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#Post#: 3--------------------------------------------------
Holidays of Obligation
DIR By: Peter Browne
Date: November 5, 2013, 8:56 am
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Though I am a regular Sunday mass-goer, I can't remember when I
last took time out to go to church on a Holiday of Obligation.
When I was younger I believed that this would be a mortal sin.
The idea of a Holy day being a holiday and a holiday being
obligatory seems faintly absurd these days. Like Christmas and
Easter still are, I suppose mid-week holy days were usually days
off work for most in society many decades (centuries?) ago.
When I was growing up and we Catholics felt a bit persecuted,
observing holidays of obligation (like eating fish on Fridays)
was a perhaps a kind of gesture of defiance and
identity-enforcement. Now it seems more like an optional pious
practice. What should we be teaching our children and telling
non-Catholics about holidays of obligation? Mortal sin? Pious
practice? Something else?
#Post#: 5--------------------------------------------------
Re: Holidays of Obligation
DIR By: Goodnewsfob
Date: November 7, 2013, 7:35 am
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Peter has a point that the extra Holy days are a strange
occurrence today.
Over the years the Church quickly lost the celebration of the
eves of important Church calendar days. It is strange that now
those who have no Christian background are bringing back the
celebration of All Saints day, although this is just a marketing
ploy imported from America. However, it was seen as important
and added to the variety in life. So the feast days, occasional
events to have a better meal than normal, would be preceded by a
fast day.
The Church in this country accepted that Holy Days were not
being celebrated as in the past and so moved them to Sundays, to
ensure that some aspect of these days was brought to ordinary
Catholics' attention. there has been a reversal of that move in
some ways because the less ordinary Catholics thought it was
wrong and certainly the way it was brought about was ludicrous -
we have discussed this so you will do this.
Personally, I like the variety and at the same time the
regularity of the Church year, but I admit I tend to observe a
Holy day only when it is a day I would be attending a weekday
morning Mass, which means that I am not treating it as a special
day.
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