DESPERATE HELP - holy days of obligation

[slanzill]

I’m a cradle Catholic and consider myself to be very devout, however I’ve had a question that I’ve been seeking an answer to for years can’t seem to get a straight answer. I’ve spoken with priests, deacons, I’ve even contacted my local diocese office and get very vague run around answers.

Here goes…I know the church teaches that if you have mortal sin on your soul at the time of death, that you cannot get into heaven or even purgatory. Unconfessed mortal sin means you go to hell with no chance of heaven. Now…I also know that the church teaches that if you miss mass on Holy days of obligation (without good reason)…THAT is a mortal sin. Here’s my issue…this means that the church is telling me that if I do not feel like going to mass for no good reason on “Mary’s Feast Day” Jan. 1st. that I am going to hell. How on earth can they say “Mary’s Feast Day” or any other “Mary day” of holy obligation is an obligation.

Don’t get me wrong…I have absolutely no problems with the Blessed Mother. I defend her stance in our church to protestants all the time. I pray the rosary, I honor her, and ask her for intercession and I get that she should be honored and hold a special place in our church…HOWEVER to tell a person that they are OBLIGATED to go to church on her feast day or they will be in the state of mortal sin which in turn sends you to hell if not confessed seems outrageous to me. I see nothing wrong with having masses on these special days regarding Mary…but to attach a Mary mass to our Salvation really rubs me wrong. Jesus said “I AM” the way, the truth and the life and nobody comes to the father except through me. He didn’t say nobody comes to the father except through Me and Mary and the Saints.

Same goes for All Saints Day. I love the Saints and I pray to them all the time, however to tell me that I am obligated to go to mass on those days or else I am in the state of Mortal Sin just makes me crazy. That makes no sense to me how the church can make these specific days about Mary and the saints Holy Days of Obligation and tell you that if you don’t go it’s a Mortal Sin.

I don’t believe the church should be obligating people to go on those days. It would be nice if people DID go, but it should not be an obligation to get to heaven. I don’t understand this at all.

Protestants are always accusing Catholics of worshiping Mary…and something like this gives them the ammunition to make that statement. We DO NOT worship Mary, however if you tell a protestant that you have to go to church on her feast day or else you will be in mortal sin (which means you can’t get into heaven)…this is why they think we worship her. Think about it…this kind of puts her in a worshiping spot if she can depict our salvation in the end.

Can someone shed some light on this for me and help me to understand how this makes sense…OR can someone give me their views on this situation? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

First of all, attending Mass on Sundays and on Holy Days of Obligation is a long-standing Precept of the Church. As explained in more detail at the link, the Precepts are a description of the absolute minimum actions that the Church requires of Catholics. Mass attendance on Sundays and on the specified Holy Days of Obligation, which are few in number, is not a big burden and is a large part of how we keep the Third Commandment.

Therefore, whether you or I or anyone else on this forum thinks there should be Holy Days of Obligation at all, or whether we think there should be ones for Mary and All Saints or not, it’s not our call. The Magisterium sets the Holy Days and we’re obligated to show up. You don’t get a vote.

Mass is a prayer to God, so even if it’s on a solemnity of Mary or on a day honoring All Saints, you’re still worshipping God and praying to God. We do not worship Mary at the Mass. We do not worship saints at the Mass. The Mass is the sacrifice of Jesus, always, regardless of what the solemnity is for the day, or if it’s an ordinary Sunday, or an ordinary weekday.

Second, this blog post explains the importance of Holy Days of Obligation.

St. Mary's Catholic Center

The Church obviously puts holy days of obligation on days that commemorate very important teachings or dogmas of the Church. It is to remind us of the importance of the teaching. The Church has some important teachings regarding Mary and saints (and the definition of “Saints” for purposes of the holy day is the entire Church Triumphant, not just the canonized saints).

As a Catholic, I don’t care what Protestants might think of our Holy Days of Obligation or anything else. The Church doesn’t adjust its holy days in order to make Protestants happy. if Protestants have a problem because we are obligated to attend Mass on the day of the Immaculate Conception or whatever, it’s their problem, not mine and not the Church’s.

