Right now, the holy day is just one more thing we are obliged to do within our already overly committed schedules. It adds to the stress and fatigue without adding much joy to compensate. Over the years, I have noticed something though. When I decided to go to daily mass as often as possible, suddenly the days of obligation didn't seem like a big deal. Heck, I was already going anyway! While going to daily mass is a good thing, it is a choice. The only thing that holy days changed was that we tried to have a nice dessert that night. Well, at least that was something...
But it should be a day of joy. If we call them holy days of obligation, we send the wrong message: you are obliged to come to mass or go to hell. Why aren't they called holy days of celebration? A supporting culture would close stores, give everyone the day off, and we would have rip-roaring celebrations. Dream on. The secular culture does a better job with Fat Tuesday than Catholics do with virtually every holy day. Well, I admit that some of that secular celebrating obliges people to visit the confessional...
It doesn't help that the bishops sometimes don't make some of them days of obligation because it is just too much to ask people to acknowledge a holy day with mass attendance.
I have always been puzzled why Catholic schools don't cancel classes that day. What would get kids more exciting about a holy day than no school? Well, maybe if we have to have school in session, it would be an all-fun-and-no-homework day at the very least. As far as I can tell, the holy day only gets a nod and lectures and lessons go on as planned.
But I still feel that somehow our Catholic culture does not embrace holy days with the joy and celebratory attitude that they were intended to evoke. As Catholics, we need to get better at having a good party. Where are the parades, the costumes, the fireworks, the feasting, and the music? The problem is we stink at partying.
