Why aren't Holy Days of Obligation the same worldwide?

[Tis_Bearself]

I am pretty uncomfortable with the idea of reducing or moving holy days just because people dont attend Mass on them. I do not understand how in one part of the USA there’s a full church on All Saints and another part of the country, no one is showing up. Maybe the priests with the low attendance need to take a lesson from the dioceses with good attendance?

 

[babochka]

Take California for example. One of the reasons why the bishops there dispense from the obligation on January 1 of each year is that the cultural celebrations of New Years Day make it very difficult for Catholics to attend Mass. In other cultures, Jan. 1 doesn’t mean much—for example Oriental cultures who have a different day for the new year, so they can dedicate Jan 1 to being exclusively about the Solemnity of Mary.

That’s interesting. As a lifelong Californian, I’ve never experienced difficulty getting around on New Years Day. If anything, it is quieter than usual outside because everybody is still sleeping off the night before or nursing a hangover. But maybe things are different in the Southern part of the state. Here in Northern California, New Years Day is still a Holy Day of Obligation, although I believe the bishops dispense from the obligation if it falls on a Saturday or Monday, which has always seemed strange to me.

 

[SMHW]

I would just add that the matter of different localities having different days of obligatory Mass attendance is not something new.

Sometimes I think people think this is yet another modern innovation.

Some of the differences between provinces, dioceses, and national bishops conferences are new, but others have been around for centuries.

 

[jas84173]

If you could not make it it isn’t a sin.
It is only a sin if you can go and willingly skip out.

 

[jas84173]

Plus you can always go on your diocese website and find mass times for other churches.
I try to go to church every day yet my church only has Mon-Fri 7 am Mass and Saturday 7 30 Mass.
And a Novena Monday night. But I have found churches in the area who do week night masses and also some churches that have noon masses.

 

[DarkLight]

I see that as weak. My Parish alone had a 7 p.m. vigil Mass. 7 a.m. Mass, and 7 p.m. Mass today. If you can’t get to it with that many options you have a problem .

I used to work a 2pm-11pm shift. 7am was technically possible but I probably didn’t get to bed until 1 or 2am, and I have a nasty tendency to end up with bad nausea and a migraine if I don’t get enough sleep. Plus I’m kind of scared to drive on that little sleep because it’s hard to pay attention to the road.

Now I just work 10h overnight. I get to work at 9pm and leave at 7:30 or 8am. 7pm would work, but 7:30 or 8pm mass (not uncommon) wouldn’t always leave me time to get to work afterwards.