Though we may go on vacation, the Lord does not take a holiday.
His day is Sunday. He wants it kept, not profaned in any case, both for His own external respect and for our own interest. When I say “His day,” I don’t mean only that fragment of a day spent hearing Mass. The Christian Sunday is a whole day, which includes a complex of things: it means Mass or divine sacrifice with active participation (not just heard passively); it means the care of one’s own soul in calm, in reflection, in approaching the sacraments; it means religious instruction, through listening to the word of the priest and reading the Gospel or some other good book; it means making contact with the whole parish family; it means the practice of charity toward the poor and the sick, toward children; it means good example given and received; it means the reward. and the guarantee of our good life.
If we are able to live Sunday well it is a1most certain, in fact, that we will live well for the rest of the week. This is why it means so much to the Lord; this is why we have to do everything to keep Sunday from degenerating. Tourism or not, holiday or not, our soul above all and before all!
Pope John Paul I
Illustrissimi, “Vacation Fever”, p. 85
