One of the great blessings of our Catholic faith is that it isn’t something we just “add on” to our life—no, it is a different way of grounding life, of founding life, on the person of Jesus Christ and the apprenticeship of discipleship. And one of the ways that our faith in Jesus impacts our life is in how we move through our week. We have certain days that help us commemorate the great truths of our faith—and keep us grounded in what really matters, what is really of first importance.
Let’s consider Sunday. The week begins with Sunday—the Lord’s Day. As a Catholic-Christian, please don’t use calendars that put Monday as the first day of the week and just use Sunday as the final day of the weekend. Sunday commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The Resurrection changes everything—if the Resurrection is real (and it is!), then life is not the same! If the Resurrection is real (and it is!), then Jesus is Lord, life has meaning, suffering and death are not the final word but only a transition to eternal life. We live for Sundays! We exist as disciples of Jesus Christ with a hope that cannot disappoint because of Easter Sunday—and every Sunday is a little Easter.
That’s why the Church insists that we attend Mass on every Sunday. We owe it to God to give Him our worship, praise and thanksgiving. We need that weekly boost, the nourishment of Jesus in the Word and Eucharist, to give our week meaning and put first things first.
That may have you wondering… I’ve just said we have to go to Mass every Sunday, but maybe you’ve been to a Saturday night Mass and that fulfills the Sunday obligation. Why? Because we keep time according to the way the Jews, our elder brothers and sisters of the Covenant, keep time. For the Jew, a day goes from sunset to sunset. So the Sabbath begins Friday night and goes until Saturday night. So, for us Christians, Sunday begins Saturday evening and goes until Sunday evening. That’s why a Saturday vigil Mass fulfills Sunday’s obligation.
Let’s return to the days of the week. Catholics are famous for “fish Fridays.” Why was it once a given that a Catholic would not eat red meat on Fridays? What was that about and is it still the rule? Catholics were (and are!) encouraged to fast from red meat on Fridays to commemorate the day Jesus was crucified and died on the cross. We know it was a Friday—the day before the Sabbath. We know that Jesus suffered for our sake on the cross from the hours of noon-3:00pm. Because of this, every Friday has a solemn character—our Catholic version of “Thank God it’s Friday” has nothing to do with ending the work week, but with thanking God for the sacrifice that redeems us and proves the victory of love over sin and death! Thank God for Good Friday!
Abstaining from red meat is a little penance—a way of offering a sacrifice to the Lord in union with the One Sacrifice that matters. Giving up red meat isn’t a huge sacrifice—may I just suggest that you don’t replace bologna with lobster?—but it is one way that we can offer a penance. Our Catholic bishops removed the obligation to abstain from meat on Fridays (except during Lent), but they did not remove the obligation to perform some act of penance on Fridays—many people still choose to go without meat as their form of penance. Other forms of penance might be to abstain from screen time or to pray a rosary or some other devotion, or to avoid frivolous spending.
In addition to the entire day of Friday being penitential in character, the 3 o’clock hour is of special importance. This is the time of day when Jesus breathed His last and handed over the Spirit to the Father—this is the hour of His death. Jesus also explained that this is the hour of mercy—in a series of visions to St. Faustina, a Polish nun, in the years prior to World War II, Jesus spoke about the urgency of praying for His mercy to be unleashed upon the world—and that He wanted us to pray with special focus during this hour of mercy.
Jesus gave St. Faustina the instructions for how to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I highly encourage you to stop, if you are able, at 3pm on Fridays or on any day of the week at 3pm, and pray this chaplet. You just need ordinary (or, truthfully, not so ordinary!) Rosary beads and the chaplet prayers—I like to pray along with a recording of the Chaplet. You can find it spoken or sung by searching “Divine Mercy Chaplet” on YouTube.
Saturdays have traditionally been a day to honor Our Blessed Mother, Mary. The day before we honor Jesus resurrected from the dead, we honor His Mother, who made the incarnation possible with her “Yes” to God. Every daily Mass on Saturday morning can be dedicated to Mary and make use of “Votive” Mass prayers that focus on Mary’s contribution to God’s plan of salvation. It is fitting to honor Mary on Saturday, since she is the fulfillment of the holy Women of Israel, the new Ark of the Covenant that housed the living Word of God, and the new Eve who refused Satan’s temptation to seek ways to be like gods apart from the one, true God. Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, is a perfect day to honor Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church.
