I completely forgot that other parts of the US don’t celebrate Ascension Thursday as a holy day of obligation anymore. If you’re in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, or Nebraska you do. Otherwise it’s shifted to this coming Sunday.
I suppose the thinking was that the Ascension is so important that you want people to hear the readings and prayers and since no one was going to Mass on the holy day….
Isn’t going to Mass on holy days of obligation one of the six precepts of the Church?
1. To attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days.
2. To fast and abstain on the days appointed.
3. To receive Holy Communion at Eastertime.
4. To confess one’s sins at least once a year.
5. To support the Parish.
6. To marry according to the laws of the Church.
This is the Law of the Church. How often are Catholics, not only told of their obligation to do these things, but called on it when they don’t? I still can’t get past the idea that rather than calling people to actually live our Catholic duties, much of the hierarchy has simply chosen to throw up its hands in defeat.
We went to Mass at noon yesterday. There were about 30 of us. The only children were my two nieces and my nephew. The median age was over 60.
Funny thing happened too: The little old ladies were gossiping in their stage whispers in the pews before Mass as usual, when one of the old guys stood up and gave them a lecture on respect for the presence of Christ in the Tabernacle. Despite some weak protests, there wasn’t a peep out of one of them after that. Thank God for the guy’s courage in saying what needed to be said.
