Tomorrow IS NOT A Holy Day Of Obligation

[JeffreyLloyd]

If you live in the U.S., that is...

According to the complimentary norms for the United States:

Whenever January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, or August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption, or November 1, the solemnity of All Saints, falls on a Saturday or on a Monday, the precept to attend Mass is abrogated.

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PROOF HERE

So, unlike last weekend, you don't gotta make it to two Masses. (Though you are of course welcome to!)


- From Jimmy Akin's blog

 

[JeffreyLloyd]

More from Jimmy's blog:

Down yonder, a reader asks:

"...the precept to attend Mass is abrogated."

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Why ?

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Because people would resist and resent it if they were forced to go to church two days in a row. (And it is more of a hassle on holy days since most parishes try to get away with a smaller number of Masses than on Sundays, meaning that the parking lots are more crowded and the people are often unsure when those Masses will be since the usual schedule isn't being kept.)

People will put up with that for Christmas (like this year), but they'll either resent it or won't come other holy days.

That's awful un-pious, of course, but then this is a fallen world, and that's just where American society is right now.

Still, we have about 28% regular Mass attendance among Catholics here, which is not only better than a large number of developed countries but (contrary to popular impression) better than church attendance by Protestants here (they typically show up at church about 25% of the time).

Note that I'm not endorsing the abrogation of the need to go to Mass tomorrow, I'm merely explaining it.

A counterargument could be made that if the Church expected more out of people by way of piety that they'd rise to the occasion and act more pious. That's certainly true in some ways, and one well might argue that this would be the case here.

 

[cool2bCatholic]

Is it so terrible to attend Mass and recieve the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus(if in a state of grace of course) 2 days in a row?
God bless you and Pax Christi
Angela

 

[JeffreyLloyd]

Is it so terrible to attend Mass and recieve the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus(if in a state of grace of course) 2 days in a row?
God bless you and Pax Christi
Angela

Sad, huh

 

[marciadietrich]

I enjoyed doing Christmas and the Sunday after back to back.

I went to daily Mass today, but might not manage tomorrow - but would like to. Will probably watch whatever they have on EWTN if I don't make it tomorrow.

Marcia

 

[Paul S]

People will put up with that for Christmas (like this year), but they'll either resent it or won't come other holy days.

Why is it that disobedience tends to be not an occasion to teach people why the rules are there, but an occasion to give in and relax the rules? That's how we ended up with Communion in the hand and altar girls and Ascension Thursday Sunday, and I think the effect hasn't been good. If anything, we need more fasting and praying in these times, not less.

Maybe the bishops thought relaxing discipline would make Catholicism seem less strict and all about rules, but I don't think it's worked, especially if only 28% of Catholics go to Mass every Sunday. That's just sad. Once you know what Mass is all about, how could you even consider not going, and what could possibly be more important than physically receiving Jesus?

 

[Aaron-Aggie]

Let's keep in mind:
A: The Bishops have approval from Rome for this
B: For the most part the people that don't like the fact the be requied to go two mass two straight days would go to mass even if it was required.
C: Until the recent ages Holy Day's of Obligations were also national Holidays
D: There is mass every day including tommorow so no one is dening any one mass

 

[Mystery5]

People can go if they wish. I like to go to extra Masses. I don't know why folks complain about not being forced to do something that they are perfectly free to do voluntarily.

I have to work a nightshift tonight, so won't make the 9AM Mass tommorrow. I need to sleep because I need to work a 12 hr shift tommorrow.

 

[Paul S]

Let's keep in mind:
A: The Bishops have approval from Rome for this
B: For the most part the people that don't like the fact the be requied to go two mass two straight days would go to mass even if it was required.
C: Until the recent ages Holy Day's of Obligations were also national Holidays
D: There is mass every day including tommorow so no one is dening any one mass

The bishops do have approval, so it's not a sin to skip Mass tomorrow, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily a good practice or helpful to people's faith. I really don't think requiring people to go to church six extra days a year is that burdensome. If we weren't required to go to Mass on Sundays, I think a lot of otherwise good Catholics wouldn't go every week. We should go because of our love of God, but there's always those days when you'd just rather sleep in, and the obligation to attend Mass is what gets you to church.

Maybe the bishops are right and we don't need all these rules, but if loosening them was supposed to boost attendance, it hasn't worked. Maybe it's time to try something else.

