Caitrin Bennett shares her 2026 New Year’s resolution to make Sunday a true day of rest. 

The Third Commandment 

What does your Sunday routine look like? After Mass, do you head home for family time and quiet prayer, or are you often running to sporting events and social gatherings? Do you use Sunday to rest, or to do chores and prepare for the rush of Monday morning?  

I have long known that one of the Ten Commandments required that we “keep holy the sabbath day,” but I thought this just meant making it to Mass. After that, I felt that I had checked my sabbath box and I could do whatever I wanted to do or needed to get done the rest of the day. In high school, I usually had scheduled activities on Sunday afternoons and evenings. In college, I often had a paper to write on Sundays, having procrastinated all weekend. Now, as a mom with young kids, Sunday seems like the perfect day to catch up on laundry and plan for our upcoming week of homeschool and activities.  

But recently, God has put the idea of sabbath rest on my heart, so I went back to the actual text of the third commandment in Exodus 20. It was convicting.  

Remember the sabbath day—keep it holy. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God. You shall not do any work, either you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your work animal, or the resident alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)

Here’s what stuck out to me: there is literally no mention here of gathering to worship, or even of praying and studying Scripture on your own. The Church has wisely instructed that faithful Catholics attend Mass (at least) on Sundays, and we should of course be obedient to that. But Scripture is very clear about how we are to observe the sabbath: rest. Not rushing around to events, not planning for the week ahead or doing chores we didn’t get to last week; ideally, not doing any work at all. 

The Sabbath Was Made for Man 

Here are two directions I often give my children at Mass: “Kneel down and bless yourself,” and “Sit still!” My kids are much more likely to be obedient to the first of these, and I think that follows from human nature. It is easier for us to obey a command to do something than to not do anything. This is why many Catholics like me obediently get themselves to Mass each Sunday, but don’t necessarily rest. Humans really struggle to not do anything. But, if we never rest, we will eventually and inevitably crash.  

Our Creator knows our nature better than we do, so He knew we would need a prescribed, even mandated, day of rest. In Mark 2:27, Jesus tells us that “the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.” Sunday isn’t just about giving God the gift of ourselves through worship. Sunday is also God’s beautiful and very needed gift of rest to us. And He commands us to actually use this gift, as a husband gifting a spa day to his burned-out wife would do. “You’re welcome. Now, seriously, go. Relax.” 

Resolved to Rest 

Though it is just as challenging for me to “sit still” and rest as it is for my children, I see why God has commanded it. There are countless stories about how taking sabbath rest has blessed people with more time for quiet spiritual reading and reflection, relaxing self care, and time with their families. I know I will have to use Saturdays to prepare for this rest, and probably Mondays to catch up afterwards, too, but I am ready to make the change.  

My New Year’s Resolution for 2026 is to truly make Sunday a day of rest. Would you like to join me? 

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Copyright 2026 Caitrin Bennett
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