Camping

[jen_brown]

Is it okay to take the family camping if it means that we will miss our weekly Mass?

We would like to take our kids camping/fishing/hiking over the weekend. My husband says we have to come home on Saturday to make Mass on Sunday morning, so we would just go Friday to Saturday. Mass is not an option while camping as we are far from any church.

Thanks!

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

If you are travelling in an area where Mass is not available, you are dispensed from the Sunday obligation. This holds true whether you are camping in a remote area of North America, traveling in Saudi Arabia, or exploring Antarctica. (It also holds true, by the way, if you live in an area where Mass in unavailable.) If on a given Sunday you find yourself somewhere where there is no Mass available, you are dispensed from the Sunday obligation.

That said, you may be pleasantly surprised where you will sometimes find chapels that offer Mass. If you wish to be sure that Mass is unavailable where you plan to travel, call the diocese where the campground is located. If there are no chapels nearby, or if getting to a chapel is unreasonably difficult given your traveling conditions, you are dispensed from the Sunday obligation and can enjoy your vacation without undue scruples.