The state where I live your not allowed to buy beer I'm told. What is the church position on this blue law? I just turned 21 while signing up for this forum I accidentally added one year.
I think it is a sin to shop on Sunday, or to cause others to do work on Sunday. The Church makes exceptions for necessary work. This is off the top of my head. I do not shop on Sundays. Liquor Laws are a different story. They vary from state to state, or local area to local area. When I was growing up, the blue laws prohibited stores doing business on Sunday. We had a very small deli in town that remained open for bread and milk. There weren't even any gas stations open that I recall. Everyone planned ahead and bought supplies during the week. Simpler times. Maybe someone else can answer with greater detail.
I am quilty because we needed a few things and had to travel 30 miles and my husband felt good so we tracked up with little traffic as we are not so savvy on the roads when there is a lot of traffic.
New Mexico allows sell of liquor on Sundays AFTER 12:00 p.m. So presumably after "everyone" is out of church.
I believe the Church teaches that Third Commandment allows the buying and selling of food on the grounds that it is an essential item. Historically alcohol was considered a form of food and not a luxury item and thus, would've been allowed to be bought and sold on Sundays.
When I was a kid (1970s) in 90% Protestant Small Town USA, everything was closed on Sundays except one (of two) grocery stores, and of course the hospital. If one had urgent need of gasoline (out-of-town emergency [family]), one called the Chief of Police who had a key to both filling stations. Chief Frank would meet an adult there, unlock the pump, jot down number of gallons pumped on a notepad, adult would pay filling station owner on return home. And now I feel sorta old. But the '70s were a great time to be a kid.
My understanding of Church teaching is that we are to obey the law of the land unless that law contravenes God's law. Banning the sale of alcohol on Sunday does not contravene God's law, therefore, buy your alcohol on one of the other six days or drink something else instead. Be careful about drinking alcohol at home, especially if you are home alone. Don't let it become a "friend" when lonely, a "comforter" when feeling down, or "courage" when feeling fearful. I'm sure you don't use alcohol as a crutch but since you're young I thought it best to warn you how easy it is to become alcohol dependent.
On the news, I think it was either last night or the night before, there was a story about a guy who was a brilliant cutting-edge medical doctor, and didn't appear to have any problems at work or home and yet it turned out he was an alcoholic. It didn't become apparent to him until he started having health issues.
I sometimes buy things I need on Sundays mornings, like bread, eggs or milk. Although Maybe I suppose I shouldn't. I must admit I am very lax about Sundays. I recall years ago mentioning to someone about working on Sundays and he shot back reminding me I drunk on Sundays. So that put me in my place. A lady on the forum a few years ago said she did all her housework on Saturdays to keep Sunday clear which threw me as I this had never even occured to me. But one thing has helped me this last littlewhile and that is to make extra time for Church on Sundays. I try to get there an hour early for mass and to stay after mass awhile. This has helped my Sundays a lot. In Ireland Sundays have always been devoted to sport, which maybe overshadows things a lot. I must try harder. I would be more inclnied to add things like prayer than to be avoiding things, I think.
I used to be careless about Sundays but no more. I try very hard to observe it as a true day of rest and prayer. I do buy necessities if I'm stuck but I guess I'm like the lady you mentioned. I try to do things in the house or shopping etc on some other day. Around here it's just another day of the week. The whole culture bends that way. Sad. I remember as a child when Sunday was Church and family only.
Yes, AED. Our culture treats Sunday just like another day of the week. More people at brunch it seems. Sunday labor was one of the sins that Our Lady of LaSalette mentioned to the two children in the apparition. And She mentioned a punishment.
It's good the way we can learn from each other on topics like this. Belfast, my home city was basically a Protestant Plantation City. The North of Ireland was the most Rebellious area against the Protestant English Crown. To overcome this the Native Catholics were killed and displaced and Protestant, mostly Scottish , but also English and Welsh settlers were brought in to take their lands, the native Catholics been either killed or driven to wild and inhospitablr West of Ireland or to leave the Ireland for places like Europe Canada or the USA.. Eventually the native Catholics crept back into the city as a kind of underclass doing the jobs no one else would do and this lasted up to the Catholic Civil Rights Campaign of the 1960's, the start of the war here and beyond. But I mention this because there always seemed to be two very different cultures here that of the Native Irish Catholics and that of the Protestant Settlers. The Protestant settlers tended to be very Low Church and Calvinist with very,very strict ideas about Sundays. I recall talking to an old Catholic gentleman who happened to move into a Protestant area of the city many years ago and getting into a lot of trouble for trying to mow his garden and wash his windows on a Sunday. This wasn't simply frowned upon but yo could wind up with no one talking to you and even being burnt out of the area. Because by doing so you would be spotlighted as being Catholic. Now all that is gone with Secularisation. everyone Protestant and Catholics acts pretty much the same. But the hard line Calvinist approach to Sundays still remains on Sundays. It just occurs to me that being very strict on Sundays would be a good idea to stop us getting emerged with the crowd. That my old Protestant neighbours were right. I must make more of an effort on Sundays.
I've always tended to view Sunday as a day of rest that God gives us. Meaning I typically don't work not to avoid sinning but more so I think God wants us humans to relax at least one day to keep from working ourselves to death.
I never knew Our Lady mentioned a punishment....! I guess it only makes sense.... Recently, a friend told me that we were “allowed” two hours of work on Sundays....has anyone here ever heard this before? I hadn’t.....?
