Regardless of whether the obligation to attend Mass on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is dispensed this year or not, I think that the more important issue is to think of holy days as more than simply days on which it is obligatory to get to Mass (or not depending on whether there is a dispensation or exception.) We should reg…
Regardless of whether the obligation to attend Mass on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is dispensed this year or not, I think that the more important issue is to think of holy days as more than simply days on which it is obligatory to get to Mass (or not depending on whether there is a dispensation or exception.) We should regard the universal holy days (both those for which Mass is required in the country and those for which it is not) as days of great celebration and prayer. People should go out of their way to be at prayer and spend joyous time with friends and family. Parishes should have celebrations and extra prayers on those days, whether Mass or public devotions or the Liturgy of the Hours with the public. Ideally, people could take off work, or at least some time, on those days, for celebration and for prayer. In fact, the term holiday came from the idea of a "holy day." The perception of holy days (and for that matter Sundays) as only days on which there is an obligation to attend Mass is an example of the faith being seen as merely a set of rules, rather than a joyous invitation from Christ and His Church to celebrate a first promise of heaven on earth.
Does your parish have these celebrations and extra prayers? Do you have traditions for each of the days?
There's a lot of laypeople who don't know how to celebrate holy days any more, we've lost the customs and the rhythms of it. Most of the people I know of who are doing them seem to be homeschool moms who want a liturgical life for their children enough to do all the extra work and research that comes with reinventing the wheel.
I think sometimes it takes the laity to bring it to the parish. I’m a homeschool mom and my group started an All Saints party within the octave for the benefit of the entire parish (even though attendance is mostly the homeschoolers, we do have a few other families who attend our parish-wide events, which is very nice). The priest of the parish which supports us is busy, like all priests. We were able to bring him something to approve rather than wait on him to come up with an idea and delegate its execution. I join you in wishing for more of this type of communal life of faith to flow out of the parishes in general and to the people, but I think from the people and into the parish has a practical place, too.
Oh yeah, my parish relies heavily on homeschool moms (and others) doing things with the support of our priests, although I think attendance tends to be everyone, including those with no kids. But I don't think parishes without a fair number of homeschoolers tend to do those things. Dual income with kids gives up too much of the free time necessary for them, so parishes with few stay-at-home moms don't get those things.
But on the priest side, I wasn't expecting parties and events, but just the extra prayer time on holy days that Father mentioned. Our priests will do that without parishioner organizers, because all you really need is to choose a relevant devotion, publish it, announce it, and show up to lead it, but for us it typically isn't tied to a holy day, so I was curious about specifics.
Do you remind your parishioners who own businesses that they are morally obligated to close and give their employees the day off - with pay - on a Holy Day?
I would not say that they are morally obligated to give their employees a paid day off, especially since most of their employees are probably not Catholic. But it would be a good thing if they could do so, or at least have some celebration on the occasion.
Regardless of whether the obligation to attend Mass on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is dispensed this year or not, I think that the more important issue is to think of holy days as more than simply days on which it is obligatory to get to Mass (or not depending on whether there is a dispensation or exception.) We should regard the universal holy days (both those for which Mass is required in the country and those for which it is not) as days of great celebration and prayer. People should go out of their way to be at prayer and spend joyous time with friends and family. Parishes should have celebrations and extra prayers on those days, whether Mass or public devotions or the Liturgy of the Hours with the public. Ideally, people could take off work, or at least some time, on those days, for celebration and for prayer. In fact, the term holiday came from the idea of a "holy day." The perception of holy days (and for that matter Sundays) as only days on which there is an obligation to attend Mass is an example of the faith being seen as merely a set of rules, rather than a joyous invitation from Christ and His Church to celebrate a first promise of heaven on earth.
Does your parish have these celebrations and extra prayers? Do you have traditions for each of the days?
There's a lot of laypeople who don't know how to celebrate holy days any more, we've lost the customs and the rhythms of it. Most of the people I know of who are doing them seem to be homeschool moms who want a liturgical life for their children enough to do all the extra work and research that comes with reinventing the wheel.
I think sometimes it takes the laity to bring it to the parish. I’m a homeschool mom and my group started an All Saints party within the octave for the benefit of the entire parish (even though attendance is mostly the homeschoolers, we do have a few other families who attend our parish-wide events, which is very nice). The priest of the parish which supports us is busy, like all priests. We were able to bring him something to approve rather than wait on him to come up with an idea and delegate its execution. I join you in wishing for more of this type of communal life of faith to flow out of the parishes in general and to the people, but I think from the people and into the parish has a practical place, too.
Oh yeah, my parish relies heavily on homeschool moms (and others) doing things with the support of our priests, although I think attendance tends to be everyone, including those with no kids. But I don't think parishes without a fair number of homeschoolers tend to do those things. Dual income with kids gives up too much of the free time necessary for them, so parishes with few stay-at-home moms don't get those things.
But on the priest side, I wasn't expecting parties and events, but just the extra prayer time on holy days that Father mentioned. Our priests will do that without parishioner organizers, because all you really need is to choose a relevant devotion, publish it, announce it, and show up to lead it, but for us it typically isn't tied to a holy day, so I was curious about specifics.
Do you remind your parishioners who own businesses that they are morally obligated to close and give their employees the day off - with pay - on a Holy Day?
I would not say that they are morally obligated to give their employees a paid day off, especially since most of their employees are probably not Catholic. But it would be a good thing if they could do so, or at least have some celebration on the occasion.