Is it a sin to work on Sundays? What about students studying or taking extra classes or tuitions on Sundays?

First, let us understand why Sunday is a special day for us, Catholics and Christians. By setting aside Sunday as the day of the Lord, a person is honouring the third commandment “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day” (cf Ex 20:8) and the words of Jesus at Passover “Do this in memory of me” (Lk 22:19). Sunday, which was called the Lord’s day from ancient times, was a day set apart in a special way to remember the day of Christ’s resurrection. As Pope  St.John Paul II reminds us in his apostolic letter ‘Dies Domini’, Sunday is Easter that returns week by week, celebrating Christ’s victory over sin and death’. By remembering in a special way the foundation of our faith – Jesus’ death and resurrection – and our participation in it through baptism, we are keeping alive in our hearts the truth that we have been ransomed from evil through the blood of Christ, we have been made a new creation and we are adopted into God’s Kingdom. Jesus’ victory over sin, death and the devil has become ours too through baptism. Shouldn’t we celebrate that? Of course! That is why we join as a community to celebrate the Eucharist, in true thanksgiving, to thank and honour our God who loves us so much. So the celebration of Sunday helps us to stay focused on who we are and what our mission is on this earth. 

The other dimension of the Lord’s day is to “remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it, you shall not do any work” ( cf Ex 20:8-10). “Just as God “rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done,” human life has a rhythm of work and rest. The institution of the Lord’s Day helps everyone enjoy adequate rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social, and religious lives”. (CCC 2184). So the call from God is to honour him with our time – to set apart a day to think about Him, to relax and rest in ways that please Him, spend time with family and friends. 

Today, all across the globe, the character of Sunday has changed from a ‘holy day’ to a mere ‘weekend’. The world has become more competitive. More and more business establishments are working seven days a week. So, it becomes a real challenge to respond unless we see clearly that the Lord’s ways are better than man’s ways. Only a person of faith can see what the CCC teaches that the Lord’s day is also “a day of protest against the servitude of work and the worship of money”. (#2172) . It has a witnessing aspect as well for ‘The celebration of Sunday observes the moral commandment inscribed by nature in the human heart to render to God an outward, visible, public, and regular worship “as a sign of his universal beneficence to all’ (#2176). Are others able to see that there is a clear difference in the way you live on Sundays – a difference in your priorities; which may have been dormant in other days is brought out into the open on the Lord’s Day?

Now, in this backdrop, let me come to your question. You admit that you have a really busy life. Will it be possible to de-clutter some of it by having a frank listening time with God? Are your priorities God’s priorities? Seeing things from His perspective can really surprise you. And He loves to help you with your varied responsibilities. For that, He has given you an incredible Helper, the Holy Spirit. Can you invite the Spirit to have a deeper say in your life? Help you re-prioritize, perhaps by spending less time online? Then you will really want to work and study to honour Him. When you begin to give more importance to Him than to your work or studies, you will see a marked difference in your approach to life. You will begin to desire to rest and honour Him on Sundays. Fully refreshed after a good day of joyful rest, you will be energized while you plunge back into your responsibilities on Monday. And sometimes, you may have to study or do an assignment on Sunday. But you will be doing it in a way that honours the One to whom you really belong. (I encourage you to have a go at CCC 2168-2195 and JP II’s apostolic letter quoted above. Both are available in the Vatican site)

Regarding working on Sundays, Catechism teaches us that ‘Family needs or important social service can legitimately excuse from the obligation of Sunday rest. The faithful should see to it that legitimate excuses do not lead to habits prejudicial to religion, family life, and health’. This means that if you are a doctor, nurse, policeman, etc. you may have to work on Sundays. In that case, it will be great to keep another day of the week or a major chunk of it to honour and enjoy the Lord and spend time in rest and leisure. By the way, also note that in some countries like in the Middle East where Christians are in a minority, it is Fridays that are set apart to honour the Lord as Sundays are a working day in that culture.

On the flip side, do not be Pharisaical and hold on to the outward appearance of Sunday celebration. For Sabbath was made for man, not man for Sabbath. Let us truly glorify God in the way we celebrate the holy day of Sunday.