Book Reviews and More: Making Sunday Special: The Lord’s Day - Charlotte Ostermann

Making Sunday Special:

The Lord’s Day

Deeper Christianity Series

Charlotte Ostermann

Catholic Truth Society
ISBN 9781860828546

eISBN 9781784692544

ASIN B0714KRCSN

CTS Booklet SP38

Making Sunday Special: The Lord’s Day - Charlotte Ostermann - CTS Deeper Christianity Series

Over the last several years, I have read many books from the Catholic Truth Society, over 440 of them in fact, many read more than once; this all since the spring of 2018. Most were good reads; some were great reads; and a few are exceptional. This is a good and interesting read, as are the others in this series I have read. It is the seventeenth in the Deeper Christianity Series that I have read, many of them have been read twice. This is the First I have read by Charlotte Ostermann, and I believe the only of her works available from the CTS. This series is one of my favourites. This booklet was originally published 2013 and the eBook was released in 2017. The description of this volume is:

“Looking at Sunday as a day set aside for God in history and today. This booklet traces the importance of Sunday and shows how Christians can recover it as a means of rest and sanctification.

Looking at Sunday as a day set aside for God, in history and today. The fast pace of modern life and a growing secularism seem to have made it impossible to accept God’s invitation to make every seventh day a day of rest and contemplation. Starting with the Sabbath in the Jewish tradition and exploring the Christian Sunday Sabbath on the day of Christ’s Resurrection, this booklet traces the importance of Sunday. It also shows how Christians can recover it as a means of rest and sanctification. A great mix of historical background and practical instructions. Gives an overview of how the importance of Sunday has been understood and developed across the centuries.”

The chapters in the book are:

Introduction

What is the Sabbath?

It’s your Sabbath

Dwelling in Sabbath life

Planning your Sabbath

Questionnaire

Further reading

Appendix

I highlighted a few passages while reading this volume, some of them are:

“Life in the twenty-first century is fast-paced, noisy, complex. Taking every seventh day as a day of rest and contemplation may seem impossible. How can we reconcile the realities of our busy lives with an invitation to keep one day open, still, uncluttered, holy? But this is what God invites us to do. And this is a day that will change your life.”

“The Sunday Sabbath was created just for you by the Author of Life himself, and corresponds perfectly to your unique personality, needs and situation in life. So far from being a legal obligation, a requirement, a demand, Sunday is like a holy servant created just for you by God, who knows you to a hair.”

“The Jews took the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy very seriously. To protect the rules given by God, though, they created a hedge of many prescriptions and proscriptions for Sabbath-keeping. In light of the freedom we now experience in the Eucharistic Sabbath, their practice seems too legalistic. But the commandment was never revoked, only fulfilled in Christ. We ignore it at our peril.”

“The hope of the Messiah is central to the Jewish sense of the Sabbath. In the kingdom of the Saviour, Israel would finally be wed to its beloved Shabbat, and the people of God would enter his own restful, joyful, eternal peace. Calling himself Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus directs us to the profound Jewish understanding of Shabbat as a basis for comprehending his own identity.”

“Holiday is the natural form for extended rest, but Sabbath-the supernatural holiday-is as like a travel break as the Eucharist is like bread!”

“But even re-entering daily life after a wonderful Sabbath day can be hard. You’ve spent time in kairos-carried away outside time-and must return to chronos, the ticking of the clock, the demands of work, the reality that the world is fighting against you.”

“One of the amazing things about Sabbath is that it begins to permeate the rest of your week. The better you keep your Sabbath-the more fully and truly you attune yourself to God, to freedom-the more all your other days will be transformed.”

“Your awareness of your own soul, emotions, body and mind increases, and so your skill at bringing into equilibrium this whole, real, unique self increases. This has implications for your prayer life, for your ability to radiate joy, for your health, for your growth in holiness. You’ll be bringing souvenirs, new habits, new friendships back from each Sabbath ‘holiday’ into your ‘normal’ life that vivify those other days and infuse them with the fruits of your Sabbath-keeping.”

“The final word in any discussion of Catholic life is really ‘Eucharist’. I cannot over-emphasise that in the Eucharist is the fullness of everything that can be given to man through any attention to spiritual practice, diet, education, etc.”

“When the Church obligates you to come to Mass each Sunday, she does not take away from your freedom to design your own, personal Sabbath-keeping. By anchoring you in truth, and making sure you receive the Living God, she frees and enables you to respond by crafting your Sabbath, your life.”

“You actually already have an eternal home. Though you live in this world, you are not of this world, but are in the process of ‘returning’ home for good.”

“As you learn to live Sabbath as a home-coming, your head will clear, and your sense of direction will improve. This weekly holiday is a trip to your true home, and as you enjoy it, you will grow more aware of the destiny you travel towards in your daily life.”

“TS Eliot referred to ‘distraction from distraction by distractions’. Well-intentioned constant busy-ness can mask failure in spiritual growth.”

“With each reception of Our Lord, you should develop a greater appetite for his gifts. One of the greatest of these is the gift of Sabbath rest.”

“Please ask God to awaken in you a greater awareness that you need more and more of his deep rest, and a greater desire to have all that he wants to give you through your own personalised practice of Sabbath-keeping!”

I hope those quotes give you a feel for this little volume. This book feels very different than many of the others in the series. It really got me thinking on several different tangents. And it is likely a volume I will need to return to again. I worked retail for many years and since then in IT often on call and with scheduled patching or upgrades on Sundays. As such this book has a deep pull for me. And it spoke to a longing I had for many years. Interestingly enough I read this volume on Palm Sunday at the beginning of Holy Week, where I booked the week off to focus on God. I had flex time that needed to be used up. Wanting to make Holy week special and Sundays special are part of the same desire of the heart.

This book is one I believe we really need today. The CTS Deeper Christianity Series of books is written in such a way that they can easily be read in any order. Pick and choose the ones that interest you, read them in order, or jump around. I have been blessed by all the books in this series that I have read and can highly recommend this book and the series.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan! For other reviews of books from the Catholic Truth Society click here.

For reviews of other books in the CTS Deeper Christianity Series click here.

Books in the Deeper Christianity Series:
7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit
8 Deadly Sins Learning to Defend the Life of Grace

Art and Prayer

Catholic Architecture
Christian Fasting Disciplining the Body, Awakening the Spirit

Christian Meaning of Time

Deepening Prayer Life Defined by Prayer

Depths of Scripture
Desire & Delight
Faith, Hope and Love The Theological Virtues
Fruits of the Holy Spirit Living a Happy Life
Icons
Lectio Divina Spiritual Reading of the Bible
Kingdom of God