Catholics also have a tradition of keeping “First Fridays” and “First Saturdays” as well. The “first” refers to the first Friday and Saturday of the month. Based on the instructions of Our Blessed Mother to the three children of Fatima, Catholics attend Mass and go to confession to begin each month—in this way, we not only find ways to dedicate the days of the week, but also to dedicate each month in a special way to the Lord. Beginning each month, we can “take stock” and “balance the check book” of our spiritual bank if you will: this monthly reconciling of accounts and reflecting on our goals for improvement give our lives direction. We are not on an endless wheel of repeating events and never-ending circular challenges: God directs us, our life is a “one way” road to our eternal destiny. Do we strive to improve, or do we simply exist in a somnambulant daze of distractedness?
Another way we can make use of the days of the week is by keeping the weekly cycle of the mysteries of the Rosary. Each time we pray the Rosary, we meditate on a set of mysteries about the life of Jesus Christ, seen and experienced through His Mother. The weekly cycling through the Mysteries of the Rosary can help us focus our days—or at least a part of the day—on the key events in the life of Jesus Christ and the Church.
On Mondays and Saturdays, we pray the Joyful Mysteries that focus on the events of Jesus’ Incarnation. Perhaps these might be days we focus on “incarnating” (putting flesh on) our faith—especially in serving the needy, the hurting, the lost and the rejected. Are there concrete ways you can be the incarnate hands and feet of Christ in our world? Of course, this can and should happen on every day—but sometimes it is helpful to schedule our efforts and commit, otherwise we actually never get around to it…
On Thursdays, we pray the Luminous Mysteries that guide us to think about Jesus’ public ministry—His three years of ministering to the people and forming the Apostles as the leaders of the Church. Thursday can be a special day to commemorate the Lord’s Supper—the gift of the Eucharist for the Church—since the Last Supper was celebrated on the night before he died, hence on a Thursday. This would be a wonderful day to offer special prayers or devotions to our belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist—and in reparation for sins against the Eucharist done by those who reject Him.
On Tuesdays and Fridays, we pray the Sorrowful Mysteries that get us to reflect on the events of Jesus’ Passion—His death for our sake. We’ve already talked about penitential practices on Fridays (you don’t have to add Tuesday penances, don’t worry!).
On Wednesdays and Sundays we reflect on the Glorious Mysteries—the events of Jesus’ Resurrection and the forming of the Church He founded. Sunday is our week’s highlight, of course. We should keep the entire day as the Lord’s Day—making Mass the center of the day, but making sure that we protect the day and spend it in prayer, with family, and doing works of mercy as further ways to honor the Lord’s Day.
Now, I’ve given you a lot of suggestions about keeping the days of the week in explicitly Christian ways—don’t get overwhelmed and think you have to add in a ton to your week! This information is intended to instruct and inspire—not discourage and pressure you. So go slowly, purposefully and joyfully!
Start by focusing on the way you keep Sunday—that’s the most important day of the week and it’s the one day that actually has a commandment associated with it—the 3rd commandment tells us to keep holy the Lord’s Day. Then, when you’re ready, work on keeping Friday as a special commemoration of the Lord’s sacrifice on the cross—maybe avoid red meat on Fridays and try to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet or shorter prayer at 3:00pm. Add other practices and devotions as they make sense to you and feed your spirit. Seek out traditional ways of keeping time that might come from the nations or ethnic groups to which you belong—perhaps seeking out the feast days of saints from your region, or traditional foods and celebrations connected with the agricultural calendar (rogation days, anyone?), or unique ways of keeping universal feasts in the Church can add richness and depth to your own yearly calendar. You can find many resources, both online and in print to guide you in these endeavors. The new interest in ethnic and regional foods, the “slow food movement” and heritage cooking all make it even easier to locate recipes, traditions and other delightful details from places all over the world.
One more thing about keeping time with Jesus Christ: Do you know what the most important day in the whole year is? TODAY. Today is the acceptable day. NOW is the acceptable hour! Look for the Lord in the present moment—and turn your heart to Him whenever you feel the nudge of the Holy Spirit. All days, all times, past, present and future—are in God’s hands. He is Lord. He is almighty. He is with you—Emmanuel—at every time and in every day of the week.
Flourish Catholic 