Video: Sunday Song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9m8A8Maaso
…”Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18: 3 – 4
Several years ago, I had the privilege of listening to a speech on honoring Sunday as a day for the Lord at an Archdiocesan Men’s Conference. Admittedly, I don’t remember much of what was said at the conference, but I was particularly struck by the challenge put forth to fully enter into the Lord’s Day. The Lord gave me the grace to humbly recognize that, despite considering myself a “practicing Catholic,” I was ignoring much of the Third Commandment.
Over the last few years, my wife and I took up the Lord’s Day challenge and have sought to approach Sunday as it was created to be – a day of rest and a celebration of the joy of the resurrection. The fruits have been beautiful. We have deepened our relationships with our family and community, and we have recognized what it means glorify the Lord with every moment of the day.
Recently, my parents presented us with another challenge: to create a short, fun video for my nephews (ages 1 and 3). We thought about what message we wanted to send these toddlers that we love so much and immediately agreed it would be to encourage the joy and beauty of the Lord’s Day. I sat down with a pencil and blank piece of paper and wrote “The Sunday Song.” Although I can’t help but laugh at the repetitive earworm I have created for my sister and brother-in-law, I acknowledge that the song contains a theological nugget that props up its entire meaning in the lyric “every Sunday, Frankie and Nash go out and play.”
Bishop Robert Barron said it best with “work is always subordinated to an end beyond itself; it is for the sake of the higher good…but play has no ulterior motive, no end to which it is subordinated…The Mass, as an act of union with the highest good, is therefore the supreme instance of play. It is the most useless and hence sublimest activity in which one could possibly engage.”
With this in mind, we encourage every Catholic to spend their Sundays with the spirit of a child - going to Mass, enjoying brunch with family, competing in cornhole with your friends, or doing any other activities that bring you joy and glorify the Lord. The important thing is that you go out and play.
Chad Berg is a collegiate a cappella group singer turned businessman / husband who is actively involved in various Catholic groups and organizations throughout the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis.