Or, to give it its full title, "Feast of the Rant that today is not Ascension Thursday." Curt Jester sends his commiserations on dumbing down.It is absolute madness. The bishops claim that it makes it easier to observe the Holy Day of Obligation by moving it to the Sunday, and so more people would be able to observe the feast. Balderdash. Sunday is already a Holy Day of Obligation. You're not going to get more people going to church on the Ascension if it's Sunday. The people who make the effort to go on a mid-week Holy Day of Obligation will already be going to Mass on Sunday. All that has happened is that the Bishops have effectively said, "Oh dear, no-one goes to Mass on a Holy Day of Obligation, so, ok, lets take away the Obligation... and the Holy Day bit..."
...so, if numbers at Sunday Mass continue to fall, will the Bishops declare that Sunday is no longer obligatory?? Hey, get rid of those awkward Commandments while you're at it. Might as well make it really easy...
Even more reason to go to a Classical Rite Mass... the old calendar still applies...
6 comments:
Well said, Mac!
Although it is not a Holy Day, why not move Good Friday to the nearest Sunday! Most of my congregation have to work on Good Friday nowadays.
This is really a silly thing the Bishop's have done, what is going to be the next thing?
I don't like to gloat, but... there was a lovely High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory last night. Almost worth putting up with my rotten hotel for!
Gloat all you like NHNJ... I went to a Classical Rite Mass in Blackfen...!
If they move Ascension, what is holding them back from moving all other holy days to Sunday? I observed Ascension on Thursday even though my diocese moved it to Sunday. All of the moving around has made the Ascension one of the most forgotten solemnities in the Church. Few people show up and observe it especially. For that reason, I've always had an image of the Ascension for my display image on blogger - I think we need to spread basic knowledge of the Ascension of Jesus, bodily and soul into Heaven.
Still on Thursday in Scotland... That said, we can rant too -
The idea may be to make things simple, but I think it causes confusion (like changing abstinence on Friday to something-kinda-penitential). The other day I saw a lass who was confirmed about the same time as me, and she said she hadn't been able to get to Mass in a while because she'd been really busy. I gently explained that one had no choice about attending Sunday Mass (ok, I tried to explain gently - think it actually scared the living daylights out of her, so then pointed out the 'full knowledge' requirement for sins to be mortal). She said she was sure someone had told her that the obligation had been done away with. Now the person who told her may have been wrong, or she may have got the wrong idea. Either way, the general impression is easily given that obligations are on the whole on the way out. Not helpful, to say the least.
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