We all (hopefully) know the days of the week. According to Garfield, Mondays are the worst, unless of course you have lasagna. Tuesdays are kind of like a Monday all over again. Wednesdays are the halfway point, can you say HUMP DAY! Thursday is a hop skip and a jump away from Friday, which means it’s almost the weekend. Friday and Saturday are like a mini-vacation from a long week full of work, tests, and waking up early. But what about Sunday?
Until recently, I always thought of Sundays as a tease. Sure, it’s still technically the weekend but it’s the day before real life starts again. I would usually play with my friends on Saturday and finish all the homework that I neglected on Sunday. For me, Sundays became a day to enjoy mass with my family but then dread all the responsibilities of the week ahead. I didn’t realize that there was anything wrong with this mentality until this past Spring when a teacher of mine was discussing the ten commandments.
Just like we all know the days of the week, we’re pretty familiar with the ten commandments. We give a lot of focus to the “big commandments” like don’t murder someone or worship any other gods. But I never gave much thought to the 5th commandment because I went to mass and didn’t work at my job on Sundays, so I’m covered right? Not quite.
Work isn’t isolated to a 9-5 job, it includes homework, unnecessary chores, and busy work in general (AKA everything I was doing on Sundays). But what’s the point of abstaining from those activities? One of my favorite lines from the Catechism says that Sunday “is a day of protest against the servitude of work and worship of money” (CCC 2172). How awesome is that line?
God is giving us a day to rest because if God rested, we probably should too. We do so many activities throughout the week and have a million and one responsibilites. But Sundays are different.It’s our chance to take a break from the chaos of life and in the wise words of Tom Haverford, “Treat yo self.” Whether that means actually reading for fun or playing Old Maid with your sister, Sunday is a chance to recharge your batteries. .
Sunday is a day to take a break, but not to pretend your homework doesn’t exist. One of the worst feelings in the world is hanging out with your friends and then realizing halfway through the night that you have a huge presentation tomorrow that you haven't even started. I included a visual that we can all relate to:
Don’t let your cloud of homework ruin your day in the sun (I apologize for the horrible pun). Plan ahead and know going into the week that you’re not going to be doing homework on Sunday. It seems backward, but cutting out a day will actually give you more time. How? Time management. Giving yourself less time, will help you make the most of the time that you do have. So put away your planner and get out blanket, because if Jesus napped, you should too.
