PLEASE!!!
Today we had to celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. But the message got a bit lost: this is a wonderful Feast and it just melted away as it all just felt like an ordinary Sunday.
It just isn't working out. The idea of "moving a feast-day to the nearest Sunday" has muddled everyone. It means that Catholic schools miss out: they can't celebrate the feast with the children. And it's no use saying that the children will celebrate on the Sunday because in too many cases THEIR PARENTS DON'T TAKE THEM TO MASS ON SUNDAYS. So a Catholic school must evangelise them. Why rob the school of this task?
And how do you teach about what a "Novena" is? It's all based on the Scriptural account of the days between the Ascension and Pentecost - and we've been robbed of those days.
Please, dear Bishops of England and Wales: GIVE US BACK OUR FEAST-DAYS.
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...and please, no comments telling me that I can go to an Ascension Day Mass on the right day if I want, eg by going to an Extraordinary Form Mass. I know that. It simply misses the point.
JB
I agree... but even if just Ascension Day and Epiphany were returned to their proper days it would be a step in the right direction!
The bishops aren't to blame. People who were otherwise good Catholics simply weren't attending the Holy Days. So technically they were committing a mortal sin. The bishops had to respond to that.
But I agree with you fundamentally. The way I see it is that, when an army is meeting strong opposition, at first you get a trickle of deserters. Then they infect others, and you get a flood. Morale collapses. The generals become reluctant to order any sort of offensive action, or even the most basic of discipline. But eventually, everyone who will leave, has left. The desertions slow to a trickle again, the men left in position are those who won't desert under any circumstances.
We're at the end of the flood of desertions stage. Soon it will seem natural to have Ascension on Thursdays again.
AMEN.
I'm convinced some of our Bishops would restore the Holy Days to their proper time, at the drop of a mitre! Of course Our Lord ascended 40 days post Resurrection didn't He, not 43 days. There was a picture doing the rounds on Twitter with Our Blessed Lord saying: "The Bishops said since it's too hard for you to make it to Mass on a Thursday, I can stay a few more days this year." (Pertaining to Ascension) Somewhat crude, but hits the nail on the head.
Keep the Faith
Here in northern New York State, Diocese of Ogdensburg, we DID celebrate Ascension Day on Thursday....
We celebrated it on Thursday in New York City as well.
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