Exiit qui seminat - Holy Days

For the second year in a row, Cardinal Tobin, the cardinal archbishop of Newark, in consultation with the other bishops in the State of New Jersey, has decided to move the feast of the Ascension from this past Thursday, May 13 to the weekend normally designated as the 7th Sunday of Easter. So this brings up a wonderful opportunity to not only talk about what Holy Days of Obligation are, why do we have the number we have and why some feasts are "moveable" and others are not.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law talks about sacred times in the life of the Church, special days of prayer and penance that celebrate important mysteries of faith throughout our liturgical calendar. For the universal Church (the whole Church throughout the whole world) there are 10 Holy Days of Obligation along with the 52 Sundays of the year: the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Epiphany, the Ascension, the Body and Blood of Christ, Holy Mary the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her Assumption, Saint Joseph, Saint Peter and Saint Paul the Apostles, and All Saints. However, Rome can give permission to countries, for pastoral reasons, to move some of these feast days to a Sunday or suppress them.

In 1991, the American bishops petitioned the Holy See and received approval for 6 Holy Days of Obligation: January 1 (the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God), Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter (the Ascension), August 15 (the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary), November 1 (All Saints), December 8 (the Immaculate Conception) and December 25 (Christmas).

In addition, whenever January 1, August 15, or November 1 falls on a Saturday or on a Monday, the obligation to attend Mass is abrogated (a canon law term that means "to do away with"). Feasts like the Epiphany and the Body and Blood of Christ were moved to Sundays. The feasts of St. Joseph (March 19) and Ss. Peter and Paul (June 29) are still celebrated on their actual days, but there is no obligation to attend Mass. In 1999 Rome gave permission for particular regions within the United States to determine if we can celebrate the Ascension on a Thursday or if it gets moved to a Sunday. Right now the only regions that celebrate the Ascension on a Thursday are New York, New England, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Nebraska. Even Hawaii has a different set of holy days - the feast of the Immaculate Conception and Christmas because they're a part of a different episcopal conference than the rest of the continental United States.

It can all seem a little confusing and you may question why we all can't celebrate in the same way, but considering how diverse the world is and how diverse the Church is, it is a gift of how we get a chance to celebrate in both different and the same ways. Also, as the Catholic Church here in America, we are called to be mindful of these holy days that not only help us better understand our faith, but also give us the opportunity to take a break from the ordinary and celebrate something (and someone) extraordinary!

Sincerely Yours in Christ, Fr. Rob Sinatra