...perform No Kind Of Work On These Days.

[PadrePioOfPietrelcino]

For some of you old timers on here you may remember that I've previously talked about Leviticus being my favorite book of the Bible. For those of you who may not have known or forgotten...BAM, knowledge bomb.

Today I was serving Mass and listening to the first reading regarding the feasts of The Lord from the book of Leviticus. When I read Leviticus I read it as a very Pastoral and preparatory book vital in the understanding of Salvation History and the preparation of God's people for his son to come. With this In mind I almost always read a section and ask myself" what is God doing here? How does this help separate the Jewish people and prepare us for the coming of his Son? All of this is just setup for my thoughts today from the first reading. Several times the Levitical Law prohibits working. During the feasts, the sabbath extension. Often it is understood as the 10 commandments dictate of keeping the sabbath Holy. BUT, what I realized today is that work I.e. toiling for food was part of the punishment/ effects of original sin. When we abstain from working (like on Sundays for most people) or for whatever Holy Day we able to do, it can be more fully understood as a celebration of the redemptive work of our Lord. Because toiling is part of life due to original sin, by NOT working in celebration we are looking forward to the 2nd coming and being in God's Glory.

1) Does this make sense or is it just mismatched jumbling of my own brain?
2) Thoughts?

[Amppax]

I read something, either by Dr. Scott Hahn or St. Josemaria Escriva, that argued, quite pursuasively, that work itself is not a punishment for son, rather, that the unpleasantness and difficulty is.

Not sur what that has to do with the topic, it's pretty tangential.

[PadrePioOfPietrelcino]

yeah, I didn't like calling it punishment, but couldn't think of a better way to say it at the time. Thanks for your input.

 

[tinytherese]

Also, I think that one reason that God gave Saturday to the Jews and now Sunday to Christians is so that we take time out of our busy lives to focus on Him and our families. I recall reading in the book Evangelical Is Not Enough by Thomas Howard to think of the liturgy (mass) as a married couple would think of an anniversary. It brings them together in a special way. (Not that they don't spend time together during the rest of the year. It's just something specifically set aside for their relationship.)