Q: I hope you are well and appreciate your continued help.
Could I move the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist to Sunday to replace the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time even though the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart comes after it on the Friday? Could I move one to the Vigil and the other to Sunday?
Also for clarification: Do I have one Mass for the dedication of a Church if I move it to Sunday or are all Masses at that Church on that weekend for the dedication?
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A: I would keep those days where they are. It’s true that 58 of the Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and Calendar says, “For the pastoral good of the faithful, it is permitted to observe on Sundays in Ordinary Time those celebrations that fall during the week and that are agreeable to the devotion of the faithful, provided the celebrations rank above that Sunday in the Table of Liturgical Days.”
However, both these days have special significance for the day on which they fall: the birth of John the Baptist 6 months before the birth of Jesus, and Sacred Heart on its traditional Friday. It would be for the pastoral good of the faithful to leave them there.
If you move the observance of a church dedication, then the presumption is that you are moving the day, not just one Mass. The other Masses and the Liturgy of the Hours are all affected.