 

[Markh]

In England and Wales the Holy Days of Obligation are as follows:

The Epiphany (6th January)
The Ascension (Thursday after the 6th Sunday of Easter)
Corpus Christi (Thursday after Trinity Sunday)
Saints Peter & Paul (29th June)
The Assumption (15th August)
All Saints (1st November)
The Nativity (25th December)

 

[InnerPhyre]

So since we're all just a bunch of spiritual slackers, the Church will throw up its hands and say "oh well!" That doesn't sit right with me at all. Sometimes being a Christian is difficult and requires...oh I dunno....devotion? Effort maybe? This seems to me to be the crowd walking away from Jesus and rather than letting them go, Jesus says "wait wait wait! I was only kidding about that Body and Blood thing! You can all stay!"

 

[Alexis OCA]

A counterargument could be made that if the Church expected more out of people by way of piety that they'd rise to the occasion and act more pious. That's certainly true in some ways, and one well might argue that this would be the case here.

Perhaps. Maybe a lesson we can draw from this is that we need to take more personal responsibility for our spiritual health.

 

[bigsierra]

Here is how it was explained to me. Since people get confused, they don't have the regular mass schedule today. They will have one mass Sat. (early) It won't be at regular time. It's probably going on right now. So, there won't be the noon mass like normal. If they had one late, then people might think they have to make it to both today and tomorrow.
It is a bit frustrating. If they treated it like a day of obligation, there would be an extra mass. The schedule would still be screwy, but there would at least be the extra mass time.

 

[marciadietrich]

Here is how it was explained to me. Since people get confused, they don't have the regular mass schedule today. They will have one mass Sat. (early) It won't be at regular time. It's probably going on right now. So, there won't be the noon mass like normal. If they had one late, then people might think they have to make it to both today and tomorrow.
It is a bit frustrating. If they treated it like a day of obligation, there would be an extra mass. The schedule would still be screwy, but there would at least be the extra mass time.

This varies parish to parish how they schedule this. We had an extra Mass today at 10:30. Fairly well attended but no one with children and I was likely the youngest person there. Then there will be an evening Mass tonight for those who attend that for the Sunday obligation, so the weekend schedule as usual.

I expect people with kids who didn't have to go skipped because they would have to be there again tonight or tomorrow with the kids in tow and just easier to skip if not obligated to attend.

(edit: this part addressing previous thoughts, not your comments Scott) I don't think there is any problem with communion in the hand (even though I receive on the tongue) or having these changes for holy days so close to Sunday causing less piety among people. I think it is more societal trends. My husband was not allowed to receive by hand even though it was in practice (his father being old school Catholic and he and his brother got smacked after Mass for accepting the Eucharist by hand, after that they just didn't do it again), spent many years in Catholic schools, forced to attend, spent time as an altar boy and all those things didn't add up to a person of faith. You have to want to be there. I want to be there, I go on days of obligation out of love. I love it.

Marcia

 

[ukok]

It wasn't an Obligation for us to attend Mass today in England, but we went anyway..and i'm so glad we did...any opportunity to draw closer to Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, just has to be a good thing!


God Bless.

 

[Paul S]

(edit: this part addressing previous thoughts, not your comments Scott) I don't think there is any problem with communion in the hand (even though I receive on the tongue) or having these changes for holy days so close to Sunday causing less piety among people. I think it is more societal trends. My husband was not allowed to receive by hand even though it was in practice (his father being old school Catholic and he and his brother got smacked after Mass for accepting the Eucharist by hand, after that they just didn't do it again), spent many years in Catholic schools, forced to attend, spent time as an altar boy and all those things didn't add up to a person of faith. You have to want to be there. I want to be there, I go on days of obligation out of love. I love it.

The problem with Communion in the hand is that it blurs the distinction between clergy and laity, plus the Host is more likely to be dropped, leave crumbs on the hands, or stolen. We're receiving God Himself - why shouldn't we be on our knees?

I don't think "societal trends" are a reason for the Church to change. Many Catholics get divorced and use birth control, but that's not changing. Even though how we receive Communion is discipline and can change, that doesn't mean it should. There's some surveys that show only 70% of Catholics believe in the Real Presence; others show it's as low as 30%. Whichever figure is true, it's way down from 50 years ago. Receiving on the tongue, kneeling, is one way to reinforce the belief that this is Jesus we're receiving, not a piece of bread.

Requiring someone to go to Mass might not make them a good Catholic at the time, but maybe it would pay off later. Letting people stay home certainly won't help. My parents always required me to go to Mass on Sundays, even though I really didn't want to, and I finally quit going near the end of high school. Now, though, I don't think I'd be back in the Church if I hadn't been shown how important Sunday Mass was. If loosening the rules was supposed to get people back to Church, it hasn't worked.

 

[frettr00]

I didn't go today, stayed up too late new years eve so I slept in... It's supposedly optional..but I still feel bad about it.