Travelling and Holy Days of Obligation in different countries

[twf]

On the other hand, I thought universal law still binds travellers… so for example Christmas is always a day of obligation. Christmas would always be binding for travellers?

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

@Theprodigalson84j
@twf
The idea, though, is that travel creates obstacles to Mass attendance wherein it may not be possible or reasonable to get to Mass, particularly outside of Sundays.

 

[angell1]

it’s not always about that, it’s to lay to rest scruples to know exactly what the church teaches. like others have said, travelling is usually complicated enough, it can be difficult to find churches and mass times that are accurate, I have this issue even with regular sonday mass when I am away somewhere

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

I never really liked the term "obligation " put on it. More like a holy day of opportunity! I wish I could go to mass every day!

There’s nothing stopping you from going daily if you wish. But the Church imposes an obligation on people, and since that’s the case it’s not surprising that people have questions about what is the minimum they can do to meet the obligation.

If the “rule” was simply that it is laudable to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days there wouldn’t be questions about how late can I arrive and still have it count as laudable or is it still laudable to attend Mass when I’m away from home.

The Church has chosen to apply a stick rather than a carrot and this is the result.

 

[acanonlawyer]

On the other hand, I thought universal law still binds travellers… so for example Christmas is always a day of obligation. Christmas would always be binding for travellers?

Universal law binds those for whom it was issued everywhere, except for those who are in a place where the universal law is not in force (c. 12) but who have a domicile/quasi-domicile somewhere (c. 13 says transients–people with no domicile/quasi-domicile–are bound by universal law). So, travelers can be exempt from universal law if that universal law is not in force where they happen to be.

To this particular issue, I think the law does in fact lead to the conclusion that travelers are not bound to attend Mass on Christmas. Every episcopal conference has particular law on this point–there really is no universal law that binds anyone. It’s all particularized by each conference of bishops.

Fortunately, I think it is still the case that Christmas is one time when people go to Mass even though (in my understanding) there is no obligation to do so.

Dan

 

[porthos11]

The Church has chosen to apply a stick rather than a carrot and this is the result.

And it is a good stick, because it is still better for people to attend Mass out of obligation than to not attend Mass at all. It is preferred that people attend Mass out of love for God, but if they’re not there yet, then they should at least attend Mass for a less perfect reason: obligation. Eventually, we hope everyone will grow in love, but till then, kids should be treated like kids.