A Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right
It's the Sixth Sunday of Easter. After 40 days of Lent, we're now working our way through 40 days of this glorious Season, culminating on Ascension Thursday. In the newer calendar, we find next Sunday called the Sunday after Ascension or the Seventh Sunday of Easter, unless they celebrate the Ascension in your Diocese. Why would Ascension Thursday fall on a Sunday? Because, well, the "new order" of things (Novus Ordo) grants bishops the discretion to move certain mid-week feasts to the following Sunday. And why would they do that? My best guess is that it's a case of our shepherds (bishops) thinking it best to make things easier for their sheep (us).
I never really got this whole "consolidation" of feasts that fall on a week day into the following or preceding Sunday. Most puzzling (irritating too), is moving the Epiphany in January. After centuries of celebrating the manifestation of Our Lord by the visitation of the Magi on January 6th, this year it was celebrated, for example, on the following Sunday, January 8th. Same reason, I suppose.
Unless memory fails me here, I don't remember any problem growing up observing the Epiphany on January 6th, no matter the day of the week, or attending Mass on Ascension Thursday. And when January 1st (the Feast of the Circumcision, now also called Mary, Mother of God) fell on a Monday or Sunday, we attended Mass on both January 1st and Sunday. Was that so difficult or demanding? Not really. I don't remember people suffering or even grumbling. The first year that the requirement of attending Mass on January 1st was abrogated (I think it fell on a Monday), I remember being rather put off by the concept. I've since gotten over it, just as I've survived January 6th being stripped of the Epiphany (unless, of course, it falls on a Sunday!). Gotten over it, but still don't understand the point.
Now, not to dwell on the negative here (which these days may be a greater sin than missing Mass on Sunday), but wouldn't you think that a feast during the week would help to bring our religion outside the iron bounds of Sunday. Aren't we supposed to practice our faith all the time, not just when we attend Sunday Mass? Even these days, you occasionally hear this suggestion coming from the pulpit during Novus Ordo Masses. Given that most Catholics don't even attend Sunday Mass anymore, wouldn't it be even more important for those of us who actually do attend Sunday Mass to march out of Mass and bring the practice of our faith to the other six days? But doesn't avoiding any week-day commitment encourage, even tighten, the already ensconced practice of shackling Sunday in a kind of spiritual parenthesis, separate and apart from the rest of the week for too many of us Catholics? It's like someone's trying to box the few Catholics who actually practice their religion into a corner.
It's one thing for our bishops to be herding their sheep into the sheepfold for protection at night, but shouldn't they act as real shepherds let them us out to graze during the day?
When you think about it, doesn't it all seem rather obvious that eliminating weekday holy days accelerates the shrinking presence of Catholicism in our world? And yet, despite that, when the rubber hits the road on a feast like the the Epiphany or Ascension Thursday, they move the observance to Sunday, reinforcing and assuring further shrinking. Go figure.
Now, while I suspect most of our shepherds aren't in any sort of conspiracy to gut the already weakened practice of our Holy Faith, the effect of their actions must seem clear to them, just as it would to anyone who has given this any degree of consideration. That's why the following remarks by Msgr. Charles Pope gave me pause. While he's not talking about our bishops or the newfangled practice of squeezing holy days into Sundays, I think you can see why that practice comes at precisely the wrong time:
We've got enough on our plates to keep our souls healthy simply dealing with the world, the flesh and the devil. If attending Mass during the week proves a challenge at times, so does getting up early for a run, working out, or cutting down on junk food. Restoring our holy days to their rightful place in the calendar will send the message that our Holy Faith is as fundamental - really more so - to a good life as having a strong and healthy body.
Some of our shepherds understand this. Let's pray they all do and very soon.
I never really got this whole "consolidation" of feasts that fall on a week day into the following or preceding Sunday. Most puzzling (irritating too), is moving the Epiphany in January. After centuries of celebrating the manifestation of Our Lord by the visitation of the Magi on January 6th, this year it was celebrated, for example, on the following Sunday, January 8th. Same reason, I suppose.
