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Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Today's Gospel: Mark 2:23-28

Sunday. Our Sabbath Day. A day of rest. I struggled with this years ago when my family and I would go week after week of doing, doing, doing. We would spend every day shopping, cooking, cleaning, visiting, whatever needed doing. Even going to Mass seemed like a chore. Then I had a breakthrough while learning about the Ten Commandments. Why did my family and I not rest on the Sabbath?

At this time, my husband was in the RCIA program to join the church, and we discussed what our Sabbath would look like. We decided to call it our “Pray, Play, and Serve Day,” since our kids were young and needed something descriptive. We do no regular work (like laundry, grocery shopping, homework, and work-work). We go to Mass and dedicate times throughout the day to other forms of prayer, such as a family rosary or listening to Christian music. We play games, watch shows together, go on hikes in nature, or do other forms of rest. If someone is in need, we offer to help them and work as a form of serving others.

By the end of Sunday, we are no longer hungry for the peace and rest that only God can give. We understand now what Jesus meant by this verse:

“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.”

We stopped doing, doing, doing as the world is telling us to do, and we didn't make strict rules for ourselves that were only focused on what we shouldn’t do on the Sabbath, as the Pharisees were proclaiming to Jesus. As a family, each Sunday, we grow closer to God and each other by following God’s rules of “praying, playing, and serving,” and that has made a powerful impact on us in our relationship with God.

 

Ponder:

 

How does your family treat the Sabbath? Is the Sabbath made for your family? Do you feel hungry week after week?

 

Pray:


Heavenly Father, thank You for making the Sabbath for us, to rest in You, and to grow together as a family in Your love.

 

Click to tweet:
As a family, each Sunday, we grow closer to God and each other by following God’s rules of “praying, playing, and serving,” and that has made a powerful impact on us in our relationship with God. #DailyGospel

Daily Gospel 2

 

Copyright 2023 Erika Dix

About the Author

Erika Dix

Erika Dix

Erika Dix is a Catholic wife and mom to two teenagers. She is a homemaker by vocation, a graphic designer by trade, and a listener to the Holy Spirit when prompted to write articles. She attends many Bible Studies, several from CatholicMom.com. She appreciates the many layers of her Catholic faith, and enjoys seeing it anew through her husband, who is a recent convert.