Sunday Special: Reclaiming Sabbath.

I would strongly urge everyone to rediscover Sunday: Do not be afraid to give your time to Christ!Yes, let us open our time to Christ, that he may cast light upon it and give it direction. He is the One who knows the secret of time and the secret of eternity, and he gives us “his day” as an ever new gift of his love. The rediscovery of this day is a grace which we must implore, not only so that we may live the demands of faith to the full, but also so that we may respond concretely to the deepest human yearnings. Time given to Christ is never time lost, but is rather time gained, so that our relationships and indeed our whole life may become more profoundly human. (Saint John Paul II, On Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy)

I plead guilty. Guilty of treating Sunday as a catch-up day when all unfinished tasks accumulated during the week get done; a day when I polish the house; get the weekly food shop done.

It didn't used to be like that. I had a period in my life when I was really principled about not doing work on Sunday. I would go to church in the morning, then go for a long walk, have tea with friends and read for pleasure. Sadly, life gets busy. And although I really don't like this excuse, I didn't have time to carry on with having Sunday off.

The thing is, I can make time. And I hereby resolve to make time to have time off on Sunday this year.

I am a firm believer that we simply need this one day a week to not only rest, but also recharge our spiritual batteries. During the week there is not only not enough time to have a break, catch a breath and simply be present in the moment, but from my own experience I know there is always something to be done, so prayer and reflection are pushed aside.

How to go about finding time to reclaim Sabbath? This is what my plan is:

1. Try to finish all tasks by Saturday evening. This will require good time-management, hard work and full focus during the week. No procrastination or putting thing off until tomorrow. 

2. Have a plan for Sunday. For the rest to be constructive, I need to have some sort of idea how I want to spend this day, otherwise it will turn into a one massive nap or binge watching tv. I will go to church in the morning, read something spiritual, bake a cake for the house, go for a long walk by the sea and Skype my family.

3. Be gentle with myself. Sometimes I will be overwhelmed with work and will need to work on Sunday. And it's ok. It's not about perfection. I will do my best to have a restful Sunday, but when it doesn't work out, I will not feel guilty. I will just make most of the time I have.

Happy Sunday!