Dear Parishioners,
With the Solemnity of the Assumption of
the Blessed Virgin Mary coming up on August 15th, I thought
that this article might be helpful.
A question is frequently asked: “Why do we have to attend Mass some years on
a particular holy day, and on other years there is no obligation to attend
Mass?”
Holy Days of Obligation often generate confusion and need
clarification. In the universal Catholic Church, there are ten of these days.
However, each individual country is allowed--through its conference of bishops
(the U.S.C.C.B. in America)--to
decide which days are to be observed and how they are to be observed.
Back in 1991 in the USA, the
conference of bishops chose to move the observation of some of these Holy Days
to Sunday (such as Corpus Christi,
and the Epiphany). Still, six are
retained on their actual calendar dates:
·
January
1--The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
·
Thursday
of the Sixth Week of Easter (40 days after Easter)--The Ascension of Our Lord
(Ascension Thursday)
·
August
15--The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
·
November
1--All Saints Day
·
December
8--The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
·
December
25—Christmas
What is perhaps one of the most
confusing aspects for almost everyone is the question: “Why are we obliged to attend Mass some years and not others?”
Basically, when the Holy Days fall on a Saturday or a Monday—being so close to
Sunday—the bishops of the USA removed the obligation to attend Mass on those
days. This is true except for the Immaculate
Conception (the Patroness of the USA) and Christmas. We observe these days no matter when they occur.
Now that you are thoroughly
confused, I want to make a few important points for you to consider. First, if the universal Catholic Church
has considered these days holy, then they deserve our attention, consideration
and observance no matter when they occur (or whether we are required to attend
Mass). Second, I hate to see people become so legalistic that we are
constantly looking to observe the absolute, bare minimum that we could possibly
do for God. We should develop an attitude of generosity toward God and not an
attitude resembling something like a minimum daily requirement. What if God had
that type of attitude toward us? Finally, these holy days should be a
reminder for us to try to bring the sacred into our daily routine.
There are so many things that can
distract us from God in the world today. Recalling and observing these sacred
days and the events that they represent are a good way for us to Christianize
our lives, family and world. I hope to see you in Church at Mass on these days
because you want to be there, not because you sometimes are obliged to do so.
Fr. Ed Namiotka
Pastor
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