Comments for Whither Holy Days? at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 16 out of 16 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Sat, 25 May 2013 08:47:16 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-6052 I believe in the power of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and every day is a holy day to me. Good discussion. - Bob Nicholas Tue, 15 Feb 2011 17:36:06 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-6035 Lowering expectations leads to lower results. If the clergy and laity truly believed in the power of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, there would be more holy days, not fewer. - Paul Bergeron Sun, 13 Feb 2011 08:59:01 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-6030 While certainly ideologies of autonomy and authenticity have a great deal to do with so many falling away from Church authority and the rules that govern our faith life, isn't there a logically prior problem of the separation of man's freedom from nature? Isn't our moral fundamental dilemma the failure to see any connection between our lives and creation at large, which then forces us to pretend that we didn't kill God by inventing a self whose "autonomy" and "values" can replace Him as center of the universe? I think this dynamic owes as much to Occam and Descartes as to Kant and Rousseau. Who is going to give witness to a Christian culture for which going to mass, like everything we do, is an action enveloped in a life-long activity of worship to God? - Bill McCormick Fri, 11 Feb 2011 09:04:55 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-6010 Dear Fr. Danny, That is an excellent (albeit depressing) article. My husband and I have been saying Morning Prayer for about a year and a half, and it has meant a great deal to us. I can see now that it is the result of the "consecration of time". I was determined this year to trust our Lord that He would get us to Mass on Sunday, come blizzard or high water. I just dislike so much the idea of the Saturday vigil as a substitute for Sunday Mass. It just doesn't cut it for me. So far, we haven't missed a Sunday, although on one Sunday, it took four passes down and up the driveway with the snowblower to make room to get the car down, and off we went. For this blessing, we thanked God with all our hearts. Thank you again, Fr. Danny. - Louise Thu, 10 Feb 2011 15:07:35 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-6009 Bishops and Archbishops and Cardinals and Holy Father: Don't you hear in these comments the bleating of the lambs? "Listen to the lams, all acrying," as the lovely old anthem went. Your lambs are crying out to you for the sound of your authentic voice They are ready, willing and eager to give what you are afraid to ask from them. I hear this cry in almost every discussion on TCT. Paul spoke of the sound of an uncertain trumpet: no one will prepare for battle if the trumpet call is uncertain, indistinct. Stop complaining about what you don't have or what you don't see in the pews. We are here! but you are looking past us or over our heads. Why don't you see us? What are you afraid of? - Louise Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:22:14 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-6008 Just in general, it seems to me the bishops are making a terrific mistake in asking for fewer sacrifices of us rather than more, and the Holy Days are an example. Once at a Leadership camp for fifth graders, a father giving a talk on leadership asked the boys, "What qualities make a good leader?" The responses were as you would imagine. "Courage," said one. "Honesty," said another. And so it went. Finally one young man raised his hand and said, "Doesn't ask too much of his followers." And at this the fathers in the room burst into laughter. That was an "aha!" moment for me. In fact, good leaders ask quite a lot of their followers, and the very best are not shy about asking for the supreme sacrifice. Think of Patton, of Lincoln...of Jesus Christ. That is why this trend toward softness and ease in the Church seems exactly the wrong direction. It is the very opposite of inspiring. For example, on Palm Sunday: "We will now have the reading of the Passion. Please sit down." Are you kidding me? I am 68, and if I were 100 I hope I would still have the strong desire to stand during the reading of the Passion, even if it went on all day. When I think of the Lent that my parents kept, and even that was a mitigation of years gone by. No one asks anything of us now, except perhaps, "Please sit down." - Lee Gilbert Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:36:08 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-6007 To Louise- There is a very helpful article at the New Theological Movement on the loss of Octaves and the like called "What happened to Epiphanytide?, or The hypocrisy of the Liturgical Renewal" - fatherdannychamps Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:21:11 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-6006 The trouble with atheism is that you don't get any holidays. Darn. - Grump Thu, 10 Feb 2011 11:32:18 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-6005 I have a bone to pick with our Lord as soon as we meet face to face (I'm an optimist). Why did He take away the Octave of Easter and turn it into Divine Mercy Sunday? There are lots of other Sundays in the year without taking that Sunday, the one Sunday that I thought was uniquely Catholic. I LOVED the Octave of Easter and now I feel cheated out of it. I grumble about it every year when it rolls around. And how about Epiphany? My goodness, if there is a Holy Day to celebrate on its proper day, it is Epiphany. Didn't the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany season feel all scrunched up to you? It did to me. Sort of, as they say, "Helter, skelter." I want Epiphany back and I want the Octave of Easter back. One more thought: When I was a very Protestant little girl and knew nothing about saints' days and Holy Days, I can remember walking to school on