Why Don’t We Have To Go To Mass Tomorrow?

Down yonder, a reader asks:

"…the precept to attend Mass is abrogated."

Why ?

Because people would resist and resent it if they were forced to go to church two days in a row. (And it is more of a hassle on holy days since most parishes try to get away with a smaller number of Masses than on Sundays, meaning that the parking lots are more crowded and the people are often unsure when those Masses will be since the usual schedule isn’t being kept.)

People will put up with that for Christmas (like this year), but they’ll either resent it or won’t come other holy days.

That’s awful un-pious, of course, but then this is a fallen world, and that’s just where American society is right now.

Still, we have about 28% regular Mass attendance among Catholics here, which is not only better than a large number of developed countries but (contrary to popular impression) better than church attendance by Protestants here (they typically show up at church about 25% of the time).

Note that I’m not endorsing the abrogation of the need to go to Mass tomorrow, I’m merely explaining it.

A counterargument could be made that if the Church expected more out of people by way of piety that they’d rise to the occasion and act more pious. That’s certainly true in some ways, and one well might argue that this would be the case here.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

4 thoughts on “Why Don’t We Have To Go To Mass Tomorrow?”

  1. Thanks, that’s clear.
    PS : “28% regular Mass attendance among Catholics here” Wouah, it’s fantastic for a developped country ! Bravo. What’s your secret? Any magic potion that help to resist again and again to the invaders? (cf.asterix and Obelix)

  3. Another thing that might affect this is the lack of Masses on on Saturday. Most parishes only have one Mass in the morning. Considering that fact probably few people realize that the Saturday vigil would count as the HDOO, that one Mass in the morning could get a little packed. Of course the alternate viewpoint is that the parishes could schedule extra Masses on HDOO, like they do on say Ash Wednesday. But considering that most parishes in the US have a full calendar on Saturdays (especially if they have a school), this might not be an option. The important thing to remember is that just because it’s not a HDOO because it’s on a Saturday or Monday, doesn’t mean you can’t go. 😉

  4. In this debate, we should all keep in my mind that holy days of obligation are for our benefit, not the Lord’s. (applying the Sabbath teaching of Jesus.) We need to be awfully cautious about judging persons’ desires for holiness based on the application or deferral of church law. One of Jesus’s chief complaints against the Pharises were the burdens they placed upon the people so that they may remain in grace. Neither do I find anything the church currently does burdensome, nor do I find them alleviating HDOO in these circumstances egregious. Requiring consecutive HDOO will not cause better faith; the only thing that will is conversion.

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