The Pope’s Letter

Chapter 1
The Pope’s Letter

The Lord’s Day — as Sunday was called from Apostolic Times." Thus commences Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter, Dies Domini, issued July 7, 1998. The Pope provides a reference in order to document his initial assertion. His reference is Revelation 1:10. This Scriptural passage states:


I [John] was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.

It will be seen that this verse of Scripture, while mentioning the Lord’s Day, does not in any particular indicate which day of the week is the Lord’s Day. One may read the context of the Biblical passage, and he will find no elucidation of the term. Since the term, "the Lord’s Day" occurs nowhere else in Scripture, it will not assist us to seek another reference containing the term "Lord’s Day" in order to enable us to discover the Biblical meaning of the term.

Yet the only safe ground for a sincere student of the Bible is to permit the Bible to interpret itself. God in His goodness has not left this matter in doubt. In clear, unequivocal terms He has revealed to us which day is the Lord’s Day. The New Testament specifies the day which is the Lord’s Day in two passages of Scripture:


For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day (Matthew 12:8).

And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath (Luke 6:5).

Plainly the Sabbath day is the Lord’s Day. The Bible itself has cited this fact. But a new question arises: Which day is the Sabbath? The context of these two texts reveals that the Jews were accusing the disciples of sabbathbreaking in that they rubbed ears of corn in their hands. Clearly the day referred to was the day the Jews identified as the Sabbath.

If we are sincere searchers for Biblical truth, then we must permit the Scripture to identify the day which the Jews hallowed as the Sabbath. Once more the Bible is specific. Jesus was crucified on the day which many Christians designate as Good Friday. The Jews named that day the preparation day. Speaking of the day of Christ’s death, Luke recorded:


And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on (Luke 23:54).

Thus the Sabbath day of the Jews was the day after Friday.

The Roman Catholic Church WARNS Against Abandoning Thousands of Years of SUNDAY REST!

 

The consecration of Sunday and the profanation of the Sabbath / Marcos Escobar

The Final Crisis: The Sunday Law

 

Aug 8, 2026

THEY ARE CALLING FOR SUNDAY TO BE SET AS THE DAY OF REST WHILE AT THE SAME TIME OTHERS ARE MANDATING THE SABBATH SATURDAY TO BE A COMMON DAY OF COMMUNITY WORK

JD Vance Just Pushed This Sunday Law Nobody Saw Coming

 

V.P. JD Vance on Sunday Blue Laws

Graphic: (Source) TheFinalCrisis.Info

 AI Overview

Vice President J.D. Vance supports Sunday blue laws, arguing that the government should protect the Sabbath as a sacred day. In his book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, he advocates for legislation that restricts commercial activity so workers can rest, spend time with their families, and fulfill their religious obligations. 

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·bishopbarron

 +2

These traditional restrictions, sometimes called Sabbath laws or Sunday closing laws, were historically adopted to promote Christian worship by closing businesses or halting certain forms of retail. While most modern blue laws have been repealed, several states still maintain restrictions on Sunday commerce, such as limits on auto sales or alcohol availability. Vance's promotion of these policies centers on the idea that the state has a role in safeguarding societal morals and protecting time for church. 

Wikipedia

 +3

Explore the broader history of these regulations and their modern status on the Wikipedia Blue Law Entry or read critical analyses of Vance's political and religious messaging via Yahoo News Coverage. 

 [1]

Source: Google Artificial Intelligence 

THEY DEMAND A SUNDAY LAW - PROPOSAL FOR SUNDAY TO BE A DAY OF WORSHIP AND PRAISE- MARCOS ESCOBAR

 

The Rising Shadow of Sunday Laws | Mystery of Iniquity – 4/4 | Marko Kolic ( Seattle )

 

Sunday Rest Laws Are Spreading Worldwide (Sunday Laws Update)

 

Sunday Rest Proposal Raises Troubling Religious Liberty Concerns

A response by the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists

January 18, 2026

Columbia, Maryland.



