SUNDAY MORNING: Recently read the apostolic letter Dies Domini (On Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy). Good stuff. Some characteristic JPII touches–lots and lots and lots of citations of the Second Vatican Council (this pope always makes it crystal clear that he sees his job as clarifying and extending, not rejecting, the council); a strong emphasis on the millennium and the philosophical study of history; and a significant amount of quotations and insights from Jewish thinkers. Anyway, maybe I’ll blog about other tidbits from the letter later, but the first point that really leaped out at me was the description of Sunday as a re-enactment and honoring of pre-Fallen human life, the crowning act of God’s creation. Sunday is a small Eden in the week. Hence we refrain from unnecessary labor. A small connection, but one I’d never considered.

There’s also a good discussion of the connections between the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Sunday, including a discussion of why Christians don’t celebrate on Saturday as Jews do. Mike Yaeger asked about that in this symposium that you all should read, so, Mike, check out DD–it’s short, and provides some insight into the Jewish Sabbath as well.

There’s a lot to criticize in the Pope’s governance of the Church (and Rod Dreher says it about as well as it can be said, in today’s WSJ), so I feel a bit odd posting this; but there’s no reason to ignore the immense teaching work John Paul II has done, despite what Dreher (as far as I know) accurately characterizes as an overly hands-off, un-authoritative governance.