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If you are of the opinion that the Catholic Church ruthlessly, without warrant,
and in violation of God's law, played with the Decalogue and instituted Sunday
as the day of worship, you are, in fact, admitting that the VERY earliest
Christians were, indeed, Catholic.
St. Ignatius, friend of the Apostle Peter and apppointed by him as the Bishop
of Antioch, wrote in his first century Epistle to the Ephesians:
"If, therefore,
those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the
possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in
the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again
by Him and by His death -- whom some deny, by which mystery we have obtained
faith, and therefore endure, that we may be found the disciples of Jesus
Christ, our only Master -- how shall we be able to live apart from Him, whose
disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their
Teacher? And therefore He whom they rightly waited for, being come, raised
them from the dead." ... Be ye salted in Him, lest any one among you should
be corrupted, since by your savour ye shall be convicted. It is absurd to
profess Christ Jesus, and to Judaize. For Christianity did not embrace Judaism,
but Judaism Christianity, that so every tongue which believeth might be gathered
together to God."
From the first
century Didache, Chapter 14, "Christian Assembly on the Lord's
Day":
"But every Lord's
day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after
having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. But
let no one who is at odds with his fellow come together with you, until they
be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. For this is that
which was spoken by the Lord: "In every place and time offer to me a pure
sacrifice; for I am a great King, says the Lord, and my name is wonderful
among the nations."
Letter of Barnabas
15:6-8, written in A.D. 74, at the end of a few paragraphs on the old Jewish
Shabat vs. the Christian Lord's Day, wrote:
"We keep the eighth
day [Sunday] with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from
the dead."
And what about
Justin Martyr, a Palestinian (born around the year A.D. 100) who converted
to Christianity in about A.D.130 and was martyred in A.D. 165 .? He wrote:
"On the day called the Feast of the Sun, all who live in towns or in the
country assemble in one place, and the memoirs of the Apostles or the writings
of the Prophets are read as time permits. Then, when the reader has ended,
the President instructs and encourages the people to practice the truths
contained in the Scripture lections. Thereafter, we all stand up and offer
prayers together ... Our prayers being ended, we salute one another with
a kiss. Then bread, and a cup of wine mixed with water, are brought to him
who presides over the brethren. He, taking them, offers praise and glory
to the Father of all through the Name of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and
giving thanks at great length for that we have been counted worthy to receive
these gifts from God; and when he finishes the prayers and thanksgivings
all the people present cry aloud, Amen ... After the President [the presiding
priest] has given thanks and all the people have said Amen, those among us
who are called deacons give to all present ... the bread and wine mixed with
water over which thanks has been given, and carry it also to those who are
absent. And this food is called Eucharist by us, of which it is not right
for any one to partake save only he who believes that the things taught by
us are true, and is washed with the washing that is for the forgiveness of
sins and regeneration, and so lives as Christ commanded us."
The Scripture below also supports these early Catholics. Your options are
to believe that either the New Testament and the early Church are wrong or
that the Catholic Church is still right about Sunday worship. Besides, "Sabbath"
means "Rest" (from the word for "cease"), not "Saturday" or "seven" or "week,"
so even if the Mosaic Laws were binding on Christians (which they are not,
aside from those aspects rooted in Natural Law and God's Eternal Law, which
are always binding), there is no need for the "Sabbath" (day of rest) to
be kept on Saturdays instead of Sundays. Christians simply keep Sunday as
a day of rest, and we keep it holy by attending Mass and refraining from
unecessary servile work. In this way, we, in a sense, "keep Sabbath" as in
a day of rest -- but not the Mosaic or modern Jewish Sabbath because we are
freed from the Law.
2 Corinthians 3:7-11:
But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones,
was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold
the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to
be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather
glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth
the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was
made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that
excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more
that which remaineth is glorious.
We celebrate the
Lord's Day, the day when Jesus Christ walked out of His tomb and the fruits
of fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies were made clear.
We are no longer under the Old Covenant Law, but if you still want to stick
with Shabat, why not go all the way and convert to Judaism? Read Leviticus
and follow all the Old Covenant laws. If you're a woman, be sure not to spoil
the family's furniture by sitting on it while menstruating (Leviticus 15:20)
--- and make sure your husband ritually cleans himself if he forgets and
touches your bed at this time! If you're a man and sleep with your bondmaid,
please remember to bring a ram to the door of the tabernacle (Leviticus
19:20-21).
Footnote:
Even the Jews' Talmud acknowledges that Christians worship on Sunday. From
Abhodah Zarah, 6a, we read: "He is called a Christian who follows
the false teachings of that man [Jesus Christ], who taught them to celebrate
the feast on the first day of the Sabbath, that is, to worship on the first
day after the Sabbath." So any Messianics and Judaized Christians out there
who appeal to the Gospel on one hand, and to rabbinical "authority" on the
other, take heed.
Relevant Scripture
Matthew 5:18
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
[and when was it fulfilled? John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave
up the ghost.]
Mark 2:24-28
And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that
which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David
did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?
How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest,
and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests,
and gave also to them which were with him? And he said unto them, The sabbath
was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is
Lord also of the sabbath.
Acts 20:7
And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break
bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued
his speech until midnight.
1 Corinthians 16:2
Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store,
as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
Galatians 3:13-14
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the
blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that
we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Colossians 2:16
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an
holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days
Revelation 1:10
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice,
as of a trumpet
Further Reading
 Sunday,
the Sabbath, and the Mark of the Beast
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