A proposal by a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization to legally recognize and enforce a “uniform day of rest” represents a disturbing disregard for the religious freedom of all Americans. The Heritage Foundation’s document, “Saving America by Saving the Family,” calls for states and local municipalities to restrict commercial activities on Sunday as a way to promote spiritual engagement and provide a regular day of relaxation for American workers.

Seventh-day Adventists believe all people have been created in God’s image with the freedom to worship according to the dictates of their conscience. For more than 160 years, the Church has forcefully advocated against any form of Sunday law. Adventists have always understood these laws — whether at a local, state, or federal level — as attempts to compel conscience, even when they are defended on pretextual secular grounds such as promoting the health of communities and families.

This new proposal for a “uniform day of rest” is irreconcilable with America’s rich heritage of protecting the religious freedom of all its citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs or nonbelief. It represents a dangerous desire to use state power to advance religious objectives. Restricting commercial activities on Sunday also raises serious practical concerns for members of those faiths that do not worship on Sunday, including Seventh-day Adventists and Orthodox Jews.

Sunday laws run counter to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which preserves religious freedom for all Americans by requiring the government to remain neutral between different religious faiths. Our church leaders in the North American Division and the union conferences will continue to uphold the banner of truth and religious liberty, firmly opposing this proposal and any similar measures.

Copyright © 2026 North American Division Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists

Source

2026 & Sunday Laws

 

Support for a Uniform Day of Rest (from The Heritage Foundation Special Report)

In order to demonstrate a fulfillment of prophecy before our eyes we directly focus on the part that mentions Sunday Rest of this exhaustive report.

  

Saving America by Saving the Family: A Foundation for the Next 250 Years

January 8, 2026 Over an hour read Download Report


Authors:Roger Severino, Jay Richards, PhD, Emma Waters, Delano Squires, Rachel Sheffield and Robert Rector

Summary

To end America’s family crisis, policymakers and civic leaders should treat restoring the family home as a matter of justice, driven by two truths. The first is that all children have a right to the affection and protection of the man and woman who created them. The second is that the ideal environment in which to exercise this right is in a loving and stable home with their married biological parents. In contrast, the default in American culture today is to put the desires of adults over the needs of children. Children are too often called to sacrifice what is due to them—the presence of their mom and dad under the same roof for the entirety of their childhood.

Key Takeaways

1. The family is the foundation of civilization, and marriage—the committed union of one man and one woman—is its cornerstone. It is the seedbed of self-government.
2. The question that will determine the course of America’s future is: What happens to a nation when its citizens largely stop having children and eschew marriage?
3. The only way for America to thrive in the future is to rebuild the family—which can only happen with a societal commitment to revive the institution of marriage.

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Support for a Uniform Day of Rest. As zoning laws allow a community to determine where one can operate certain businesses, “blue laws” reflect the local judgments as to when one can operate certain businesses. In the case of McGowan v. Maryland (1961), the Supreme Court held by an eight-to-one vote that Sunday-closings laws that include the purpose of providing a uniform day of rest are constitutional and can accommodate the fact that the majority of people who take a day of rest for religious reasons do so on Sundays. Massachusetts, for example, requires that “every employer of labor engaged in carrying on any manufacturing, mechanical or mercantile establishment or workshop...shall allow every person...at least twenty-four consecutive hours of rest...in every seven consecutive days.”140

Day-of-rest laws limiting commercial activity are usually found in less densely populated counties, although restrictions on alcohol sales are more widespread. Though greatly diminished, blue laws persist in some form in close to 28 states.141

A uniform day of rest that limits commercial activity can provide temporal boundaries that help communities to set aside time for religious observance, family gatherings, outdoor activities, and rest. A stable base of research shows that these practices correlate with better mental health, stronger social bonds, and more stable family structures.142

With the advent of on-demand delivery, shopping can be shifted easily and conveniently to other days of the week. By restoring a common rhythm of rest and reflection, community rest laws could help to reverse the trend toward “spiritual homelessness” and foster the social habits necessary for communities to cohere and flourish.

