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Associated Press
Pope John Paul II reminds Catholics that Sunday is a day of worship.
By Mark Puls and Charles Hurt / The Detroit News
Maryann Schreiber, a devout Catholic, works the late, late shift Saturday night and Sunday morning at a hotel.
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"I want to go back to the old ways where Sunday was the Lord's day," Schreiber said. "I agree with the pope. I want that life again."
In a day when computer modems are never fast enough and no one seems to have enough time for a full night's rest, Pope John Paul II is issuing a stern warning to Catholics that they should set aside Sunday for worship -- not errands or their free time.
"This really is an extraordinary move," said Jay McNally, executive director of Call to Holiness, a Metro Detroit lay group that promotes traditional Catholic teachings. "This appears to be the strongest words the pope has issued. Period."
The pontiff used his weekly address Sunday from his window over St. Peter's Square to urge church members to make time to keep the Sabbath holy. And today, the Vatican is expected to issue an Apostolic letter from the pope further stressing the Third Commandment. Apostolic letters are incorporated into church rules.
Sundays have come to be "felt and lived only as a weekend," John Paul lamented Sunday. "It (should be) the weekly day in which the church celebrates the resurrection of Christ. In obedience to the Third Commandment, Sunday must be sanctified, above all, by participation in Holy Mass."
In his letter, the pope goes on to say a violator should be "punished as a heretic," said McNally, who read an unofficial English translation of the letter on a Vatican Web site.
"A lot of families are ruined by this Sunday stuff," McNally said, referring to the loss of spirituality on that day. "It really has fallen apart."
Family togetherness on Sundays, more and more, is giving way to soccer practice, globe trotting and going to the tanning salon.
"You have things you have to do," said Tina Mueller of Hamtramck. "You can't just set aside a day for prayer and reflection."
And when folks show up for church, they often forget to slow down enough to commune with God.
"Some people now are coming to church in shorts and can't wait to hit the pools after the service," Lillian Swierczyski of Hamtramck said. "That's wrong."
She supports a return to the days of the Blue Laws that closed bars, stores and amusement establishments Sundays.
"That would get people to church in a hurry."
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