December 8, 2024
Dear Parish Family,
A popular Christmas movie is the classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. The film tells us the story of George Bailey. Clarence, his angel, shows him what life would have been like if George never existed. Clarence earns his wings by helping George understand that God has a purpose and plan for him. This heartwarming story is not just about George Bailey and the people of Bedford Falls. It reminds all us that God has a plan and purpose for each and every person.
This week we will celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Some can get confused about this mystery and think it’s about the conception of Jesus, especially with its proximity to Christmas. However, it is about the conception of Mary. God kept Mary free from all sin, even Original Sin—that all human persons are born with – from the very first moment of her conception in the womb of Anne her mother. God has chosen her to be the mother of His Son. This humble handmaid was kept free from all sin and any stain of sin from the first moment of her existence so that she would be the pure and holy vessel in whom Jesus would be conceived by the Holy Spirit, who would be the first tabernacle, if you will, to carry and bring forth Jesus.
The Immaculate Conception reminds us of God’s plan and purpose for Mary. It also reminds us that God has a plan and purpose for each one of us. That each of us has a role to play in Salvation History.
Typically, the Immaculate Conception is a Holy Day of Obligation. And it is. A very recent clarification from the Vatican confirmed that, even when the feast is transferred to December 9 when December 8 falls on a Sunday, it is still a Holy Day of Obligation and Catholics are to attend Mass. It’s a lot to explain and I have tried to do it in the article below. Bottom line, Bishop Senior has dispensed the obligation to attend Mass on December 9 this year. Again, please see the special article below to find out why.
Continued GOOD ADVENT, everyone!
Father Neil Sullivan
The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Is it always a Holy Day of Obligation?
Yes, but …
Christmas is about the Incarnation. God, Who is beyond space and time, entered into our space and time. Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He is simultaneously perfectly divine and perfectly human.
Our faith helps us navigate this dynamic between human and divine, time and eternity, and reality and mystery. We live here in a finite world measured by time in preparation for the world that is to come that will last forever.
The Liturgical Year unpacks these eternal mysteries in the here and now. Among the Sundays, Seasons, and Feasts, the Church assigns special mysteries to certain days as Holy Days of Obligation. The Universal Church identifies ten that bishops of each country or region may choose from. In the United States there are six:
· Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God on January 1
· Ascension of Jesus on sixth Thursday after Easter Sunday
· Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15
· Solemnity of All Saints on November 1
· Immaculate Conception of the BVM on December 8
· The Birth of the Lord on December 25
Remember that it is not the calendar date that makes the day holy but the mystery that is being celebrated.
A bishop can always dispense his people from the obligation to attend Mass. In 1991, the U.S. Bishops determined that if the date of the Holy Day of Obligation fell on a Saturday or Friday, the obligation to attend Mass was abrogated. A bishop can also transfer a holy day to a Sunday, like many dioceses (not the Diocese of Harrisburg) do with the Ascension of Jesus.
There are two exceptions. Christmas is always a Holy Day of Obligation no matter what day of the week it falls. The same goes for the Immaculate Conception because Mary, under that title, is the patroness of the United States. So, it is our national feast day.
Complex. But it gets even more confusing. If any other Holy Day would fall on a Sunday, it would be observed on that Sunday. But, the Sundays of Advent have a higher rank than the Immaculate Conception. So when December 8 falls on a Sunday (like it does this year), the feast is transferred to the next available day, December 9.
Until recently, the obligation to attend Mass did not travel to December 9. That is what was approved, what we all understood, and what has been done now for decades.
Then, some began to think about that dynamic between mystery and date. If the obligation is attached to the mystery and not the calendar day, and since the Immaculate Conception has that special place among Holy Days of Obligation, why wouldn’t the obligation be in place even when the feast is transferred to December 9? Good question! Makes sense.
In 2024, the question was sent to the Vatican. The Vatican answered YES: the obligation to attend Mass includes when it is celebrated on December 9. So that is a change.
This clarification was recent. Many bishops across the United States, including Bishop Senior, have granted a dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass for this Monday, December 9, 2024.
This dispensation does not diminish the importance of the Immaculate Conception in the life of the Church, especially in the U.S. where under this title Mary is our patroness. While dispensed, we are encouraged to take advantage of the graces of the holy day, whether by attending Mass or by engaging in other acts of prayer, charity, and Christian witness.
Masses on December 9 here at Good Shepherd will be at 8:30 a.m. and 12:00 noon.