Using Holy Days of Obligation Strategically
Closing on Feast Days as a Way to Evangelize and Take Back the Culture.
In two days, we will celebrate the feast of the Ascension (May 9th). This is a Holy Day of Obligation (a few dioceses move it to the following Sunday). In light of this, we have some thoughts on the role of Holy Days of Obligation in evangelization.
Let’s start with a refresher.
As Catholics, we are subject to the laws of The Church. One of these is “To attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, and resting from servile works.” A simple commandment that we voluntarily submit to as Catholics.
Now, let’s get into the real gritty stuff.
How many of us have taken the day off? Oh, and how many of us have employees? Did we give them the day off? I would venture to assume most of us have missed this detail.
Perhaps some of us genuinely need to work most of the day and just make sure we get to mass. This may be the case, but I am going to challenge you today. I challenge you all to make a plan for this and all future Holy Days of Obligation—after all, there are 6 every year.
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Celebrating
Given that it’s a Holy Day, a special feast day, we should all have a plan for how to celebrate. Perhaps we can host a party at our place of work or at home. Perhaps we organize an outing after mass. If you’re a morning mass person (since you should have the day off), maybe you and a couple of other families can have a picnic afterward.
There are countless ways to celebrate. I’m sure we don’t need to help you with that. The point is that it is a feast day, and you need to pick a way to celebrate.
Educating the Public
If you own a storefront, this can be a huge opportunity for evangelization. Unless you’re hosting your party at your coffee shop and giving out free coffee in honor of the feast day, you should not be open.
But don’t just be closed. Be closed with intention. Put up a sign saying “Closed for the Ascension.” Below, you can include more details on the meaning of the day and the reason we celebrate.
If you really want to get guerrilla on them, put a QR code there so they can go to an article or to a page that tells them the mass times in the area.
However you do it, never pass an opportunity to educate about The Faith.
Exceptions
There are, of course, many reasons why you might believe your situation is the exception. I’m not here to judge, but you need to pray about it.
The most important thing to ask yourself is—is there really no way around this? Can I not do the work the next day? Can I really not recover from those lost revenues?
Anyone who is honest with himself is likely to take the day off. Because the reality is that God is watching over us. And while this is not the reason you should do this, God will reward you for not staying open. It may be in the form of more customers the next day. Or, it may just be spiritually. Either way, you will get benefits; just don’t do it for that benefit.
Do this for the love of Jesus.
Why it Matters
Some might see this as extreme. It is. And it matters. Let me explain.
The reason most of us are planning to work on Thursday is because our Country doesn’t honor our Holidays (for the most part) anymore. But, as business owners, why should we follow the Federal Holidays? What matters most are the feasts of The Church.
As Catholic Founders, we have a huge lever to pull in the goal of turning the country back towards God, and that is closing down for feast days. It doesn’t even have to be only Holy Days of Obligation, but that’s at least a starting point.
The reason this is such a big deal is we are literally stopping everything. We are saying no to all the sales we can make that day. We are showing that nothing is more important than celebrating what the Lord has done this day.
Secular people of other religions do this for their feasts. Yet, as Catholics, the True Religion, we just go along with it on our special days?!
Why?
Possible causes are many. But the fix is singular. Begin to take our faith seriously.
Once we start this, small actions like closing our businesses on feast days become no-brainers. And little by little, we will take back the culture for God.
Challenge: Offer this coming Thursday to God by closing down and abstaining from work. At the bare minimum, take off half of the day.
In this way, you will show your Employees, your Customers, and most importantly, your Children what is really the center of your life.
See ya next time!
Silas Mähner
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Community Help
We need your help! In order to figure out the best ways we can evangelize on feast days and holy days of obligation, let us know in the comments how you would go about evangelization. 💭👇