, causing me to want to kneel down before the God who is in and through and around me and all that surrounds me and my senses.  In the song of the birds, in the hue of the sky, in the tender blades of grass furiously poking through fertile soil. I prayed that my heart would be fertile this day, fertile to receive the seeds of contemplation and embrace the light and love of God's grace to spur on the growth of spiritual fruit and provide me with direction in how I might best use what God has given me to bring Him Glory.

I have to admit, lately Sundays have consisted of a flurry of activities...birthday parties, chores, all kinds of things that have distracted me from contemplating God and opening up to His love, letting it fill me with its light. This Sunday is truly a gift because we have nothing planned. I've decided to take hold and seize it, every glorious moment of it, and submit it to God. This Sunday will truly be Sacred, as every Sunday is intended to be.


In what ways are you going to make this Sunday sacred? Will you be going to church and/or spending time in God's natural sanctuary of earth and sky? (That's my plan! :) ) Will you spend time with others in fellowship or perhaps prayer or studying scripture? How does your Sunday differ from the rest of your week? Will you open up to His light and love and embrace the seeds of reflection he wants to plant in your heart?




10 comments:

  1. i fondly call sunday, our family day... we celebrate mass together and then go to the mall to eat lunch together...

    i usually leave another day to be with the Lord...usually on a saturday...He beckons me to visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament to spend more time with Him and His words...:)...

    my soul yearns for Him... and i give in :P

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  2. When the hostel is quiet and we don´t have people we spend the day together as a family. This also includes no work for example fixing things, cutting the grass or cleaning. It is Sunday the day to rest. I wish I could attend mass but I still find the Spanish very difficult and don´t understand half of what they say. That is why I enjoy reading your blog so much! It gives me food for my soul!

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  3. Sundat just another day to me im afraid, tend to work every one. Splendid post as ever ;)

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  4. I miss Sundays. There is no such thing as a Sunday in America anymore. If you can't work on Sunday, then you won't get a job.

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  5. I love your picture - thanks for sharing God's beauty with everyone. I like to do the same.

    I am spending Sunday in the beauty that surrounds me and may join my daughter and family on a trip to one of our favorite places - the book store!

    I took pictures of our beautiful sunset last night and shared on Face book.

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  6. For me, Sunday is the 1st day of the week. It is not the day I hold as Sabbath. I go back to creation week, and the command to honor the Sabbath and keep it holy. That day for me is Saturday. Unfortunately, there are times I fall short at that as well. Such an easy command...and yet, as an American, we find it hard to even take 1 day of rest.

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  7. Jessica, most Sundays are as flustered for me as other days of the week, unfortunately.
    If we are at home, we try to spend the day together as a family. This past Sunday was beautiful for me. We had warm weather and we took advantage of it. Every summer, we plant a garden. We save our egg cartons to plant seeds in, getting them ready to go into the garden and that is what we got done this weekend. It was great just to get ourselves dirty with soil, talk about what additional vegies we want to plant, how we are going to arrange the rows, etc. My daughter and I also worked on making home made hummingbird feeders for a science project she is working on for school.
    But the best part about it all is that it wasn't rushed. We took our time, enjoying each other's company. It is rare for all of us to be involved in the same thing at the same time.

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  8. Sundays have always been a reflective spiritual day since childhood, I recall my mom forbidding any type of labor since it's a day to honor Christ. To this day I try to limit my physical activity to honor him but I'm forced to work an occasional Sunday but moments of prayer and thanks are always created, I'm never that busy. Thanks for sharing God's word!!

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  9. Great post! I used to spend Sundays as just another day off work, and unfortunately all the shops are still open nowadays...those false idols! But, now I spend my mornings at church celebrating & worshiping God and the rest of the day with my fellow christians.It sets me up for the whole week, and I feel wonderful afterwards! : )

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  10. Sundays are quiet days for me. Just being the moment....no plans....no schedules and Devi agley no rushing around. It is a day for us to re group...re connect as a family.

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