Unless memory fails me here, I don't remember any problem growing up observing the Epiphany on January 6th, no matter the day of the week, or attending Mass on Ascension Thursday. And when January 1st (the Feast of the Circumcision, now also called Mary, Mother of God) fell on a Monday or Sunday, we attended Mass on both January 1st and Sunday. Was that so difficult or demanding? Not really. I don't remember people suffering or even grumbling. The first year that the requirement of attending Mass on January 1st was abrogated (I think it fell on a Monday), I remember being rather put off by the concept. I've since gotten over it, just as I've survived January 6th being stripped of the Epiphany (unless, of course, it falls on a Sunday!). Gotten over it, but still don't understand the point.
Now, not to dwell on the negative here (which these days may be a greater sin than missing Mass on Sunday), but wouldn't you think that a feast during the week would help to bring our religion outside the iron bounds of Sunday. Aren't we supposed to practice our faith all the time, not just when we attend Sunday Mass? Even these days, you occasionally hear this suggestion coming from the pulpit during Novus Ordo Masses. Given that most Catholics don't even attend Sunday Mass anymore, wouldn't it be even more important for those of us who actually do attend Sunday Mass to march out of Mass and bring the practice of our faith to the other six days? But doesn't avoiding any week-day commitment encourage, even tighten, the already ensconced practice of shackling Sunday in a kind of spiritual parenthesis, separate and apart from the rest of the week for too many of us Catholics? It's like someone's trying to box the few Catholics who actually practice their religion into a corner.
It's one thing for our bishops to be herding their sheep into the sheepfold for protection at night, but shouldn't they act as real shepherds let them us out to graze during the day?
When you think about it, doesn't it all seem rather obvious that eliminating weekday holy days accelerates the shrinking presence of Catholicism in our world? And yet, despite that, when the rubber hits the road on a feast like the the Epiphany or Ascension Thursday, they move the observance to Sunday, reinforcing and assuring further shrinking. Go figure.
Now, while I suspect most of our shepherds aren't in any sort of conspiracy to gut the already weakened practice of our Holy Faith, the effect of their actions must seem clear to them, just as it would to anyone who has given this any degree of consideration. That's why the following remarks by Msgr. Charles Pope gave me pause. While he's not talking about our bishops or the newfangled practice of squeezing holy days into Sundays, I think you can see why that practice comes at precisely the wrong time:
We Catholics need to practice our religion faithfully and fully. To help us do that, we need leaders who inspire and energize, not make things easier for us. Heck, anyone who's exercised to improve their health and physical appearance knows it takes effort, even some pain and suffering, as well as sacrifice, to get results. Assuming you believe your soul is at least as important as your body, why would you give it short shrift? Shouldn't we want to build as much muscle spiritually as we do physically?One of the saddest truths for us to ponder is that our struggle is not only or even primarily with the unbelievers around us. Tragically, our struggle often takes place within the house faith. Our opposition is too often from among our very number, people who, having heard the truth of God, accept it only selectively.Half-hearted faith is often a worse enemy than wholehearted rejection. Jerusalem saw some conversion to Christ, to be sure, but collectively she turned on and crucified the very Messiah whom God had sent to her. Why? Because she heard and accepted only what pleased her.Selective faith may be worse than no faith at all. Indeed, the fierce Roman opposition could be tamed, but selective faith is more subtle, more internally self-justified. It wears the garments of faith, but betrays that the deeper conversion that is required has not yet occurred.
We've got enough on our plates to keep our souls healthy simply dealing with the world, the flesh and the devil. If attending Mass during the week proves a challenge at times, so does getting up early for a run, working out, or cutting down on junk food. Restoring our holy days to their rightful place in the calendar will send the message that our Holy Faith is as fundamental - really more so - to a good life as having a strong and healthy body.
Some of our shepherds understand this. Let's pray they all do and very soon.
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