What is it ?
Laura said, "Emily, honey, get dressed for church! We need to leave in fifteen minutes." Emily, confused, asked her mother, "Mommy, why are we going to church today? It’s not Sunday!" "Today is a Holy Day of obligation," her mother said, "It’s the Feast of the ASSUMPTION." "Oh, mommy, do we have to go? I don’t want to go to church today." To which her mother replied: "Honey, we have to go. It is required by the Church. If we don’t go, it would be a MORTAL SIN."
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Holy Days are celebrated to commemorate special events related to redemption and the life of Mary and the Saints. The Catholic Church currently has specified ten Holy Days of obligation: Christmas; the Epiphany; the Ascension of our Lord; the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (the body of Christ); the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God; the IMMACULATE CONCEPTION of Mary; the Assumption of Mary; the Solemnity of St. Joseph; the Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul; All Saints Day; and Christmas. However, the Code of Canon Law allows the conference of bishops in each country (with the permission of the Holy See) to reduce the number of Holy Days, or to transfer their observance to Sunday.
On a Holy Day of obligation, the Catholic is required to attend MASS, and to rest from servile work. Failure to attend mass is deemed to be a mortal sin, thereby emptying all graces that had been INFUSED in the person. Unless CONFESSION is made, the mortal sin leads to eternal suffering in hell.
Effective 1/1/84, the U.S. Conference of Bishops has mandated the observance of six days: the Solemnity of Mary (January 1), the Solemnity of the Ascension (ten days after Easter Sunday), the Assumption of Mary (August 15), All Saints Day (November 1), the Immaculate Conception (December 8), and Christmas (December 25). The Epiphany (January 6) is transferred to the first Sunday following January 1. Corpus Christi is observed the second Sunday after Pentecost. Effective 1/1/93, whenever the Solemnity of Mary, the Assumption, or All Saints Day falls on a Saturday or on a Monday, there is no requirement to attend Mass. Effective 9/8/99, any U.S. Ecclesiastical Province is entitled to transfer the Solemnity of the Ascension from Thursday to the following Sunday by a vote of two-thirds of the bishops of the Province.
If the Immaculate Conception or the Assumption falls on a Sunday, it is transferred to the next day (Monday). But in this case, there is no obligation to attend Mass.
It is unclear what would happen in case of travel. For instance, "assume" that you leave Detroit at 6:00 A.M. on August 15th (the Assumption), and cross the river to begin your vacation in Canada. Since Canada does not celebrate the Assumption as a Holy Day of obligation, have you committed a mortal sin? I guess the rule would be "when in doubt, confess."
How did it come about ?
The foundation for the Holy Days of obligation are the special feasts recorded in the Bible and celebrated by the Jews. Down to the third century, Christians celebrated the solemnities of the Passover and Pentecost. In the fourth century, the feasts of Christmas and Epiphany [the twelfth day of Christmas] were added. Soon, the feast days were expanded to celebrate the lives of the Apostles and certain martyrs. In the sixth and seventh centuries, feasts to celebrate Mary were added. Since the bishops of a locality could declare feast days, these days tended to multiply. Around 1150, there were forty-one feasts, exclusive of Sundays.
On these feast days, the Church required that no sessions of court be held, and that certain games and entertainments be cancelled so that Mass could be attended. The feast days were divided into several categories. Certain days were "feasts of precept" which required both cessation of work and attendance at Mass. Other days were "Half Holy Days" which allowed people to work after Mass. Some feasts were universal, while others were local. Some feasts were always celebrated on a given day, while others were "movable." Some feasts were deemed more solemn than others, differing in their required prayers and liturgy. By the fifteenth century, the number of feast days was reduced by Pope Urban VIII to a maximum of 36, and the right of bishops to establish new Holy Days was limited. By the time of the French Revolution, the number of Holy Days in France had been reduced to four. In England, there were twelve. In the United States, the number of Holy Days varied from place to place. At the Council of Baltimore in 1884, the bishops wanted only four feasts, but this was not approved by the Holy See. Instead, the current list of six Holy Days was established.
In the United States, approximately 25% of Catholics attend Mass regularly. The percentage that attend the required Holy Days of obligation (other than Christmas) is even lower. According to the Complete Catholic Handbook, the first commandment of the Church is, ‘To keep the Sundays and Holydays of Obligation holy, by hearing Mass and resting from servile works.’ Since this is a commandment of the Church, neglecting to attend Mass is a mortal sin.
Why it is wrong:
1) ...because the mandatory requirement binds the consciences of Catholics where Scripture does no such thing;
2) ...because of the arbitrariness of the Holy Days from time to time, and country to country.
3) ...because historically these feast days have put a burden on the poor, not allowing them to provide for themselves on numerous days;
4) ...because of the unbiblical determination that failure to adhere to these man-made traditions leads to eternal suffering in hell.
Warnings from Scripture:
Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day -- things which ar a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Col. 2:160-17
I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. Is. 1:14-15
Six days you shall labor and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work... Ex. 20:9-10
Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are. Acts 15:10-11
? Point to Ponder
Consider this: a transformation occurs when you receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Instead of worshiping God in a reactive manner (I have to go to Mass - otherwise, I won’t go to heaven), the child of God proactively chooses to worship from a heart that HAS ALREADY BEEN REDEEMED. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus twice warned the Pharisees to learn the meaning of this: "I desire compassion, not sacrifice."