Despite today’s on-demand culture, the U.S. Postal Service does not deliver regular mail on Sundays, most organized youth sports avoid Sunday competitions, and most banks are closed on Sundays. The ever-popular Chick-Fil-A chain closes its restaurants on Sundays for the benefit of its workers and their families. Where new, planned communities or transitioning communities form, they should consider adding rest days as part of their master plans for balanced and thriving community life.

Source

Sunday Rest Proposal Raises Troubling Religious Liberty Concerns

A response by the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists

January 18, 2026

Columbia, Md.



A proposal by a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization to legally recognize and enforce a “uniform day of rest” represents a disturbing disregard for the religious freedom of all Americans. The Heritage Foundation’s document, “Saving America by Saving the Family,” calls for states and local municipalities to restrict commercial activities on Sunday as a way to promote spiritual engagement and provide a regular day of relaxation for American workers.

Seventh-day Adventists believe all people have been created in God’s image with the freedom to worship according to the dictates of their conscience. For more than 160 years, the Church has forcefully advocated against any form of Sunday law. Adventists have always understood these laws — whether at a local, state, or federal level — as attempts to compel conscience, even when they are defended on pretextual secular grounds such as promoting the health of communities and families.

This new proposal for a “uniform day of rest” is irreconcilable with America’s rich heritage of protecting the religious freedom of all its citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs or nonbelief. It represents a dangerous desire to use state power to advance religious objectives. Restricting commercial activities on Sunday also raises serious practical concerns for members of those faiths that do not worship on Sunday, including Seventh-day Adventists and Orthodox Jews.

Sunday laws run counter to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which preserves religious freedom for all Americans by requiring the government to remain neutral between different religious faiths. Our church leaders in the North American Division and the union conferences will continue to uphold the banner of truth and religious liberty, firmly opposing this proposal and any similar measures.

Source

Sunday shopping ban doesn’t apply at American Dream mall, N.J. says in Bergen blue laws battle

Updated: Dec. 28, 2025, 12:10 p.m.|Published: Dec. 28, 2025, 12:09 p.m.

A sign outside American Dream mall in East Rutherford announces all stores are open Sunday.New Jersey Superior Court

By Allison Pries | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com


The American Dream Meadowlands is getting support from its landlord, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, in a legal dispute with Paramus over Bergen County’s longtime Sunday shopping ban.

The Borough of Paramus filed a lawsuit in August saying American Dream has flouted the ban, commonly known as “Blue Laws” since at least January 19 2025 by allowing its more than 120 retail tenants to operate on Sundays.

Bergen is the last county in New Jersey to maintain its historic ban on Sunday shopping — a policy that remains popular in the retail mecca. The laws prohibit the sale of clothing and apparel, building materials, furniture and appliances on Sundays.

The operators of the American Dream mall began advertising Sunday shopping earlier this year — sparking a legal fight with the borough of Paramus.

Among the defendants in the lawsuit is the NJSEA, an independent authority established by the state in 1971 to oversee the Meadowlands Sports Complex including MetLife Stadium, the Meadowlands Racetrack and now American Dream.

The 2-Word Trap Hidden in Charlie Kirk's Sabbath Book That WILL Help Bri...

Supreme Court Issues Decision In Religious Freedom Case

September 19, 2025

Getty Images

This article may contain commentary
which reflects the author's opinion.

The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously decided in favor of a postal worker from Pennsylvania in a significant religious liberty case involving the appropriateness of employers’ accommodation of religious preferences in the workplace.

Christian mailman Gerald Groff of Pennsylvania requested the court rule on whether the U.S. Postal Service may make him deliver parcels from Amazon on Sundays, which he observes as the Sabbath. His lawyer, Aaron Streett, argued in April that the court needed to review a decision from 50 years ago that set a standard for figuring out when companies have to make allowances for their workers’ religious practices.

