Courtesy of the USCCB, we don’t have a Holy Day of Obligation on January 1, the Solemnity of Mary, this year. Reason given is that the Holy Day falls on a Monday. Therefore, it melds into the preceding Sunday and we celebrate the Solemnity then. Reasons given have been things like “it’s more convenient” and “more people will be able to attend.” Hello – if it’s a Holy Day of Obligation, then it means that we are supposed to attend, unless we are ill, or are unable to attend due to existing obligations (e.g., Mass isn’t offered outside my work hours), and we should certainly not intentionally miss Mass.

This is much akin to the Baptist church I grew up in, where they cancelled Sunday School on Chrismtas Day! For Protestants, Christmas is a way bigger deal than Easter (one of the reasons I became Catholic) and so here, on what ought to be the penultimate day on the Calendar, we cancelled Sunday School.

No word yet on whether the USCCB is going to allow us to attend Mass only on Sunday morning on 12/24 this year. For the Protestants reading the blog, here’s the situation. Christmas Day is a Holy Day of Obligation. Traditionally we attend Mass either on the evening of Christmas Eve, or before noon on Christmas Day. This year, it happens that Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Advent. All Sundays in the liturgical calendar are also days of obligation. So, a Catholic is obligated to attend Mass on Sunday morning, 12/24, to celebrate the 4th Sunday of Advent, and then to attend either a Christmas Eve Mass (on Christmas Eve Evening) or a Christmas Day Mass. By the logic presented here, we ought to be able to attend Mass on Sunday morning 12/24, celebrating the 4th Sunday of Advent, and then not worry about going again.

Of course, Christmas is one of those times when every Mass is jam-packed with all the twice-a-year-attenders and their wallets, so I bet that the USCCB won’t be deleting the Christmas obligation.