Whenever the Solemnity of the Ascension is transferred to the following Sunday rather than celebrated on the traditional day of the previous Thursday — as is now the case in the majority of U.S. ecclesial jurisdictions — the switch provokes substantial frustration for many faithful Catholics.

Why, these Catholics ask, isn’t one of the greatest celebrations of the entire liturgical year — commemorating the moment 40 days after Easter when the Resurrected Jesus was elevated permanently into heaven — allowed to remain in a separate place on the liturgical calendar? 

Doesn’t this switch downplay the immense importance of the great feast of the Ascension — one of the five holiest days of the entire liturgical year, alongside of Easter, Christmas, Pentecost and the Epiphany — and deprive the faithful of the opportunity to rejoice as they should, via a dedicated and full-fledged feast day? 

And doesn’t the transfer of the feast from the preceding Thursday, and of the concomitant obligation to attend Mass that day, mean that our shepherds are acquiescing to the widespread liturgical laxity that has afflicted the worship of far too many Catholics in the U.S. and in other Western countries?

Actually, it doesn’t mean this at all. In the contemporary context, there is a straightforward justification for transferring Ascension and some other holy days of obligation that fall on weekdays to the next available Sunday. The reason is that a holy day of obligation functions entirely as it should only when the “holy day” is also a public holiday. 

When a major liturgical feast occurs on a regular day instead, life’s mundane realities — particularly the need to go to work to provide for our families and contribute constructively to our communities — can make it very difficult or even impossible for many of the faithful to attend a Mass.

Indeed, this is precisely why we call holidays by that name in Western societies. The term reflects the historical fact that during the centuries our Catholic faith was embedded fully in European cultures, major feast days were always designated as public festivities that warranted a break from humanity’s usual toils. Such circumstances allow us to devote our undivided attention to God at Mass and to continue this worshipful focus throughout the rest of our day in the company of family and friends. It also facilitates the use of liturgical forms and non-liturgical devotions that are tailored specifically to the character of the particular Christian event that’s being celebrated.

So it’s not an expression of disrespect for the significance of a feast, or an accommodation of liturgical laxity, when a holy day is transferred to a Sunday. It’s merely a reflection of the underlying cultural context. 

Also, it’s completely wrong to view a celebration on Sunday as a liturgical downgrade. Sunday, as the day of rest and worship ordained for humankind by God himself, is always the Catholic feast day par excellence. And the readings and homilies presented at Ascension Sunday Masses provide a magnificent catechesis on the meaning of the Ascension, the day when the Son of God’s human nature was raised to the highest height of heavenly honor at the right side of God the Father.

Therefore, instead of succumbing to frustration and disappointment, the better response to the secularization that has provoked the transfers of holy days of obligation is to attend Mass cheerfully on their actual dates on the liturgical calendar, if we can, in addition to the following Sunday. And we should seek out creative ways to communicate the significance of these great feast days to our fellow Catholics, as well as the broader society in which we live and work.

In fact, it can be said that until the happy day arrives when all holy days are recognized everywhere as holidays, we have a holy obligation of our own — to respond positively to the liturgical circumstances we find ourselves in, rather than complaining unconstructively about them.