"On Saturday, make sure you stay off the ‘Shabat Elevator!’"

Three years ago, when I went to Israel, that was the warning they gave us at our hotel in Jerusalem.

Why this warning? Well, obviously the Torah says nothing about the use of elevators, but contemporary orthodox Jews consider pushing the button on an elevator to be the type of work which God forbids them to do on the sabbath (or Shabat, as it’s called in Hebrew). But what do you do if you’re a deeply religious Jew, and you’re staying in a room on the 15^th floor of a particular hotel? Must you walk up all 15 flights of stairs on the sabbath? No—you can take the Shabat Elevator. The Shabat Elevator is designated beforehand, and then pre-programmed to stop at every floor. So a good Jew can get on and get off without ever having to press a single button! Ingenious, and very convenient. But if you happen to be a Gentile, and you want to get to the 15^th floor "pronto" between sundown on Friday and sundown on Saturday, it would be wise to avoid the Shabat Elevator at all costs. Otherwise, you will have a very, very long ride up to your room. And this is why they warned us, "On Saturday, make sure you stay off the Shabat Elevator! Take the other one in the hotel."

This idea of programming an elevator to stop at every floor on the sabbath is rooted in God’s instruction to his people in Deuteronomy 5, verses 12-15 (the text we heard a few moments ago in our first reading), and in similar Old Testament passages in which the Lord speaks of the Third Commandment. Moses says in Deuteronomy 5, "Take care to keep holy the sabbath day as the Lord, your God, commanded you. Six days you may labor and do all your work; but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord, your God. No work may be done then, whether by you, or your son or daughter, or by your male or female slave, or your ox or ass or any of your beasts, or the alien who lives with you."

Unfortunately, at the time of Jesus, the Pharisees had interpreted this command of God in such a rigorous way, that they even opposed certain acts of charity, if they were performed on the sabbath. Jesus, of course, rightly criticized them for taking this extreme position. As we heard in today’s Gospel text from Mark 2 and 3, the Pharisees were prepared to accuse him of violating the law of Moses if he healed a man in the synagogue who had a withered hand. Jesus anticipated this attack, and so he confronted them with the question, "Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" Earlier—in a separate incident—he pointed out to them that David, when he and his men were in need, had also done something which the law forbade him to do. In picking out that example from Israel’s history, Jesus was trying to drive home a very definite point. He was saying, "Look, if you want to criticize me and my disciples for picking heads of grain on the sabbath, then be consistent! Criticize David—the greatest of your kings! Remember, he also violated a prescription of the law by eating the holy bread, which only the priests were supposed to eat!"

As Jesus made clear here and at other times in his ministry, the Pharisees were wrong in their extremism. But leaving that error aside, you’ve got to give them credit for one thing: at least they took the Third Commandment seriously! Say what you will about them, their desire was to keep the sabbath day holy! Which is certainly better than the current trend among Christians of not keeping holy the Lord’s Day! And this goes way beyond missing Mass on Sunday, although it certainly includes that. In the new Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2193, it says, "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound . . . to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord’s Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body." And then, in paragraph 2184 we read, "The institution of the Lord’s Day helps everyone enjoy adequate rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social and religious lives." Finally, in paragraph 2186, it says, "Sunday is traditionally consecrated by Christian piety to good works and humble service of the sick, the infirm and the elderly." Thus, according to the Catechism, our priorities on Sunday should be: God, prayer, family, rest and charity. Now what about those who are forced to work? Well, the Catechism does say in paragraph 2185 that "family needs or important social service can legitimately excuse [us] from the obligation of Sunday rest," but our intention should always be to avoid all work which isn’t necessary. Personally—as you know—I have to work on Sundays. If I don’t work, you don’t worship. But in spite of that, I do make every effort to make my Sundays as restful as possible. "But Fr. Ray, don’t priests only work one day a week anyway?" For those who might believe that one, let me simply say that even when I have to celebrate all three Masses on Sunday morning, baptize several babies afterward and then go to a meeting at night—that is still a much easier day than what I face during the rest of the week. In fact, if all I had to do each day was say 3 Masses, baptize some babies and go to a meeting or two, being a parish priest would be a piece of cake.

The bottom line is that Sundays should not be "business as usual" for any of us. But, sadly, I think it’s become just that for many in our culture. This, by the way, is what concerns me about vigil Masses for Sundays and holy days. Now please do not misunderstand: there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with attending vigil Masses. But I wonder, for example, how many people come to Saturday night vigil Masses in order to "get it over with," so that on Sundays they can go about their business without ever giving God a thought! If that is our attitude (and I pray it’s not, but if it ever is) then we are violating (at least slightly) the Third Commandment!