The Third Commandment is to keep the Sabbath day holy. It calls us to attend Mass and avoid unnecessary work on Sunday in honour of the day Jesus rose from the dead and the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles during Pentecost. Fr. Chu once told a story during a homily, saying that someone gave a beggar six of the seven coins in their pocket. The beggar hit the person, stole the seventh coin, and left. Oftentimes, Fr. Chu explained, we are like the ungrateful beggar. God gave us six days to do our work but we often ignore Him and even that seventh day we steal from Him. If we do our work, studies, and chores for God, then we can temporarily pause them to focus on God on Sunday. If we cannot even let go of these duties temporarily, then we have placed them above God and made them into idols. In certain circumstances, if there is no priest nearby or if one cannot step away from caring for someone, for example, it is impossible to attend Mass on Sunday. In these cases, one must increase personal worship of God. We have four reasons to attend Mass: adoration, reparation, thanksgiving, and supplication. Sunday is a foretaste of Heaven, prevents us from being enamoured of the present life, and reminds us to place God first.
【Spiritual Talk】 Fr. Ho talks about the Third Commandment