the First of November of every year of grammar school--particularly the early years--and thinking that there was something different in the air that day. It felt "clean", somehow, whether the sun was shining or the rain or mist was falling. There was just something in the air that made me feel happy all over. Just to share. - Louise Thu, 10 Feb 2011 11:13:13 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-6004 @Alan I do appreciate your concerns for priests as a priest myself, and I must admit I was not around as a priest 20 years ago when all the tired priests breathed their great sigh of relief, but this year Christmas did fall on a weekend, and although it was more tiring than others, I certainly would not call it "brutal" in any way. I was actually happily surprised- we did not announce at the parish that 'yes Sunday is still the Lord's day...' and still had most of our regular parishioners show up to worship the Almighty. They still know its Sunday and they certainly were not going to miss Christmas, a Holy Day. Perhaps we can tweak our Mass schedules a bit to make things less hectic, but to simply not make them obligatory does not seem to be the answer in a culture where, God being proclaimed "dead," people need the Church to encourage them to make Him the most important reality in their lives. Further, it is sad that Hawaii has few Holy Days- even if there is a shortage of priests, people can still gather to read God's Word and to pray for vocations. Also, when I was in seminary there was only 1- yes that's 1- seminarian for ALL of Hawaii- I hope things have gotten better since about 6 years ago, but it seems something is wrong if a Diocese only has 1 seminarian. A lot is obviously involved in that dynamic, but as our Holy Father keeps showing us- there is only 1 answer- 1 place to start- cultivating a friendship with Jesus Christ and worshiping God in Spirit and Truth. Thanks and God Bless. - fatherdannychamps Thu, 10 Feb 2011 10:46:41 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-6003 ". . . not wanting to burden Catholics with the duty to attend Mass two days in a row." A big part of the reason for mitigating the obligations on Saturday and Monday was to offer relief to our overburdened priests. For me, a layman, it was not a big deal to attend another Mass on a Monday. But my pastor would have to pick up an additional vigil Mass on Sunday night, probably midday and evening on Monday, too, as well as the usual Monday morning Mass. Ask any priest: when Christmas falls near the weekend, it's brutal. And to repeat it all again one week later for Jan 1 is almost too much for them. The priests more than anyone else heaved a huge sigh of relief 20 years ago. Another issue is the whole idea of Holy Days of Obligation in the first place. "Why," U.S. residents might ask, "do Canadians have only two Holy Days of Obligation when we have six? Why do Hawaiians have fewer than other states?" I mean, is the Church universal or not? - Alan Thu, 10 Feb 2011 08:44:22 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-6002 call me crazy, but i think considering the times we live in, maybe our Holy Mother Church could bestow twice as many "obligations" to embrace us! Let's see, wouldn't the Feast of the Patron/Patroness of each country be a good Holy Day? What about Ash Wednesday actually being an OBLIGATION - i was Catholic for about 10 years before discovering it wasn't a "Holy Day!" and i love Titus' Feast Day! Christ the King, Easter and Divine Mercy are already always Sundays.....surely there must be more invitations to Come and Be with Him. what if Catholics limited themselves to 6 movies a year? I betcha lots of people have on occasion gone out to dinner or the movies 2 days in a row! just a thought from a lover of the Holy Mass. - debby Thu, 10 Feb 2011 08:21:04 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-6001 I second Titus's call for the celebration of all ten. And then maybe we could see the restoration of the Ascension and Corpus Christi to their proper Thursdays. Thank you, Mr. Bonagura for a great article. - Catherine Thu, 10 Feb 2011 06:01:31 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-6000 restore the obligatory status of the six holy days Would it kill us to have all ten? Chair of St. Peter is coming up in a few weeks: talk about a feast day American Catholics could benefit from celebrating and hearing a homily about. - Titus Thu, 10 Feb 2011 04:13:52 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-5999 Your points are well made, but the field has been plowed for fifty years. The young man to Christ: "what must I do do to achieve eternal life?" That question has been obviated as everyone today is saved. Just attend a N.O. funeral. Our Lady to the children at Fatima:"You have seen Hell where poor souls go who have no one to pray for them." It is obvious there are at least two "catholicisms" and the fate of those who choose the easy road is horrific. - Bill Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:31:52 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/whither-holy-days.html#comment-5998 Thanks for the great and needed article. As a child I don't really recall hearing, or at least knowing that going to Mass was primarily to worship Almighty God- either He exists or not...and if He does, well then He deserves our worship...that sort of thing. No doubt the state of the LIturgy had a lot to do with this...it wasn't really awe-inspiring as something like a Solemn High Mass can be in the EF. It seems that as we approach or as Christianity approaches us, there are two options- only one of them valid- either we change that beautiful reality we call the Christian Faith to suit our own needs and views, OR we let that beautiful reality change and transform us- pulling us out of ourselves and opening us to Christ and the redemption He won for us. This to me is the key distinction- we see it in the battles raging today with people like Anne Rice in their tyraids against the Church... - fatherdannychamps Wed, 09 Feb 2011 23:17:03 +0100