Why have Holy Days of Obligation?

The Intention of the Obligation

Father David Jones

Church Calendar

First giving honor to God on the first day of the week. The law intends for the WHOLE CHURCH to gather and celebrate the Lord’s Supper, Eucharist. A day of what we do to be united with Christ and our sisters and brothers in Christ.

Holy Days of obligations are days on which Catholics are to refrain from work or activities that take away from our time to honor Our Father who art in heaven. A day of what we don’t do to avoid division of God’s time and family.

More poignant than refraining from the mundane and the bad, the Third Commandment, “remember to keep holy, the Lord’s Day” commands / obliges the faithful to keep AT LEAST one day a week HOLY. Interact with the holy; do holy things; speak holy words; make the holy present. It takes work and words, faith and focus, to keep it simply holy.

As Easter is the HOLIEST DAY of the year for obvious reasons, so Sunday is the holiest day of the week. Each week, every Sunday is in relationship to the GREAT GETTING UP MORNING of Easter and our rising with Christ in the Resurrection.

Additional days throughout the year, SOLEMNITIES, call us to take time and pause, bow and kneel to acknowledge the MYSTERIES of FAITH that remind us that our GOD is an AWESOME GOD!

As the old folks say, “FARE THEE WELL” because each HOLY DAY of OBLIGATION is packed with more than enough revelation from God. Truly, it takes more than a day to receive all your blessings. The law just tries to organize us so that at least one day a week we get the HOLY GHOST.