Our First Sunday Thought of 2026

A simple thought for this first Sunday in 2026: Keep Sunday holy.

Simple to say. Apparently not so easy to do these days.

Once upon a time, Sunday really was something special. Sure, not everyone kept Sunday with an exclusively "religious" spirit. But it was special because of religion - the Catholic Religion to be more specific. Sunday was and is the Sabbath, "the Lord's Day."

Yes, Protestants observe Sunday as the Lord's Day. They're Christian, right? But where did they get this idea of the Lord's Day? It came from the Catholic Church - the Church they rejected and, at least nominally, still reject. 

What? Don't Protestants read the Bible, claim to follow the Bible, derive all their beliefs and practices from the Bible? A complicated question, to be sure. But if you read your Bible, you know the Sabbath wasn't observed on Sunday. It was observed - and still is by Jews - on Saturday. It was the Catholic Church that made the switch - the reasons for which derive from the fact that the Resurrection was believed to have taken place on Sunday morning. 

So Protestants owe their Sundays to the Catholic Church.

OK, so they were part of the family before Luther. So why the change, why the revolt against Rome? It's a complex story that involves what they consider a corruption - a serious and, one assumes irrevocable corruption of Christianity on the part of Rome - or something like that. We don't have time to get into all this now. But the key point: Sunday is Sunday because of the Catholic Church, the Church founded by Jesus Christ. Luther founded a another church. And the various "reformers" that sprung up after him founded more churches - lots more.

But let's get back to Sunday, the Sabbath, the Lord's Day.

Back in the day - the Sunday - Christians didn't go about their business in the usual way. With exceptions, work - particularly servile work was set aside. Catholics attended Mass, Protestants their "services" (or whatever they call them). This came first. Most stores were closed. People didn't go shopping - there was basically nowhere to shop. 

After God came family. Sunday was a day to get together. Our family would visit family, or close friends who were kind of like family, or be visited by the same. We would have a Sunday meal, typically the big meal of the day served in the afternoon. We would gather around the table, having already gathered at Holy Mass, and simply enjoy each others company. 

Simple. At least that's the memory that sticks with your humble servant.

One quick recollection: Bigger stores that sold both food items and other items like clothes, appliances, etc. would be open on Sunday, but the areas that didn't sell food items would be cordoned off - closed for business.

We could go on with all that distinguished Sunday from the other days of the week, but, since it's Sunday, better to leave it there and get on with...well, our Sunday.

And maybe we do so with a simpler resolution for this Year of Our Lord 2026: that we will make Sunday Sunday again.

Make Sunday Sunday Again. Not MAGA, but MSSA.

It's surely worth the effort. As for the what it means, well, that's really going to be specific to each of us; and, perhaps, a bit more challenging than it sounds. After all, we can't issue a proclamation to our family and friends. So many of us have been spending "secularized Sundays" for so long, things won't just turn on a dime. 

So maybe we don't depend on others - family, friends, neighbors, etc. - for our making Sunday Sunday again. We start with ourselves. What does that look like to you?

At the very least, consider beginning Sunday with some sort of morning routine of prayer, meditation, reading Scripture, studying the truths of our Catholic Religion, etc. Frankly, this should be a daily affair; but it it isn't, then Sunday's your day to attend to what should be a daily habit. Oh, and remember "day of rest" - which provides us a respite from the usual. The respite opens up "space" for a bit more time with God, more time to allow His Presence to simply "be here, now." From there, if you care, use your imagination, based on your knowledge of your Faith and your love of God. If these are lacking, again, Sunday gives itself over to you to deepen that knowledge and to take time to let God know that you do indeed love Him and will try to show your love in the many ways He provides for us, with His grace.

In the end, Happy New Year will mean something real if we can keep Sunday Sunday today and throughout the year.

Happy Sunday!

Happy New Year!