For non-Catholics who believe that they have a direct pipeline to God and don't have to go through the church to get to Him, attending church just for the sake of attending is legalism and ritualistic.
For example, if a person wakes up on Sunday and feels like he needs some alone time with God, there is nothing wrong with staying home, praying and reading the bible.
To Catholics I can see where this can seem like a foreign concept, but yet they get upset when protestants feel that they've put Mary (just a person) on a undeserved pedestal.
>>attending church just for the sake of attending is legalism and ritualistic. <<
Three things:
1) We are commanded to meet corporately and worship God as a church body. Individual/family devotions are for the other 6 days
2) A true believer longs to worship God and be in the fellowship of other believers. Anyone who rolls out of bed and feels "obligated" to worship has an issue with himself, not the church.
3) The heart of this issue is not legalism, it's the "Conditional Worship" laziness of contemporary pop-bubblegum christianity. The idea of "Unless I can ____ then I won't go to church.", or "Unless the church offers ____ then I won't go."
These churches are closing their doors on Christmas Sunday as a convenience to the congregation. Our convenience or comfort should never be a consideration when it comes to worshipping the LORD on the day He has set aside for corporate worship.
Just the person who was favored by God and told by an angel.