January 1st: Holy Day of Obligation
Today is a holy day of obligation in the United States. It is the celebration of the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. Holy Days of Obligation require mandatory church attendance – failure to comply with the obligation is considered a grave sin.
Holy Days of Obligation have changed frequently. Here are the rules in the U.S. As of 12/31/11, there are ten Holy Days of Obligation authorized by the Vatican. However, each nation’s Conference of Bishops may request that the number of these days and their observance be changed for their country. In the U.S., there are now six Holy Days of Obligation: the Solemnity of Mary (January 1), Ascension “Thursday” (40 days after Easter, but more on that later), the Assumption of Mary (August 15), All Saints Day (November 1), the Immaculate Conception (December 8), and Christmas (December 25).
Today’s Holy Day was changed from the Feast of the Circumcision of Jesus (eight days after his birth), to the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God in 1969. Also (effective after 1991) when this Holy Day falls on Saturday or Monday it is moved to Sunday. This “moveable rule” also applies to All Saints Day (November 1) and the Assumption of Mary (August 15).
Ascension “Thursday” is quite confusing (the rules changed in 1999). The day of observance depends on what “ecclesiastical province” you live in. In North Carolina, we are in the Atlanta province, which by a two-thirds vote of the province’s bishops decided to move the obligation to Sunday. Currently, attendance on Ascension “Thursday” is mandatory only in the provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Philadelphia and Omaha.
In the year of my marriage (I was married on All Saints Day in 1980), I was required to attend mass 58 times – on all Sundays, and all six Holy Days. In 2011, the Solemnity of Mary (1/1/11, a Saturday) was moved to Sunday. Ascension Thursday was moved to Sunday, the Assumption (8/15/11, a Monday) was moved to Sunday, and Christmas fell on a Sunday. So, only two “extra” days of mandatory attendance at mass. So, thirty years later required church attendance was reduced by 7%. Good news for most Catholics, since only about 13% attend mass on all the mandatory Holy Days.
Seriously, these man-made rules and traditions (which must be observed by Catholics as their minimum spiritual duty to merit heaven) are an abuse of power by the Holy See. They deny the simple gospel of salvation by faith in Christ alone. They are an abomination.
A Holy Day of Obligation, and my wedding anniversary
Well, it’s November 1st again. On a sleety Saturday in Rochester, NY 31 years ago, I was joined together to my lovely spouse in holy matrimony. Thank you, my dear, for your love, kindness and gentleness. Hallmark would have us celebrate the day by spending $5 on an obligatory greeting card.
Today is also a holy day of obligation in the U.S. – All Saints Day. My website receives it greatest number of “hits” on these mandatory days of mass attendance – because Catholics want to know if they have to go to mass today. The six holy days of obligation in the U.S. require church attendance. Failure to attend mass without a really good excuse (are you coughing up a lung?) is a mortal sin. Observing the Holy Days is one of the five precepts of the Church – the bare minimum spiritual requirements for spiritual growth and entrance into heaven.
My Catholic friends, do not be deceived. Your entrance into heaven is solely based on coming to Jesus in faith – receiving him as your savior and foresaking any other false hope, especially man-made traditions. I pray that you will love Jesus and forsake these false, obligatory church traditions.
On Tuesday, June 29th, a “historic” document related to evangelism/missions was issued jointly by the World Evangelical Alliance, the Papacy and the World Council of Churches. Here is the document.
Here are several faulty serious issues that are ignored when entering in to this agreement:
1) There is no agreement as to who is a Christian. The bible clearly warns of becoming unequally yoked with unbelievers. Apparently, the WEA has no problem accepting unbelieving liberals and Catholics as brothers and sisters in Christ, and thus entering into partnership with them.
2) There is no definition of terms, such as conversion and mission. The three parties to the agreement all hold to different gospels. For the Papacy, there is no salvation apart from Rome. To convert means to become a Catholic and submit to the authority of Rome. For an evangelical, to convert is to trust in Jesus alone by faith alone, and to submit to God as He is revealed in the Bible.
3) The document is a surrender of the high ground to the Catholic Church, which teaches that salvation is available to those who do not believe in Jesus. The Catholic Catechism says that the plan of salvation “includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims.” It goes on to state about unbelievers:
“ Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience — those too may achieve eternal salvation.” CCC 847
This agreement is another baby step toward a false, man-centered ecumenical unity. Those who hold that there is no salvation apart from Christ, and warn non-Christians of the falsehood of their beliefs, and urge that they repent — SURELY WE ARE GUILTY OF INTOLERANCE AND IMPROPER PROSELYTIZING?
Graduating from RTS as a Catholic
An interesting post from Jeremy Tate, a recent graduate of RTS-DC at Called to Communion, which is a blog for ex-reformed Christians that have crossed the Tiber to Rome. How should one react when the youth pastor at your PCA church tells the congregation that he has converted to Roman Catholicism?
ECT, ECT II, ECT III… How many are there?
The evangelical compromise with Catholics began in 1994 with the publication of the first ECT document (Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium). Most people also remember the heretical follow-up in 1997 (The Gift of Salvation). Fewer still are likely to remember the third ECT document (Your Word is Truth).
Well, I knew that they were working on a fourth ECT in 2002 to find common ground regarding the communion of the saints. But I kind of lost track of these heretical undertakings as their publicity has waned. This morning I discovered ECT VII, published in November, 2009. The title of the document: “Do Whatever He Tells You: The Blessed Virgin Mary in Christian Faith and Life.”
A major impact of the ECT movement has been to create the misunderstanding among evangelicals that Roman Catholicism is a valid representation of Christianity. It is not. And believing the lie will result in the future conversion of our erstwhile evangelical children to the ancient and “infallible” religion of Catholicism.
For those interested, here are links to the seven documents:
John Paul II a Saint? Video by Richard Bennett
I’m not very smart, so why even try?
Turretin Fan responds to a comment by a Catholic who feels free because he can hand over his intellect to the Catholic hierarchy.
Here is the post.
Quite Contrary – Now available at CWRC
In my last newsletter, I provided a link to Amazon for anyone interested in purchasing the book by Timothy Kauffman on Marian Apparitions. The book can also be purchased at the website of Rob Zins’ ministry, CWRC. The website was being serviced when the January newsletter came out. Buying the book at CWRC is less expensive than Amazon, and also will support CWRC. Check it out!
Apparition Week: Our Lady of Medjugorje
The apparition of “Mary” appeared to six Croatian children in 1981 in a town in Bosnia-Herzegovina (then Yugoslavia). The apparition has been giving the visionaries messages for almost thirty years. Each of the six were to receive ten secrets from the apparition before the visions would end. Today, two of the visionaries still receive messages from the spirit on a monthly basis. In a nutshell, the message is usually: pray (the Rosary), fast, and do penance (in particular, confess monthly to a priest). This apparition site, despite being located in a war zone for many years, has been very popular among Catholics worldwide. Over 30 million people have visited the site. Many have reported miraculous events, such as rosaries turning gold and the spinning of the sun. In March, 2010 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith launched a formal investigation of the phenomenon.
A video of visionary receiving a message:
Apparition Week: Zeitoun
A silent “Mary” was seen by many millions in Cairo, Egypt for a three-year period from 1968 to 1970. A Muslim bus driver first witnessed the apparition – he thought a woman was attempting to commit suicide by jumping off a Coptic church. The apparition was accompanied by miraculous healings, and the supernatural phenomena were confirmed by Coptics, Catholics, Muslims and evangelicals.
