Vatican City, Sep 5, 2018 / 03:04 am
The commandment to rest on Sundays is an invitation to be centered on Christ and to give praise and thanksgiving for the gift of life, not to waste the day in distraction, Pope Francis said Wednesday.
"For us Christians, the center of the Lord's Day, Sunday, is the Eucharist, which means 'thanksgiving.' It is the day to say to God: thank you, thank you, Lord; thank you for life, for your mercy, for all your gifts," the pope said Sept. 5.
Continuing his general audience catechesis on the Ten Commandments, Francis spoke about Sunday as "the day of rest," which he said Christians may think is a simple and straightforward concept but is not.
Today society has a distorted view of rest, he said, arguing that people only focus on what will be fun or what will bring them pleasure, and that the model of a successful person is someone who can afford many things, nice vacations, and to do whatever activities they please.