Does a 6:00pm Sunday Mass Fufill One's Obligation?

[FrDavid96]

I suppose the bishop (or bishops conference) could make an exception. Typically here, Monday Holy Days are not considered obligatory, but the diocese announces that ahead of time. I don’t see that happening with Christmas, and they didn’t do it the last time this occurred, if I recall correctly.

In theory, they could. Remember though that it would still require Rome’s approval.

The US bishops have pretty much made it clear that they have no intention of ever removing the Christmas obligation, not in the foreseeable future.

Edit to add: I just checked the websites for my Archdiocese and the USCCB. Christmas is always a Holy Day of Obligation (which I knew), but I thought they might dispense the Sunday obligation; they have not. You’ll need to go twice in 48 hours. However, they did remove the obligation (nationally) for Monday, Jan. 1, 2018 for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

Exactly.

 

[FrDavid96]

Yeah. All Masses on Sundays or Holy Days are for that day. You can’t have a vigil for the next day on a Sunday.

Actually, we can.

If the Holy Day (ie Monday Christmas) outranks the 4th Sunday of Advent (and of course it does), then that Christmas Eve Mass is not only permitted, it is required according to a strict reading of the liturgical law. Keep reading though.

There are 2 different aspects to what you posted:

1. Does it fulfill the obligation?
2. Which Mass formula is used?

As to the first part, any Mass on the calendar day or the evening before satisfies the canonical obligation. Any Mass at all.

As to the second part, that can cause confusion because the liturgical laws seem at first to allow for either possibility. Strictly speaking, Christmas outranks the Sunday, so the Mass on Sunday evening should be that of Christmas. HOWEVER for pastoral reasons, the bishop may permit and the pastor may schedule a Sunday Mass on the evening of Sunday, December 24. There was a notice to this effect from the Holy See way back in the early 1970s when the calendar norms were relatively new.

 

[upant]

Thank you! I actually just posted the Beer Barrel Polka last month!

Nope. I can’t sing. If I tried I would sound like Jerry Lewis mixed with Joe Pesci. I sing when I go to church. One day the guy in front of me put his finger to his mouth in a “sshhhh-ing” motion. I guess he really hates my singing!

ok, i’m not a big you tuber and i didn’t click the video link.

i just did and see i have a few more to listen to. thanks

i love to sing and can’t either, my daughter shushes me at church.

 

[Usige]

Thanks for clarifying the situation with Christmas and Christmas Eve this year, @FrDavid96. We just essentially got the same from our Bishop reminding us that there must be enough Sunday Masses as well as Christmas Masses for people to fulfill both obligations separately. Ww need to make sure that we are including that in the announcements during advent.

 

[MrZoom]

This reminds me, actually, of a previous time that Christmas fell on a Monday, back in 2000. I had taken Amtrak and Greyhound up to Detroit to visit my parents for the holidays. Neither of them were practicing Catholics at that point (my dad never was; my mom had left the Church a few years before), but my dad attempted to take me to Sunday Mass at nearby St. Mary’s of Redford parish. We got there to discover that Mass was getting out at about the same time it would normally start on a Sunday, and there were no further Sunday Masses scheduled for that day. My dad took me back to the house, and there was no further effort made to get me to Mass until that evening, when Mom took me to the “Midnight” Mass (which was actually before midnight).

I was rather upset by this, and my mom tried to calm me by suggesting the bishop might have dispensed the Sunday obligation, as had been done in the past when this calendar configuration had happened.

I didn’t confess it, because I reasoned I had made my best effort to get to Mass, considering that I was reliant on others for transportation in this case.

Although if I had known what was shared above, I might have tried to convince my Mom to drop me off for Christmas morning Mass. Since the “Midnight” Mass was actually before midnight, it would have counted for Sunday, and then the Christmas Day Mass would have counted for the Christmas obligation.