January First Not a Holy Day of Obligation?????

Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 - Feast of Saint Genevieve

Whether you call January 1st the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord, or the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God , it is a Holy Day of Obligation..... or is it?

Someone recently told me that they were told, at a parish in California, that January 1st is no longer a HDO. What?!?! I thought the person heard the information incorrectly, and that what was really said was that it was not a HDO LAST year, since it fell on a Monday (because of the silly concession the USCCB made for us lazy Americans who think going to Mass two days in a row is much too difficult - the concession being "when January 1, August 15, November 1 fall on a Saturday or a Monday, the obligation to participate in Mass does not hold".) Sadly, that was not the case.

Apparently, for some reason, the bishops of California now have the option to make January 1st to NOT be a HDO. Or do they? How did they get the permission? I cannot find anything that says who gave the permission, why, or when.

Can anyone shed a light on this?

Here is some information I found:

http://www.adoremus.org/0302News.html#anchor3744804

What of Holy Days?

Many Catholics wonder what will happen to Holy Days of Obligation -- the few days of the liturgical year other than Sundays when Catholics are required to attend Mass. The obligation to attend Mass on New Year's Day was abrogated this year in the West Coast archdioceses of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

A November 30 communication to the priests of Los Angeles from Monsignor Terrance Fleming, the archdiocesan Moderator of the Curia/Vicar General, announced that Cardinal Roger Mahony was "dispensing parishioners in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles from the obligation to attend mass on Tuesday, 1 January 2002, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, which is normally a Holy Day
of Obligation".

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops lists January 1 as a Holy Day of Obligation in the United States. (The liturgical calendar is on the USCCB web site, liturgy section.)

According to the General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar §55, "Only with the approval of the Apostolic See may a celebration be removed from the calendar or changed in rank".

The Los Angeles announcement to priests did not mention authorization from the Holy See for this change.

Archbishop William Levada of San Francisco also abrogated the January 1 Holy Day of obligation. Adoremus received several reports that bishops of other West Coast dioceses acted similarly.

For the past several years Catholics have been increasingly confused about the obligatory feasts - and whether they are to attend Mass on these feasts. Permission granted to US bishops to change the day of the celebration of the Feast of the Ascension to a Sunday, and to remove the obligation to attend Mass on All Saints and the Assumption if they fall on a Saturday or a Monday has contributed to confusion and misunderstanding.

The result has been to diminish the meaning and importance Catholics attach to the Church's obligatory celebrations.

And from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

In addition to Sunday, the days to be observed as holy days of obligation in the Latin Rite dioceses of the United States of America, in conformity with canon 1246, are as follows:
January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God;
Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter, the solemnity of the Ascension;
August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary;
November 1, the solemnity of All Saints;
December 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception;
December 25, the solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Whenever January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, or August 15, the
solemnity of the Assumption, or November 1, the solemnity of All Saints, falls
on a Saturday or on a Monday, the precept to attend Mass is abrogated.

I did find information where the bishops were given permission to move Ascension Thursday to Sunday, but I cannot find permission for removing the HDO for January 1st.

Could someone please explain it?

My son has been Confirmed!

December 4,2007 - Feast of Saint Barbara

His Excellency, the Most Reverend Robert W. Finn, Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, conferred the Holy Sacrament of Confirmation at Our Lady of Sorrows Church on the First Sunday of Advent, December 2, at 3:00 PM. A Solemn High Mass was celebrated following the Confirmation, and a reception was held in the Parish Hall afterwards.

My son was one of the 20 Confirmandi. It was a beautiful experience! King Peter's sponsor flew in from another state for this. Thank you Mr. G! I don't think we can ever properly express how much this meant to us!

I will let the pictures speak for themselves. By the way, my dear mother took the pictures, and she had some camera troubles.

More pictures can be found at Old Saint Patrick's Roman Catholic Oratory. Wolftracker at Kansas City Catholic has some too. If you know of any more pictures, please let me know and I will link to them.

Just for Jamie - a.k.a. Queen of the World

Sunday, October 27, 2007 - Feast of Saint Frumentius of Ethiopia

Dearest Queen Jamie,

I beg your forgiveness for the disrespect I showed you by not keeping up with my blog. Please don't cut off my head.

Your humble subject,

BethAlice

Cream cheese crescent rolls

Cream cheese crescent rolls

One can of crescent rolls
A small portion of the Cream Cheese Feta Garlic Dill Dip

Place crescent rolls flat on a cookie tray, in the shape of a rectangle. Press the seams together, and flatten out the dough a bit. Spread the dip over the entire top. {You will not use much of the dip. You want the layer of dip to be about 1/8” thick, give or take. More if you really like cream cheese, but not so much it will not bake well.} Roll up the dough, starting on the longest side, and working towards the other long side {as if you were making cinnamon rolls}. Bake at 350 degrees, for about 12-20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. {My oven temperature varies, so I could not be more accurate on the time}. Let it cool a bit. Slice & serve.

Another option is to slice it before baking. Set the spirals on their sides, then bake {this will shorten your baking time a bit.}

Cream Cheese Feta Garlic Dill Dip

Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - Feast of Saint Theodore Guerin


This recipe is from a dear friend.

Cream Cheese Feta Garlic Dill Dip

16 oz cream cheese—I used the light
16 oz sour cream—I used the light
5 oz container crumbled feta cheese
3-5 cloves garlic—pressed and chopped
2 t dried dill

Mix all together.

Goes well with Melba rounds, bagel chips, and other crackers.

Celebration of the Tridentine Mass in the Kansas City-Saint Joseph Diocese

Monday, September 17, 2007 - Feast of Saint Lambert of Maestricht

The above picture is titled "The Martyrdom of St. Lambert of Liège" - from a Wikipedia entry, which identifies the picture as "Le Martyr de St. Lambert" of the 15th century, but fails to list an artist or provenance.

What a blessed day September 15th became {besides the fact it was also my sister's birthday}! Our bishop, Bishop Finn of the Kansas City-Saint Joseph Diocese, celebrated the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend. Kansas City Catholic and Musings of a Dominican Inquirer were there, and each has an excellent write-up and several pictures.

My dear friend, Jack, was also there. Jack collects relics, items for the altar, and other traditional Catholic items. In fact, he donated several items needed for the Mass.

Jack sent me the following pictures:

These first two show the altar. Notice the empty pews behind the altar. Prior to Bishop Finn coming to our diocese, the Cathedral was wreckovated, and designed to not accommodate the Tridentine Mass. Well, those responsible were wrong. From what I have heard, the Mass was standing room only, but no one sat behind the altar.

Beautiful! What a glorious way to honor Our Lord!


This shows His Excellency Bishop Robert Finn, with Jack, in thanks for lending him the necessary altar items from his collection. Jack said, “It was an honor to be able to help.”



This shows the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, who are in our diocese, with Jack and his sister. Jack explains the story behind the picture:

“Several people have correctly guessed that the nuns are all laughing as Jack
must have told a joke. (They know me) When {the photographer} was counting to
three as he took it, he stopped at "Say..." at which point I shouted out, "Moto
Proprio", much to the sisters' delight.”

And finally, another beautiful picture. This is a father hugging his daughter goodbye, after the Mass. Jack said the father is

“fighting back the tears as he hugs his daughter goodbye. As Mother Superior
whisked her away, he remarked, "Well, I'll get to see her at Christmas."”

Thank you Jack for allowing me to share your pictures!

J+M+J

Friday, September 14, 2007 - Feast of Saint Notburga

Floating around the blogs, for your enjoyment -