Why does the church have holy days of obligation? If our
faith is what saves us, and not our works, how can we be obliged to do
anything? Wouldn’t that kind of go against the teachings of the faith? I have
also heard these days referred to as holy days of “opportunity”. Is that the
same thing?
Thanks.
This is an extremely interesting question, and one that I do
think warrants some explanation. First and foremost, the Church implements Holy
Days of Obligation in an effort to celebrate significant moments in Christ’s
ministry, Mary’s life, and church history in general. Essentially, these days
are set aside so as to mark their importance outside our standard church going
practices. In other words, the church wants to make them special, make them
sacred, and thus they have been set apart, or dedicated, quite literally, which
aligns directly with the etymological understanding of what it means to be holy
(that which is separate).
Though it is somewhat of an elementary explanation, the Holy
Days of Obligation are designed to pull us out of our standard routine in order
for us to recognize that something profound is going on. From day to day and
week to week, we tend to do much of the same thing, and sometimes that even
includes going to church on Sundays (a Holy Day of Obligation by the way). However, when a holy day falls on a
Wednesday, or a Friday, it is equivocal to that moment when you are pulled away
from your typical routine and asked to make time for something special,
something worthwhile. The interesting part is that sometimes we allow ourselves
to break from our consistent rhythm, and sometimes we do not. Whether or not
our salvation depends on it is not so much the question, but why we refuse to
find the time is actually extremely fascinating.
You are entirely right when you state that it is our “faith
that saves us”. As for how that impacts the obligatory nature of holy days, I
think it is important to recognize that these two issues are not cut of the
same cloth. When the church declared the Holy Days of Obligation, it did not do
so with the intention of tying them directly to your salvation. Much like the
sacraments, that do not “save” you in and of themselves, but rather place you
in relationship with Christ that you might be saved, the Holy Days of Obligation,
and your dedication to them, speak to a lifestyle of salvation, they are not,
in and of themselves, the saving mechanism.
You see, I think that we are afraid of this word obligation,
which is in part why we have somewhat modified the title of these days to Holy
Days of “Opportunity”. We have successfully maneuvered around our obligations,
and instead created a situation in which we can now go to church and use it as
an opportunity to grow closer to the Lord. The problem here is that, in
opportunity, the entire dynamic has shifted. We are now celebrating these holy
days for us. We have given ourselves the opportunity to say, “God, look how
faithful I am. Look how I desire to be in relationship with you.” However, the
reality of the matter is that on Holy Days of Obligation, and every Sunday for
that matter, we are called to take time out of our day to worship the Lord. Not
because of the benefits rendered, but because He is overwhelmingly deserving of
that worship.
We need to no longer fear this notion of obligation and
obedience, but rather embrace it. In Islam, the story of Abraham’s sacrifice is
a very interesting one. Obviously, it is Ishmael and not Isaac under the knife,
but the most fascinating part is that Abraham actually drives the knife into his
son. However, when he opens his eyes, it is not Ishmael that lies dead beneath
him, but a ram in Ishmael’s stead. Obviously the Catholic Church has a very
different understanding of this particular sequence of events, but the motif,
in a lot of ways, remains the same. Islam preaches faith and obedience, and in
a lot of ways, Jesus does the same. But the interesting part is that faith and
obedience in this sense are not separate entities but rather intimately tied to
one another. In our faith, we will be obedient.
Christ establishes Himself as “the way, the truth and the
light”. Essentially, at the foundation of this notion is the idea that Christ
is our guide. He is the one that we should follow. And if we believe that, then
following carries with it a certain degree of obedience.
In a world where we have become so accustomed to doing what
we want (an issue I struggle with continuously) we have lost sight of the fact
that sometimes we are called to sacrifice, to do something outside the normal
order. In other words, we are called to be obedient. And not because our
obedience will gain us our salvation, that’s not how this game works, but
because our obedience stems from our love for God.
At the end of the day, and in a funny way, there is an
opportunity here. An opportunity to be obedient: Obedient to the teachings of
the church. Obedient to the commandments of Christ. And obedient, for once, to
something other than ourselves.
So what is a Holy Day of Obligation? Ultimately, it’s our
chance to admit that we aren’t running the show, and it’s our chance to revel
in that fact.
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