Are Teachers for Childrens Liturgy of the Word Missing their Sunday Obligation?

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Teachers are absent from the readings and the homily at my parish, as they are in a different room with children. Since they are missing the readings and the homily, are they missing their Sunday Obligation? In other words, isn’t hearing the readings, and more to the point, learing a homily by a deacon or priest, part of the Sunday Obligation?
 
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CyberSaint:
Teachers are absent from the readings and the homily at my parish, as they are in a different room with children. Since they are missing the readings and the homily, are they missing their Sunday Obligation? In other words, isn’t hearing the readings, and more to the point, learing a homily by a deacon or priest, part of the Sunday Obligation?
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There are three very specific points of the Mass where one must be present in order to (without valid excuse) say they participated in the whole Mass. I suggest (which is not a popular suggestion) that people filling liturgical roles plan to attend another Mass where they can simply participate as a member of the Faithful. Altar servers, Readers, EMHC, choir members, Nursery workers (they are not even in the church). However many think wrongly that they met their Sunday obligation by being in the nursery. The others who are technically in the church do meet their Sunday obligation.
 
I have always been part of the music ministry…However, during the last year or so, I take occasional breaks and just sit in the congregation. It’s nice. Sometimes I use that time to serve as an EMHC…Sometimes I just enjoy being at Mass.
 
The obligation for mass attendance is met by hearing the 3 principal parts of the mass, the Offertory, the Consecration and the priest’s Communion.

So, no, they aren’t missing their obligation by missing the Liturgy of the Word.
 
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Kielbasi:
The obligation for mass attendance is met by hearing the 3 principal parts of the mass, the Offertory, the Consecration and the priest’s Communion.

So, no, they aren’t missing their obligation by missing the Liturgy of the Word.
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**Are you saying that we are not obligated to attend the Liturgy of the Word? :tsktsk: **
 
Are you saying that we are not obligated to attend the Liturgy of the Word?
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The question was asked on the technical legal definition, and if you miss the liturgy of the word but make it to the principal parts of the mass, you met the obligation.

OF COURSE, people should hear the entire mass, and as a kid our priest had the local tradition of having the ushers lock the doors at beginning of mass to eliminate this kind of minimalism.
 
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Kielbasi:
The obligation for mass attendance is met by hearing the 3 principal parts of the mass, the Offertory, the Consecration and the priest’s Communion.

So, no, they aren’t missing their obligation by missing the Liturgy of the Word.
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I don’t think the Offertory is one of them. I believe it should be the reading of the Gospel instead.
 
I don’t think the Offertory is one of them. I believe it should be the reading of the Gospel instead.
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Are you sure on this one? Its been a lot time since I was a kid and was learning this, but I still think I might be right.

Of course, if you have an old-school priest who locks the doors, you have to be there for the beginning or you miss the whole mass anyhow.
 
Let’s ask another question: Is the Children’s Liturgy of the Word allowing the KIDS to fulfill their obligation? Because the CLOW’s I have seen have been filled with the most brainless and neutral pablum imaginable.
 
I would suggest there is a better way to handle this whole situation, as was done in my old parish. Have the children’s RE between masses so the kids can attend their RE and go to the entire mass with their families. That way the kids develop a respect and appreciation for the whole mass early on. This also allowed the parish to have an adult RE class at the same time the kids went to class, which eliminated any need for babysitting. It works great!
 
children’s liturgy is just that -the liturgy of the word adapted for the children, I’m not one of the terachers but have accompanied my youngest to children’s liturgy a few times and found that they generally concentrate on the gospel of the day which they read (sometimes in a shortened form) and usually have a worksheet or craft activity which reflects the meaning of the gospel (e.g. last week it was the good shepherd)🙂
 
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demolitionman65:
Let’s ask another question: Is the Children’s Liturgy of the Word allowing the KIDS to fulfill their obligation? Because the CLOW’s I have seen have been filled with the most brainless and neutral pablum imaginable.
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Children generally have no personal obligation to attend Mass on Sunday because they have no ability to fulfill the obligation. If a parent requires the child to attend the CLOWN’s then it is the parent who fails in their obligation to bring the child to Mass when ever possible, not the child.
 
I think we went off-topic a little.

My concern is about the teachers. I still do not have a clear answer- is listening to the homily required for the obligation? If so, then teachers are unknowingly committing a sin by not fulfilling their obligations.
 
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CyberSaint:
I think we went off-topic a little.

My concern is about the teachers. I still do not have a clear answer- is listening to the homily required for the obligation? If so, then teachers are unknowingly committing a sin by not fulfilling their obligations.
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Perhaps the question should be “What elements are involved in fulfilling the Sunday Obligation?” There seems to be a bit of confusion here. I always heard that you had to get there before the Gospel.
If the teachers are concerned about it, attending another mass before or after is the way to go. In the small parishes where there’s only 1 mass, I would suspect that they don’t have CLOW anyway.
 
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jimmytoes:
Perhaps the question should be “What elements are involved in fulfilling the Sunday Obligation?” There seems to be a bit of confusion here. I always heard that you had to get there before the Gospel.
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That is what I had been told when coming into the Church. I’ve recently read an article which said the Church was trying not to draw a strict line anywhere during the mass, since it was an organic whole and should be viewed as such. It was directed toward people coming in late though.
catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=469

Personally, I would want to attend another mass. I think their service is admirable, but they should not cheat themselves out of hearing the word proclaimed, and the homily.
 
When we dismiss for RCIA BOW which is the adult version of CLOW. We strongly suggest (almost require) that the leaders of BOW come to another Mass to meet their Sunday obligation.
 
But is there some rule in the Catechism or elsewhere that states: “These are the requirements for meeting one’s Sunday Obligation”? :confused:
 
Br. Rich SFO:
When we dismiss for RCIA BOW which is the adult version of CLOW. We strongly suggest (almost require) that the leaders of BOW come to another Mass to meet their Sunday obligation.
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Hmm…I’m be interested to see if this is the experience of others. When my husband was in RCIA it wasn’t sugessted, and to be honest, it never even occured to me that he wouldn’t be meeting his obligation.
 
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CyberSaint:
But is there some rule in the Catechism or elsewhere that states: “These are the requirements for meeting one’s Sunday Obligation”? :confused:
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I believe that you can find in the Catechism of the Council of Trent reference to the three principle parts of the Mass that one must be present for in order to be present for the Mass obligation.

Remember that you can deceive yourself , but you can’t deceive God!
 
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MooCowSteph:
Hmm…I’m be interested to see if this is the experience of others. When my husband was in RCIA it wasn’t sugessted, and to be honest, it never even occured to me that he wouldn’t be meeting his obligation.
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Usually those who lead RCIA BOW don’t return at all for the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
 
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