I'm one who takes the fourth commandment seriously. I try to make Sundays a day of worship and rest, avoiding work, seeking profit, working in the yard, unnecessary shopping, etc...

I now have an opportunity to take a good position within my company in a location in the Middle East (Oman). The "Holy Day" there is Friday and the weekend is Thursday/Friday. I asked if it would be possible for me to work Thursday (from home if necessary) and take off Sunday, but that doesn't look probable.

I plan on talking with a priest on this, but I wanted to get some input from the many experts here. Would it be a violation or at least a severe compromise of the fourth commandment for me to take this position and work on Sundays. (I would, of course, still go to the Catholic Mass on Sundays - actually I plan to go to Mass everyday).

-- Hollis (catholic@martinsen.com), January 16, 2003

Answers

Hi, Hollis - -

First of all, definitely talk to a priest, because no matter what any of us say here, a priest can give you the "final answer"! :-)

But let me just make a couple of comments:

First, several years ago, I read a q&a in an "Ask the Priest"-type column, about a person with a similar work schedule. The priest's suggestion was that, since your "weekend" is Thursday & Friday rather than Saturday & Sunday, you might be able to get permission (once again, ask your own priest!!) to treat calendar-Friday as your "Sunday" - abstain from work and fulfill your Sunday Mass obligation on *that* day rather than on calendar-Sunday. Now the situation this priest was responding to involved a firefighter, someone whose work really needed to be done on Sunday, so I don't know if your line of work would be considered that necessary. But it's worth asking about.

Secondly, would you have to work a full day on Sunday? Could you possibly work just a half-day, maybe just in the afternoon? As long as you don't treat Sunday as just another workday, it might be okay.

Third, if you tell your company that you would prefer not to take this position because of the Sunday issue, would you lose the position you have now? Is your livelihood at stake here?

These are just things to think about. Once again, your best bet is to talk to a priest whose opinion you trust, and follow his advice. Best of luck to you! :-)

-- Christine L. :-) (christine_lehman@hotmail.com), January 16, 2003.

Hi Christine; got your message. Will do. God bless

-- Ed Richards (loztra@yahoo.com), January 16, 2003.

Christine,

Thanks for the input. I do plan on talking with a good priest on this issue, but I do want to get input here to bring up things I may not have considered to bring to the coversation.

For continued dialogue, my livlihood is not in jeapordy if I do not take this job, at least directly/immediately. There is a big layoff going on and taking this position guarantees me (with some certainty) both a move up and a good salary for the next few years. But, still, I believe I could rather easily find a job to support my family even if I were to loose my current job.

Also, the work I would be doing is not something that must be done on Sundays (like firefighter, doctor, policeman, etc.).

I'm praying a novena to St. Joseph to open or close the door on this offer. I'll need to find a way to go to daily Mass and to resolve this issue of working on Sundays. If not, I don't accept it.

-- Hollis (catholic@martinsen.com), January 16, 2003.

Just out of curiosity (and not that it's any of my business), but do you know if there's even a Catholic church near your prospective place of employment? I've visited Oman while in the military. Catholic churches were not a common sight.

Also, with the world in its current state, why would you be considering a move to the Middle East? Especially for someone with a family who seems to enjoy a good amount of job security, it seems the risks (physical & spiritual) outweigh the potential benefits.

-- jake (jake1@pngusa.net), January 16, 2003.

Hollis, stop working now for 2 months and go to church every single day - that will be for all the Sundays you will work there. If you could transfer Sunday to Thursday why not to transfer them to those two months? Happy transfer!

-- (antioch@wanna.be), January 17, 2003.

Adding to what jake said about visiting a church in Oman, here are some biblical references about resting. Exodus 20:8-9 and especially deuteronomy 5:12-15 considers the day of rest the Shabat (Friday evening-Saturday Evening) as the day of rest. It was a day dedicated to God. Do you know you coudn't light a fire on the Sabbath? (Ex. 35:3). A man was executed by order of God? for breaking the sabbath.

Jesus used to break the sabbath by plucking grains of wheat (Math. 12:1-8)and curing on the Sabbath (Math 12:9-14). Paul used to preach in the synagogues on Saturday (Acts 13:42-44, Acts 17:2-3) but he also met to discuss religious matters on Sunday (Acts 20:7). As Paul puts it, we are ministers of a new covenant(@cor. 3:1-18). This freedom of which Paul talks about it is the freedom of worshipping God at our free will. If the circumstances don't permit you to rest on Sunday, the Lord's (Jesus) day of resurrection, then rest on the day the citizens of that nation rest. God wants us to take a break from pur daily routine and dedicated to him and ourselves regardless what day it is.

-- Elpidio gonzalez (egonzalez@srla.org), January 17, 2003.