If it bothers you so much to go to Mass on a Mary day, then you could simply focus on Jesus at the Mass. Or you could go to Mass every day and then the obligation day would be just another day in your week when you worship Jesus at Mass.

 

[slanzill]

I obviously know I do not get a vote. I understand it is what it is. I think I’m wanting to know more the “why” this is a holy day of obligation. How do they come up with this? According to this “rule” about attending mass on Mary’s feast day it is saying a person can be very devout, attend mass every Sunday, have a deep prayer life, pray the rosary regularly, be very involved in church ministries, goes to confession regularly, is very charitable, etc…but if they don’t feel like going to mass on January 1st they will go to hell??? That’s outrageous to me. How can the church teach that???

 

[slanzill]

And you can say you do not care what protestants think, however Apologetics, defending the faith is a very real thing that we should all be concerned about. We as Catholics should be able to defend our faith at all times when confronted. And we should have clear answers. But when this issue is brought up to me I feel like a fool because I do not have an answer and quite frankly I agree with them. Mary should be honored yes…but not put in a place that will sacrifice our salvation if we do not attend mass on “her day”.

 

[eann]

It is a mortal sin but no one can really say that you are going to go to hell. That’s God’s call at the time of judgement.

 

[humbleseeker]

You trust in the Church’s authority to canonize scripture and declare dogmas of the faith, but the Church deciding which days one is obligated to attend mass is unreasonable to you?

 

[C.Ray]

It sounds to me that you would prefer to form your own religion with its own rules, rather than those set down by the Church which our Lord founded. Perhaps that is something upon which to meditate.

 

[slanzill]

I trust in their authority to canonize scripture and declare dogmas yes…but that doesn’t mean if something seems totally outrageous to me that I can’t question it. I don’t like to just believe something “just because” or because someone told me to believe it. There are things that I trust that may not make sense to me or that I don’t understand, but I can some how see where they could possibly be coming from or I can see how someone would possibly think it makes sense. But then there are things that make no sense at all and I question it. For example, If the church started telling us that they are changing things and from now on we have to start doing something outrageous like confessing our sins to the church secretary…you better believe I’m going to question it. I’m not going to just do it and sit back and say nothing just because I trust the church to canonize scripture and dogmas so I may as well just do whatever they tell me to do.

I’m looking for understanding as to “why” they would make Mary’s feast day an obligation and give Her day the power to be in mortal sin and in turn not get into heaven.

 

[slanzill]

[C.Ray] Nothing could be farther from the truth. I am not wanting form my own church with my own rules. I’m just looking for answers. I love my catholic faith. What is wrong with asking questions about something that I do not understand or that doesn’t make sense to me?

 

[Fauken]

I’m looking for understanding as to “why” they would make Mary’s feast day an obligation and give Her day the power to be in mortal sin and in turn not get into heaven.

Mary doesn’t have one feast day. I don’t know the exact number, but it’s easily over a dozen. The day you are referring to is Mary, Mother of God. The Holy Days of Obligation are about very important things in our faith, right? Like Jesus’ birth, resurrection, etc.? Is it not important to recognize Christ’s divinity and that Mary did indeed give birth to Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity? Especially when so many denominations downplay what she did, claim that she was a sinner, and that the Church hates women. Did you know there was a heresy in the early Church that disputed this? They claimed she was not Theotokos (Mother of God), but Christokos (Mother of Christ). It is a reminder to us all of not only what Mary did, but what Christ did. It is not a trivial day they drew out of a hat.

 

[C.Ray]

slanzill, I believe it is a matter of filial duty. Jesus, like we ourselves, was under the commandment to honor his father and mother. Since we are members of the body of Christ, The Blessed Virgin Mary is also our mother. As Queen of Heaven she also is entitled to our devotion. I think this is why (in my mind anyways) certain Marian feasts are obligatory.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Did you read the blog link I posted about why we have the Holy Days?

