I put parenthesis around the word "Good" in the title because good Catholics attend Mass on that day. I am not a good Catholic because I have never attended Mass on New Year's Day.
New Year's Day celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. [1] While remembering Mary, the Mother of God, Who played a pivotal role in God's plan of salvation [2] on New Year's Day is a good thing, remembering Mary every day is even better. It is interesting to note that "the Church regards this feast as so important that it is a Holy Day of Obligation" [3] on the one hand, and then to waive the requirement to attend Mass should the Solemnity of Mary falls on a Saturday or a Monday on the other. [4]
I suppose it would be too much to require priests to say Mass and good Catholics to attend it on consecutive days, like Saturday and Sunday or Sunday and Monday. It would certainly be expedient to combine all Holy Days with the nearest Sunday.
One must truly thank God for having Jesus crucified on a Friday and resurrect on a Sunday. Can you imagine if the resurrection of Christ had occurred on a Saturday or a Monday what the Church might do? I suppose all weekly Sunday Masses would become either weekly Saturday or weekly Monday Masses. Or would the work week start on a Tuesday if Monday were the day of resurrection? I will leave it up to the reader to ponder this and blog the imponderable.
[1] http://catholicism.about.com/od/holydaysandholidays/tp/Holy-Days-Of-Obligation-United-States.htm
[2] http://catholicism.about.com/b/2014/01/01/celebrating-the-new-year-with-mary-the-mother-of-god.htm
[3] Ibid.
[4] http://catholicism.about.com/od/holydaysandholidays/f/January_1_Holy.htm
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