362. The Third Commandment: Remember to Keep Holy the Lord’s Day

 YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 362

Ave Maria series

Why do Jews celebrate the Sabbath?

The Sabbath is for the people of Israel the great sign commemorating God, the Creator and Redeemer. [2168-2172, 2189]

A Yemenite Jew blowing the shofar (ram's-horn trumpet) for Sabbath in the 1930s. ….. 362

The Sabbath recalls in the first place the seventh day of creation, when God “rested, and was refreshed” (Exodus 31:17), this, so to speak, authorizes all men to interrupt their work and replenish their energies.  Even slaves were supposed to be allowed to observe the Sabbath.  This recalls the second great commemorative sign, the liberation of Israel from slavery in Egypt: “You shall remember that you (yourself) were a servant in the land of Egypt…” (Deuteronomy 5:15).  The Sabbath is therefore a feast of human freedom; on the Sabbath all breathe freely; on it the division of the world into masters and slaves is abolished.  In traditional Judaism this day of freedom and rest is also a sort of foretaste of the world to come.  47

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy…In it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates.”  Exodus 20:8, 10

Sabbath (Hebrew, approximately “break for rest”): the Jewish day of rest commemorating the seventh day of creation and the Exodus from Egypt.  It begins on Friday evening and ends on Saturday evening.  In Orthodox Judaism it is observed with a host of rules for maintaining the Sabbath rest.

[2168-2172, 2189]

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work.(Exodus 20:8-10; compare Deutonomy 5:12-15)⁹⁰–Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.(Mark 2:27-28.)⁹¹ –CCC

THE SABBATH DAY

2168 The third commandment of the Decalogue recalls the holiness of the sabbath: "The seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD."(Exodus 31:15.)⁹² –CCC

2169 In speaking of the sabbath Scripture recalls creation: "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it."(Exodus 20:11.)⁹³–CCC

2170 Scripture also reveals in the Lord's day a memorial of Israel's liberation from bondage in Egypt: "You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out thence with mighty hand and outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day."(Deuteronomy 5:15.)⁹⁴–CCC

2171 God entrusted the sabbath to Israel to keep as a sign of the irrevocable covenant.(Compare Exodus 31:16.)⁹⁵ The sabbath is for the Lord, holy and set apart for the praise of God, his work of creation, and his saving actions on behalf of Israel. –CCC

2172 God's action is the model for human action. If God "rested and was refreshed" on the seventh day, man too ought to "rest" and should let others, especially the poor, "be refreshed."(Exodus 31:17; compare Ex 23:12.)⁹⁶ The sabbath brings everyday work to a halt and provides a respite. It is a day of protest against the servitude of work and the worship of money (Compare Nehemiah 13:15-22; 2 Chronicles 36:21)⁹⁷–CCC

IN BRIEF

2189 "Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Deuteronomy 5:12). "The seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord" (Exodus 31:15). –CCC

OT  Sabbath Yemenite Jew