Jake,

I did enquire about the vicinity of a Catholic church. I was told there are two nearby. I'm not sure if they are fully Catholic or shared facilities, but I was told there is Mass several times a week. But I go to daily Mass. If God wants me to take this position, I'll need to find a way to go to daily Mass. If that doesn't work out, I don't take the job.

God bless!

-- Hollis (catholic@martinsen.com), January 17, 2003.

Elpidio,

It is obvious that that the new era brought in by Jesus and the New Covenant makes it obvious we are not bound to the same extremes of observences of the Sabbath that seemed to have crept in to the practices of some of the Jews. But it still is one of the 10 Commandments, so I don't want to take it lightly. It would clearly be a violation of the 4th commandment for me to decide for myself to change the day of rest and worship to another day without at least a dispensation. On the other hand, I can easily get a dispensation if I talk to the "right" priest. So I want to make sure I'm not asking for something I shouldn't be before asking.

-- Hollis (catholic@martinsen.com), January 17, 2003.

Antioch,

Good point. This is not something that should be taken lightly. There are obviously some exceptions to the Christian requirement to set aside The Lord's Day (Sunday) as a day of rest and worship, so it isn't an absolute (there are legitimate dispensations), but it should not be sought lightly.

God bless!

-- Hollis (catholic@martinsen.com), January 17, 2003.

Jake,

I have a history of going against "conventional wisdom" when making big decisions. I had a great job as a microelectronic engineer making microprocessors. I was on the road up and enjoying every moment of it. But I decided to leave it and return to graduate school for a degree in biomedical engineering (despite being offered a huge raise if I stayed with my job).

Why? I was internally restless and believed God was calling me to do something else with my life. The goal was to start a biomedical engineering company with God in the center seeking to take technology to help the handicapped and others.

The funny thing though was that after being at UT for only a couple of months, the family I was staying with showed me the front page of the newspaper which had a picture of my old company with a padlock on the front doors. Out of the blue, the company closed down (and it was a BIG company). I could have NEVER anticipated that, but I was seeking God's will for me, and He showed me - in subtle, but sure ways.

Then I certainly caught a lot of flack after receiving my Master's degree in Biomedical Engineering and being offered a position as VP of a biomed company and turned it all down to enter the seminary.

I honestly thought it to be God's will for me to enter the seminary to grow spiritually and discern if I was being called to the priesthood or not, so much to the dismay of many, I turned down what looked to be a sure bet.

Mow, it appears the Lord may be, for some reason, calling me to a change. I thought that the call was to a position in Kuala Lumpur. There were several positions available and it looked quite likely that I would land one of the positions, so I started a 30 day Novena to St. Joseph. "Coincidentally," on the 30th day of the novena, a "No" came back on every position. This was a clear indication that St. Joseph was going to guide me to the right place, and KL was not it.

I applied several weeks ago for this position in Oman and didn't hear anything back, so I had pretty much given up on it. As news came that my group (of 500) was going to need to layoff >150 employees, I sent an email inquiring for confirmation that the Oman position to which I had applied was closed for me, they surprisingly came back and told me I was the one they had selected for the position.

So I'm back with the St. Joseph Novena. There are still several obstacles to overcome (the gov't of Oman needs to be convinced that only a foreigner can do this job - and this doesn't come easily; I need to be able to go to DAILY Mass; and I need both dispensation from the Church and to be personally convinced that I'm not compromising regarding the Sunday issue.

But if all these things come through and the final offer made is very attractive, I'm taking it. It all boils down to trust that God knows better what is best for me and that He will lead me to where He wants me if I seek His will. Sometimes it doesn't make a lot of sense at the time, but when I look back I always thank God that He knows what is best and He guides me to it (when I seek it!).

Probably more detail than you wanted, but there it is.

God bless!

-- Hollis (catholic@martinsen.com), January 18, 2003.

As far as where to attend Mass, Hollis, I found this for you.

Religious freedom report is here . It's from '99 but there ya go.

God bless and good luck to you, Hollis~

-- Jackiea (sorry@dontlikespam.com), January 18, 2003.

Probably more detail than you wanted

Actually, no! I enjoyed that very much!

Good luck to you.

-- jake (jake1@pngusa.net), January 20, 2003.

Jackiea & Jake,

Thanks!

-- Hollis (catholic@martinsen.com), January 20, 2003.

For those who are interested, I found out that there are 2 daily Masses at one of the two parishes near Muscat (where I would be working) and 6! Masses on both Fridays (Holy day there) and Sundays. I haven't been able to contact the other parish yet, but it does look like I'll have the opportunity to go to daily Mass.

I will try to speak with a priest there to discuss the issue of working on Sundays and any dispensation given to Catholics who work there. I'll post what he says here for discussion.

God bless!

-- Hollis (catholic@martinsen.com), January 22, 2003.