In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court rejected a ruling from 1977 that mandated that businesses must “reasonably accommodate” an employee’s religious practices as long as doing so does not put an “undue hardship” on the company.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to accommodate employees’ religious practices unless doing so would be an “undue hardship” for the business. A 1977 Supreme Court case, Trans World Airlines v. Hardison, said employers could deny religious accommodations to employees when they impose “more than a de minimis cost” on the business.

AZ to consider mandatory church on Sunday bill?

 
AZ to consider mandatory church on Sunday bill?

ThreeSonorans

Mar 26, 2015

State Senator Sylvia Allen, Republican of course, in her defense of a guns-in-public-buildings bill, states that Arizona should require church attendance on Sundays for a moral rebirth.

All Nations Follow America's Lead, July 25, Maranatha Our Lord Is Coming, Ellen G. White

Our history of Sunday celebration and spiritual renewal

Our history of Sunday celebration and spiritual renewal

The Lord’s Day Alliance of the United States (LDA) was founded in 1888. That year representatives of six major Protestant denominations met in Washington, D.C. to organize the American Sabbath Union; this name was later changed to The Lord’s Day Alliance of the United States. We have been the one national organization whose sole purpose it is to maintain and cultivate the first day of the week as a time for rest, worship, Christian education and spiritual renewal.

Today, we’re now known as Rising Day Ministries of the Lord’s Day Alliance and we seek to create space in people’s lives to be transformed by God through reconnecting, renewing and reinvigorating them in the fullness of Sabbath delight and God’s Shalom.

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Sunday Law at the Gates: Jonathan Berry’s Nomination Heads to a Final Vote in the Full Senate

June 26, 2025 by Andy Roman

Jonathan Berry, known as “Mr. Sunday Law” for his public advocacy of bringing back Blue laws, has officially advanced one step closer to becoming the next Solicitor of the U.S. Department of Labor. On June 26, 2025, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted to move his nomination forward, clearing the way for a full hearing and vote in the Senate chamber. If confirmed, Berry would serve as the top legal officer in the Department of Labor, giving him significant influence over labor policy, workplace regulations, and religious accommodations. His nomination is raising eyebrows among those concerned about the growing entanglement of church and state, particularly in the context of labor reform and Sunday rest advocacy.

The US Senate Newsroom published the following on June 26, 2025:

• “Today, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee voted to advance eight of President Trump’s nominees at the Department of Education, the Department of Labor, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.” [1]

• “All nominations will now move to the Senate floor for a final vote at a later date. The approved nominations include:” [1]

• “Penny Schwinn to serve as Deputy Secretary of Education, Department of Education” [1]

• “Kimberly Richey to serve as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Department of Education” [1]

• “Daniel Aronowitz to serve as Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor” [1]

• “David Keeling to serve as Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Department of Labor” [1]

• “Jonathan Berry to serve as Solicitor, Department of Labor” [1]

• “Andrew Rogers to serve as Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor” [1]

• “Andrea Lucas to serve as a Member, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission” [1]

• “Jeremiah Workman to serve as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans’ Employment and Training, Department of Labor” [1]

We are witnessing a dangerous and deliberate shift as politicians and political appointees are no longer concealing their intent to use government as a tool to resurrect and restore Christianity in America. When civil power is hijacked to enforce religious doctrines, the line between church and state is not just crossed—it’s obliterated. This is not merely a misguided political movement; it is the fulfillment of Revelation’s warning about a false revival that will use state authority to enforce worship, leading to the formation of the image of the beast (Revelation 13:13–14).

As lawmakers desperately attempt to “save” society, we will see an increasing push for religious legislation: Ten Commandments displayed on government property, Bible reading and prayer mandated in public schools, and the revival of Sunday as the state-endorsed day of worship. While they may appear as acts of patriotism and morality, they actually mark the start of a prophetic crisis and religious tyranny.

“When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near” (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 451).

Sources

[1] https://www.help.senate.gov/rep/newsroom/press/senate-help-committee-votes-to-approve-president-trumps-education-labor-nominees

Source

Sunday Law Update: Forced Worship Begins; Christians Will Be Persecuted