How often should we go to Mass? Practicing Catholics know that it’s important to attend Mass on Sundays, but every now and then a “holy day of obligation” may sneak up on us if we aren’t paying attention to the liturgical calendar.
These are days that usually carry the same obligation to participate at Mass as a Sunday. Coming out of the holiday season, we just had two of them: The Nativity of the Lord on December 25 and the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, on January 1. It seems fitting to mark both the end and beginning of the year with special days of worship.
In addition to those, there are four other days in the United States when the faithful are obliged to worship at Mass. Those are the solemnities of the Ascension of the Lord on Thursday of the sixth week of Easter (which is transferred to Sunday in many provinces), the Assumption of Mary on August 15, All Saints Day on November 1, and the Immaculate Conception on December 8. These are the days, in addition to Sundays, that the Church has decided also carry a special obligation due to the importance of the mysteries they commemorate.
According to Canon Law, our obligation on Sundays and these certain other holy days is to participate in the Mass and “to abstain from those works and affairs which hinder the worship to be rendered to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s day, or the suitable relaxation of mind and body” (CIC 1247). This is how Christians observe the divine command to “remember the sabbath and keep it holy” (Ex 20:8). We refrain from servile work so that we may be free to worship, but also to celebrate and relax. The joy and rest of the Lord’s Day should be something of a foretaste of the joy and rest of heaven.
A blessing or a burden?
That the Church obliges us to set aside certain days for worship and rest sounds like a blessing – and it is – but the sad reality is that many Catholics receive it as more of a burden. According to the Pew Research Center, only 28% of Catholics surveyed in the United States say they attend Mass weekly, and at most parishes, the pews are emptier on other holy days than they are on Sundays, Christmas being the lone exception.
To be fair, the obligation to worship on Sundays and holy days is not an absolute obligation. If it were, there would never be a valid reason to miss Mass. But it is a serious obligation, which means Mass should only be missed for serious reasons. The Catechism of the Catholic Church mentions illness or the care of infants as examples (CCC 2181). Dangerous travel conditions would be another. It is no sin if you cannot get to Mass due to circumstances beyond your control.
A matter of justice
But many who can come to Mass simply don’t. The reasons are many, but one is a modern tendency to eschew the notion of obligation. We don’t like having expectations forced upon us or being told what to do. This is why some have taken to speaking of “holy days of opportunity” in an attempt to make worship sound like more of a gift than a chore.
To be able to worship the Almighty God in the Eucharistic sacrifice is indeed a great gift. But it is also something we are bound to do as a matter of justice, which is why the Church rightly speaks of an obligation to participate at Mass. Justice imposes obligations on us in many arenas. Justice obliges us to obey laws as members of a society. It obliges us to care for our home as members of a family. If obliges us to perform our job duties well.
The virtue of charity also comes with obligations. It may sound loving to say, “I cook dinner for my family not because I have to but because I want to,” but it is more reflective of charity to say,
“I cook dinner for my family even when I don’t want to because I love them.” Being dutiful in our obligations even when it’s inconvenient is an important way we show our love for others.
Perhaps we don’t appreciate our obligation to worship because we have forgotten that it is not principally for ourselves.
For the good of all
People today often speak about what they “get out of” going to Mass – and indeed, the spiritual benefits are great! But the priests of ancient Israel chiefly offered sacrifice to God on behalf of others. They understood their work of worship to be for the good of the people. This is why Israel adopted the Greek word “leitourgia” (a public work) to describe their sacred worship. It is from this term that we derive the word “liturgy.” Liturgical worship is not a matter of private piety but a work done for the good of the people.
Christ offered himself as the perfect sacrificial offering to the Father once and for all. By virtue of our baptism, Christians are made part of His Body and part of His offering. That means we have a part to play in Christ’s sacrifice. The Eucharist is how we participate sacramentally in that offering. The liturgy is the work of the whole Body of Christ, and when part of the Body is missing, it affects the whole. This is why the Church obliges us to participate in Mass on certain days; not out of an authoritarian need for control, but because our presence matters. You matter – and when you are not there, you are missed! See you at Mass!
— Deacon Matthew Newsome is the Catholic campus minister at Western Carolina University and the author of “The Devout Life: A Modern Guide to Practical Holiness with St. Francis de Sales,” available from Sophia Institute Press.