Apologetics does not mean we have to conform our practice to make Protestants less uncomfortable.
Apologetics also doesn’t mean you’re always going to get an anewer you like or that resolves the problem for you.
Sometimes it’s going to be a case of “because the Church says so.”

I also don’t understand why you’re so hung up on the “miss Mass, get punished” business. If you’re a good Catholic, you should want to be at Mass as often as possible. Holy Days should be welcomed as an extra opportunity to love, praise and worship God. Pitching a fit over the solemnity of the Mass day is missing the point, and frankly, petty.

 

[DeniseNY]

Protestants are always accusing Catholics of worshiping Mary…and something like this gives them the ammunition to make that statement.

Quite frankly, who cares what they think on this? If they dont/can’t/wont understand the difference between worship and veneration, that’s on them.

 

[Mary888]

But wait! You can still confess this mortal sin right? Or do you have a problem with the custom in itself?..

 

[Vico]

…

I also know that the church teaches that if you miss mass on Holy days of obligation (without good reason)…THAT is a mortal sin. Here’s my issue…this means that the church is telling me that if I do not feel like going to mass for no good reason on “Mary’s Feast Day” Jan. 1st. that I am going to hell. …

It is more than simply missing without good reason. Mortal sin requires three things: grievous matter, sufficient reflection, and full consent of the will. If those are present then it is a freely chosen loss of friendship with God.

Catechism

1853 … The root of sin is in the heart of man, in his free will, according to the teaching of the Lord:

"For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man."128

But in the heart also resides charity, the source of the good and pure works, which sin wounds.

1861 Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace. …

 

[humbleseeker]

Quite frankly, who cares what they think on this?

The Op, based on past posts, has a lapsed brother who is now Baptist. In charity we should give answers, and some already have, to help them overcome this confusion.

 

[slanzill]

Tis_Bearself - I don’t appreciate your tone with me. I’m just here looking for clarification and you’re ridiculing me for my feelings. Just because one may not want to go to church on January 1st or Dec. 8th doesn’t make them any less of a “good Catholic”.

 

[1ke]

The Church has the power to bind and loose. That is why the Church can establish canonical requirements such as feast days, fast days, etc., that we must follow. Christ gave the keys, to bind and loose.

The Church recognized very early the importance of certain events in the life of Christ. The feast days we celebrate go back to the very early centuries. They developed organically. The feasts are great celebration days, hence the word “holiday” which comes from “holy day”.

As to your question, yes mortal sin will keep us from heaven. But it’s not a game of gotcha. Disobeying Church law and the moral law are serious. But reconciliation is always available.

Your scenario is nonsensical. A devout person you describe isn’t going to unrepentantly miss mass for no reason knowing it’s grave to do so. They are going to either have a reason, or they are going to have sorrow for refusing mass on a holy day.

If someone WERE to do what you describe— how is that different from the rebellion and pride of Satan, “I will not serve”?

 

[slanzill]

Again I totally understand the reason for having masses on these days. Mary holds a special place in our church and should be honored and having masses on these days are good to have. Just like having mass on Ash Wednesday is good to have, however we are not obligated to go on Ash Wednesday.

Please understand I’m not criticizing that fact that we have masses on these days to honor the Blessed Mother. My confusion is being told we are “obligated” to go on these days. I understand being obligated on Easter and Christmas because Jesus is the way the truth and the life. But being obligated on a day that honors Mary just doesn’t make sense to me. We are obligated to believe in Jesus as our Savior, we are obligated to follow him and trust in him. We are obligated to love Him. But the obligation for Mary’s Feast day seems to me like it should be offered and a choice whether to go or not…just like Ash Wednesday.

 

[1ke]

But being obligated on a day that honors Mary just doesn’t make sense to me.

The Marian holy days do honor Christ. You don’t understand Mariology if you think they aren’t about Christ. The Dogmas regarding Mary all grew out of correcting Christological heresies.

Mary, Mother is God is a truth about the nature of Christ that refutes the Nestorian heresy, for example.