So is Ascension Thursday an obligation today or on Sunday?

[Tis_Bearself]

So, basically, if you live in New England

I don’t mean to split hairs, but Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York are NOT “New England”

edited to say Oops, I see Spyridon beat me to it.

Seriously, if I referred to New Jersey as being in New England, people from either place would laugh really hard.

 

[ajg]

Why do some diocese move holy days of obligation?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Why do some diocese move holy days of obligation?

That’s an excellent question. I suppose they’d cite declining attendance or lack of priests to say the Masses. Thing is, places like Pittsburgh diocese aren’t exactly chockablock with priests, and they manage to somehow say the holy day Masses on the holy days. We also have very few holy days that fall on weekdays, anyway.

It just gives a perception that the holy day isn’t important, and I don’t get it either, given that the vast majority of people seem to be able to get themselves to church on the holy day in the states that still have them.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Why do some diocese move holy days of obligation?

I think that if you’re someplace (like one time in Europe) where holy days were also civic holidays it was easy to treat it like a Sunday and attend Mass. When a holy day isn’t a civic holiday, people have to try and fit a Mass obligation into an already-full schedule. Often that means that they skip Mass.

I think the bishops have largely looked at the reality of the situation and figured out that additional holy days are often burdens rather than celebrations. If the feast is worth commemorating, then do it on a Sunday when people will attend Mass rather than a random weekday when people generally don’t attend anyway.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

But have you tried telling people from Albany that they’re not in New England?

 

[KJW5551]

I live in a state that maintains today as a holy day. Mass after work this afternoon was…not exactly an overflow crowd.

I think our priests would do well to explain to us the origin and importance of holy days on the Sunday before. I think just having it in the bulletin doesn’t get the point across very well.

 

[OraLabora]

When I was still working I had roughly 3 hours of commuting per day (1.5 hours each way), plus a full 8 hour day. I would get home so beat there’s no way I’d be able to have supper and drag my sorry rear end to an evening Mass. I would have likely fallen asleep in my pew, or worse, at the wheel on the way to/from Mass,

 

[ajg]

That’s when us, as a parishioner, has to distinguish if it is acceptable to skip. I fully believe that all holy days of obligations are important and should be celebrated. Maybe that’s just me. I feel like I’m in the wrong even though I called a couple of parishes to see if I could find a mass this afternoon

 

[Joe_5859]

You’d be more accurate saying “if you live in the Northeast US or Nebraska.”

I accept your better choice of words.

 

[babochka]

I live in Morgantown, West Virginia, just south of the Mason Dixon line. We’re in the weird situation where today is NOT a holy day of obligation in our fair town, but travel just a few miles north to Point Marion, Pa., and it is. Many people who make their homes just over the line in Pennsylvania work here in Morgantown. They will be obligated, since as I understand it your obligation depends on where you are “domiciled”.

I know the priest at St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church in Morgantown!

To further complicate matters, today is a Holy Day of Obligation for Byzantine Catholics.

 

[MrZoom]

I know the priest at St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church in Morgantown.

Small world. I visited St. Mary’s Byzantine on Easter Sunday (having sung with the choir at my Roman Catholic parish at the Easter Vigil the night before).

 

[OraLabora]

That’s when us, as a parishioner, has to distinguish if it is acceptable to skip.

Yes it requires our prudential judgement. We have to recognize that the Church does not hold us up to the impossible. She does not even hold us up to the unreasonable, and it is up to each of us to make the determination of what’s reasonable or not. Is it unreasonable to risk falling asleep at the wheel to get to Church after a hard day? I think it is. Is it unreasonable to endure a minor inconvenience such as delaying a meal, or replacing supper with a quick sandwich and glass of milk? Probably not unless your dietary needs are dictated by a medical condition.

No point in beating ourselves up with guilt over it!