On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics, a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.
What’s up with holy days of obligation? Why are there so many, and what do I have to do?
Just as we are bound to attend Mass on Sundays (or Saturday evenings), so we are obligated to attend Mass on holy days that vary by country. In the United States, those days are the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (January 1), which celebrates Mary’s motherhood; Jesus’s ascension (Thursday of the sixth week of Easter); the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 
(August 15); the Solemnity of All Saints (November 1); the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (December 8); and Christmas (December 25). If January 1, August 15, or November 1 falls on a Saturday or Monday, the obligation for attendance other than Sunday Mass is lifted, and the Ascension is celebrated on the nearest Sunday in many dioceses.
These days should be treated the same way we treat Sundays, when we are urged by the Catechism to “refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body.”
You’ll notice Easter, the holiest day in Christendom, is not listed above. That’s because it always falls on a Sunday, and it is assumed we will attend Mass on Sundays.
Please note that some days many people believe require church attendance—Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, for example—are not holy days of obligation. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go to Mass or services those days; indeed, you are likely to find that almost any day improves with Mass attendance.
Submit your own questions to returning@melanierigney.com; they may be addressed in a future post. Thanks, and God bless.
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