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Sabbath

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Other Churches and Faiths › Sabbath

The question

What does it mean to honor the Sabbath?  Is driving to church considered work? Or should we just avoid eating out and making others work? In your answer to another question, you divided the Lord's Day from the Sabbath. Does this mean that we, as Copts, are not required to rest on the Sabbath (whether on Sunday or Saturday) and just attend the Liturgy on Sunday? Or should we honor the Lord's Day and the Sabbath as separate days? The fourth commandment seems to be very troublesome to the modern church, and everyone seems to be confused about how we should obey this commandment, and if we can obey it in the same, very literal way we obey the other commandments.

The answer

The Sabbath is the day of the Lord recognized as the holy day of the Lord's resurrection on Sunday. However, some non-Christian cultures denounce this holy day. Thus, Christians ought to do their best to acknowledge the day of the Lord by observing the readings and the sanctity of this great day. We do not take this day literally as the Jews did, in which even until now, Orthodox Jews do not turn on light switches, or even switches to breathing treatment machines in observance of the Sabbath. As Christians, if we can do good for another person, we ought to do it, any day and every day. If someone is ill and needs to go to the emergency room on a Sunday, we cannot decline simply because it is the day of the Lord. There are six days to do laundry, clean the house, grocery shop, study, and all the other chores. If one's place of employment demands work on Sunday, that is something that cannot be avoided. However, if the workplace provides an incentive of more wages for working on Sunday and leaves the choice to the employee, then decline. God will bless the little that you have when you observe this commandment. We must do our best to be vigilant in keeping the Lord's day holy as much as possible.    

Please read this book by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III of Thrice Blessed Memory: "Contemplations on the Ten Commandments" Volume 1 -  Download here: https://www.stminahamilton.ca/download/Books/Pope%20Shenouda%20III/English%20Books/Ten%20Commandments%20v1%20-%20First%20to%20Fourth.pdf

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Related questions

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 2269 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.