Catholic Doctrine Regarding The Ten Commandments - Third Commandment

Third Commandment

Quoting the Jewish rabbi and scholar Jacob Neusner, Pope Benedict XVI explains that to Israel, keeping this commandment was more than ritual; it was a way to imitate God, who rested on the seventh day after the creation. It also constituted the core of the social order.

Although a few Christian denominations follow the Judaic practice of observing the Sabbath on Saturday, Catholics, along with most Christians, observe Sunday as a special day, which they call the "Lord's Day". This practice dates to the first century, arising from their belief that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week. The Didache calls on Christians to come together on the Lord's Day to break bread and give thanks. Tertullian is the first to mention Sunday rest: "We, however (just as tradition has taught us), on the day of the Lord's Resurrection ought to guard not only against kneeling, but every posture and office of solicitude, deferring even our businesses lest we give any place to the devil" ("De orat.", xxiii; cf. "Ad nation.", I, xiii; "Apolog.", xvi).

In the sixth century, Saint Caesarius of Arles taught that the whole glory of the Jewish Sabbath had been transferred to Sunday and that Christians must keep Sunday as the Jews were commanded to keep the Sabbath, but the Council of Orléans in 538 reprobated this tendency as Jewish and non-Christian.

The Church leaders of later centuries inscribed Sunday rest into official Church teaching, and Christian governments have attempted to enforce the Sunday rest throughout history. For Catholics, Jesus' teaching that "the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath" means that good works "when the needs of others demand it" can be part of the day of rest. The Catechism offers guidelines on how to observe the Lord's Day, which include attending Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. On these days, Catholics may not work or do activities that "hinder the worship due to God", but "performance of the works of mercy, and appropriate relaxation in a spirit of joy" are permitted.

According to the USCCB, this commandment "has been concretized for Catholics" as one of the Church precepts. The organization cites the papal encyclical Dies Domini:

Because the faithful are obliged to attend Mass unless there is a grave impediment, pastors have the corresponding duty to offer everyone the real possibility of fulfilling the precept. ... Yet more than a precept, the observance should be seen as a need rising from the depths of Christian life. It is crucially important that all the faithful should be convinced that they cannot live their faith or share fully in the life of the Christian community unless they take part regularly in the Sunday Eucharistic assembly.