Holy Days of ... ???

Our favorite Catholic Mom points us to a story over at Gerald's where he tells us that Cardinal Mahoney decided that Tuesday, January 1st fell too close to Sunday, December 30th and therefore would not be a Holy Day of Obligation. I wrote the below in her combox but thought it was worth writing here as my first post of the new year.

You know, maybe it's just me but I have always thought that having a Holy Day of Obligation on January 1 is an eminently Catholic thing to do. First it serves as a reminder that we ought not to over-indulge (who wants to head into Church for everyone to see bleary-eyed and hung over?). Second, it reminds us that everything we do must start with God first, including marking our time. Third, it reminds us that God takes precedence over our plans and even our conveniences. Fourth, when we've finally managed to digest the first three, it provides us the opportunity to start our new year in the most serene and simultaneously profitable way possible.

To take those opportunities away in the name of "fairness" is to do harm to everyone who takes the opening it provides to not go to Mass that day. I am simultaneously heartened by the good attendance we had at our parish (not in CA) and saddened by the short-sightedness of this decision. Hopefully there will be some loving correction offered the Cardinal by his brother Bishops.