Weekly Q/A Roundup: 1

Q1:  As a fashionable gentleman, I am fond of wearing nice handkerchiefs with my suits. As a spiritual person, I would like my fashion choices to reflect the liturgical season. Thus, I have always wondered where might I obtain handkerchiefs that match the current liturgical season. Can you help?

A1: We're glad you asked and are pleased to support the fashionable and spiritual gentleman of the 21st century! So far as we can tell, no current liturgical supplier makes such handkerchiefs for everyday use, though we suppose you could simply buy a number in the right color and wear them on the appropriate days. A quick visit to Lectionary Page in the morning will let you know the appropriate liturgical color. On the other hand, you might be interested to know that there is a piece of liturgical kit which used to be  standard, called the maniple, and was meant to recall the towel which Jesus used to wash the feet of his disciples (Jn 13:1-17). So, as another option, you could always tie a maniple to your suit in the morning, should you need to remember Jesus' admonition to serve fellow Christians as he served his disciples.  

Q2: Why do we worship on Sunday, if the Ten Commandments tell us to observe the Sabbath (Saturday), and God rested on the seventh day after creation (Saturday)?

A2: Excellent question! We know that this one is confusing to a lot of people. The Old Testament does command observation of the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week , both to commemorate creation (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11) and to commemorate the deliverance of Israel from slavery (Deuteronomy 5:12-15). It is a perpetual reminder of God's creative and redeeming work on behalf of the world and of Israel in particular. Christians, however, started worshiping on the first day of the week in order to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, which happened on the first day of the week (resurrection on first day of week- John 20:1; "The Lord's day": Rev 1:10; the early Christian writing Didache 14:1; first day of the week as day for worship- Acts 20:7). 

The thought is that the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday is what delivered humanity from bondage to sin and death. Also, for early Christians, the resurrection of Christ was considered the beginning of a new creation, hence the shift to the first day (there are hints of this view already in John 20). So, we still commemorate creation and redemption, but it's now oriented to the uniqueness of Christ's resurrection in saving us and inaugurating a new world.