Remember and Keep the Lord’s Day Holy

Every Sunday brings us back to the cross and the resurrection of our Christ. Sunday is a day for remembrance, that we set aside as holy. This is a day we give to prayer, praise, and being present with our God who conquered death.

The most important event in history is the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Within these moments, we learned that Christ had overcome death. That one Sunday morning became the foundation of our faith. Every year, the Church commemorates Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The resurrection invites each of us to embrace the mystery of life through death. We find our life through our death on our cross that we carry with Jesus.

The morning of the resurrection became the gathering point for the early Church. Sunday morning was so important that the followers of Jesus left the Sabbath for Sunday. Their communities worshiped on Sundays because of the resurrection. Easter was once a year, but every week they would gather on the morning of the resurrection. They would set this day aside to be present with God, and with one another.

When they can, monastics have also remembered Sunday and kept it holy. Let us follow their example as we are able. They set apart this day of the week by not doing their normal work. Instead, they would fill their day with reading, meditation, and other prayerful practices. There were exceptions for those with tasks assigned to them.

This weekly day to focus on the risen Christ helps us with the priorities within our hearts. The words on our lips that “Christ is Lord” can be hard to embody. We take one day a week and offer it fully to God and not to the world. Let our Sundays be days of remembrance and holy reverence. Let this establish a rhythm in our bodies that, every Sunday, we raise Jesus above all else.

For those of us in ministry, we have the privilege of inviting people back to the cross. Let us do this holy work together with God and others. Let us hear and share the invitation to become enraptured in the tender love, hope, and mercy of the one who died on that cross. It is an honor to stand and point others to the unending love of our God. We should do this work on Sunday with balance and rhythms that are sustainable for us.

• Meditate on how you might prepare for Sunday to give yourself more time to pray, read, reflect, meditate, and be present with God.
• Contemplate and ask God to bring your soul and spirit to the foot of the Cross, and then rest there in silence.
• Celebrate the simple ways that God is present with you on Sundays.
• What spiritual texts (soul-edifying books that are not in the scriptures) could you read this Sunday? What have you read that you could share with others?
• Reflect on ways you can invite those you live with to remember and keep Sundays together.
• Meditate on the rhythms and patterns of your life that return you to the cross each Sunday.
• Grieve all that keeps you from keeping the Lord’s day well.
• Meditate on the ways your behavior on Sunday resonates and aligns with your desire to keep that day holy.
• Reflect on the ways that you place Jesus as Lord of your mind, body, attention, strength, heart, and spirit. Is there a way you can tangibly live more under his love and lordship?
• Meditate on the ways celebrating the resurrection every Sunday helps keep the cross of Jesus before you.
• What passions and interests has God given you to better understand the scriptures, church, history, lives of faithful Christians, and theology? Who can help and encourage you to learn and explore these?
• Reflect on the rhythm of your week. How do you give attention to the way each day progresses towards the cross and resurrection of Sunday?