Thursday, January 01, 2009

New Year's Day is Not a Holy Day of Obligation in Hawaii

Sts. Peter and PaulSts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Honolulu
Photo by Joey

It may not have been a Holy Day of Obligation here in the Diocese of Honolulu, but the church was filled with worshipers this morning. Father R. gave a inspiring homily reminding us that on the first of the year, we should all be at Mass, giving thanks to God. That is the way to start a new year. Sadly, my mother shared with me that it was a Holy Day of Obligation in the Diocese of Paterson yet only 11 people showed up for Mass this morning. Needless to say, their pastor was very disappointed.

6 comments:

Easter Almuena said...

How wonderful to see Sts. Peter and Paul Church adorned that way! I hope the decoration stays until the Baptism of Our Lord.

Esther, we had a beautiful festive 12n Mass at the Cathedral. Our church was full - could have very well been about a thousand people that attended.

Our 12n daily Mass is attended by about 150 people and that is not counting the early morning Mass that usually has more than 50. I thought I'd share that with your readers because here on our small island, many Catholics do go to Mass.

Love to you...

If Jack is reading this, well, Jack you would have been there. :)

Barbara said...

It wasn't Sunday-packed, but we had a good crowd for our Holy Day. What is most sad is that most people had the day off, so no excuses. I do think many people attend the vigil Mass, however, so they can sleep late!

catholicandgop said...

I was really surprised at the number of people at mass yesterday. It was a noon mass, which I think helped a bit with the turnout. I think it was a larger number than a typical Sunday mass. They had one mass New Years Eve, and two New Years Day, I don't know how well the other two were attended. I thought a noon mass was a good idea though, even if you weren't out drinking or something like that you could still be up late, and I think noon mass made it easier to go.

Charlotte said...

It was a Holy day of obligation in the Milwaukee archdiocese, but the church was packed. A good sign!

Happy New Year to you, Esther, one of my favorite bloggers! : )

Joyful Days said...

We had two Masses at our church. I don't know about the 9:30 one, but the one at noon was as full as most Sunday services. It was a beautiful way to start the New Year honoring our Lady.

Peace,

Julie

EC Gefroh said...

Easter, except for the garland and angels, the trees, nativity, lights, etc, have been removed :-(

Thanks for chiming in about the Cathedral!

I wonder if my mom's parish had a vigil Mass....

Thanks for sharing about your parishes friends. Thanks Charlotte :-)