The Catholic Message Board

The official diocesan newspaper has an article on the fact that Christmas Eve and the 4th Sunday of Advent are the same this year, and yet after reading the article, and trying my best to ignore the bad grammar that it says "there will be less (sic) days of Advent this year", the article is supposed to answer the question of whether there are two obligations this year, one for Sunday and one for Monday, and yet it doesn't it meanders around the issue without answering the question.

So...there are two obligations right, and we can't fulfill both of them by attending one Mass?

Correct, although it doesn't matter what readings and prayers are used. If you want to satisfy your Sunday obligation by attending a Christmas Eve Mass (before midnight), you can do that, but you still have to attend one for Christmas itself--either later on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day.

Doom wrote: ↑Fri Nov 17, 2023 7:17 pm it doesn't it meanders around the issue without answering the question.

'Twas ever thus (since 1968)

What I mean is that it gives a long history of post-Vatican II liturgical Holy Days of Obligation, states the rules of how many Masses a parish can offer in one day, and talks about how demanding a schedule it is for priests to offer so many Masses on two consecutive days, but never explicitly says that there are two distinct obligations and you cannot fulfill them with only one Mass..

Doom wrote: ↑Sun Nov 19, 2023 1:02 pm What I mean is that it gives a long history of post-Vatican II liturgical Holy Days of Obligation, states the rules of how many Masses a parish can offer in one day, and talks about how demanding a schedule it is for priests to offer so many Masses on two consecutive days, but never explicitly says that there are two distinct obligations and you cannot fulfill them with only one Mass..

Almost like the author is trying to tell people not to worry if they attempt to fulfill both obligations at one Mass

Nah, I don't think there was any kind of malicious intent like that, it is just a poorly written article filled with typos and grammar errors which seem to indicate it was never edited. It is a diocesean newspaper, after all, an all-around low-quality production published on a shoestring budget that is sent to every registered member of every parish in the diocese.

Doom wrote: ↑Sun Nov 19, 2023 3:18 pm Nah, I don't think there was any kind of malicious intent like that, it is just a poorly written article filled with typos and grammar errors which seem to indicate it was never edited. It is a diocesean newspaper, after all, an all-around low-quality production published on a shoestring budget that is sent to every registered member of every parish in the diocese.

I don't mean it's malicious, I just think there is a general tendency to be as vague as possible to avoid convicting people of actual sin.

Yeah, I don't think that is what happened here, just a bad article written by an unpaid writer who is probably a volunteer which was never edited, the typos and grammar mistakes make it difficult to believe this was ever edited. Somebody probably wrote it in a word processor at the last minute and then hit "send"

As our parish priest told us years ago, "There are no 'twofers' in Catholicism."

Diocese of Phoenix has Christmas (Monday) as a Holy Day of Obligation.

BobCatholic wrote: ↑Sat Nov 25, 2023 1:03 am Diocese of Phoenix has Christmas (Monday) as a Holy Day of Obligation.

I would be surprised if there were a diocese in the world that did not.

Right, I can't see Christmas, one of the two holiest days of the year, being made non-obligatory by even the most liberal and accommodating bishop

Peetem wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 4:29 pm As our parish priest told us years ago, "There are no 'twofers' in Catholicism."

Not so sure about that....I think we got one last year with Christmas day being on a Sunday...

Because there's not a separate obligation when a HDoO falls on a Sunday.