Catholic obligation to attend Mass -- question

[po18guy]

Thanks, Robyn p. Your answers make a lot of sense. Rightly or wrongly, sometimes I get the impression that some Catholics can be a little legalistic (focusing more on the rules than on the intent of the rules) so your response helps put things more in perspective for me, kind of like Luke 14:5 with the ox and the ditch.

Yep, exactly. The rules were made for man, not man for the rules.

They are important and there to help us, but if we make the rules an end in themselves, then we’ve missed the entire point.

To expand only slightly, Jesus gave the nascent Church unparalleled authority. They demonstrated this in Acts 15. What became known as Canon Law developed partly so that those who became disobedient could be dealt with in an orderly and consistent manner.

 

[Joan_M]

Let’s get real with this. Deliberately missing Mass to watch “Breakfast at Wimbledon” is definitely grave matter. Doing such a thing is truly “dissing” God!

We only have an obligation to go to Mass once a week and a few, very few, Holy Days, each year. I just do not understand anyone griping about that.

We should be eager to worship God in the way He wants to be worshiped.

 

[Tommy999]

Let’s get real with this. Deliberately missing Mass to watch “Breakfast at Wimbledon” is definitely grave matter. Doing such a thing is truly “dissing” God!

We only have an obligation to go to Mass once a week and a few, very few, Holy Days, each year. I just do not understand anyone griping about that.

We should be eager to worship God in the way He wants to be worshiped.

Hi Joan,
As I indicated in my post, I agree it was wrong of me to choose tennis over church that day. It was a one time occurrence. I’m not sure what your point is unless you are just toying with me here. I would’ve gone to church the Saturday night before but my church only has a worship service on Sunday mornings.

I’m just wondering what is more serious, me (a Protestant) who misses a church service one Sunday a year to watch the Wimbledon tennis finals or countless Catholics in European countries like Spain who rarely – if ever – show up for Mass at all? I realize I shouldn’t try to justify a bad decision I made by pointing out other bad behavior, but I am doing so in this case to put things in perspective.

 

[zz912]

Background:
I am a protestant who attends church service probably about 47 or 48 times out of 52 weeks. I look forward to attending church and go out of a desire to follow God and be with fellow believers. I also attend to be spiritually fed and to serve others as an usher. I may miss once in a blue moon due to illness, vacation, or being on-call at my work and getting a call Sunday morning before church service and have to go in to work, but that’s about it.

Missing Mass due to illness or work is not a sin. (assuming there is no way to schedule the work another time). And the parish offers Mass usually a couple times on Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Saturday evening. Any fulfills the obligaton. So if you have to work Sunday, hit up the Saturday vigil mass. That’s why it’s there.

Vacation is another matter. Even on vacation, we should take reasonable steps to see if we can find a Mass to attend that we are able to make. Herculean effort is not required, say if you were camping miles from nowhere, you wouldn’t be required to hike 40 miles to attend Mass. Usually though, if we are vacationing in a city, there is a parish near enough.

If you can’t make Mass for legitimate reasons, then reading Scripture, extra praying, and other actions would be beneficial to do in stead.

Well, for the sake of full disclosure, I did miss church service once last year because I stayed home and watched “Breakfast at Wimbledon”. My church doesn’t have a Saturday night service or else I would have gone then.

Well thankfully most parishes do offer Saturday vigil and Sunday evening masses. You can still enjoy your Breafast and tennis!

Question:
Shouldn’t a believer (Catholic or non-Catholic) attend church out of desire to be in God’s House rather than be compelled out of a sense of obligation? Otherwise, to me it sounds more like coercion to get parishoners to attend by calling it a sin.

Yes, they should attend out of a desire to be with God. But sometimes us sheep are stubborn and need to be prodded by our shepherds to get in the gate. The Church as shepherd knows what is best for us even when we don’t, and requires Mass attendance to keep us away from the wolves. Missing Mass is detrimental to the soul.

 

[Tommy999]

Thanks for your insights, zz912. That helps clarify it for me a litttle more.

To my knowledge, my AOG denomination doesn’t consider it a sin to miss church but everyone is encouraged to attend regularly based on Hebrews 10:24-25 where it says to not forsake the gathering together of believers.

 

[NSFrame]

The Church exists to tell the world what God wants us to believe and do. It’s a sin to miss Mass not because the Church says so, but because God says so (Ten Commandments and all that). The Church is simply the messenger.

 

[ProVobis]

The Church exists to tell the world what God wants us to believe and do. It’s a sin to miss Mass not because the Church says so, but because God says so (Ten Commandments and all that). The Church is simply the messenger.

The obligation to attend Mass is a Precept of the Church. AFAIK, it’s not Divine Law per se.

 

[Elizium23]

The obligation to attend Mass is a Precept of the Church. AFAIK, it’s not Divine Law per se.

It is a disciplinary law rooted in the Divine Law, the commandment to keep holy the Sabbath. As the Mass is a creature of the Church, so too is her obligation to attend it. We can demonstrate that the obligation is a “merely ecclesiastical” law because the power to dispense from its observation is given even to parish priests. If it were a direct precept of Divine Law then the obligation could not be dispensed at all.

 

[Annabelle_Marie]

Hello,
I am struggling a little with the Catholic obligation to attend Mass every week and would like your (name removed by moderator)ut. This is not a real big deal for me, but I would put it in the category of a pet peeve – if I were a Catholic.

Background:
I am a protestant who attends church service probably about 47 or 48 times out of 52 weeks. I look forward to attending church and go out of a desire to follow God and be with fellow believers. I also attend to be spiritually fed and to serve others as an usher. I may miss once in a blue moon due to illness, vacation, or being on-call at my work and getting a call Sunday morning before church service and have to go in to work, but that’s about it.

Well, for the sake of full disclosure, I did miss church service once last year because I stayed home and watched “Breakfast at Wimbledon”. My church doesn’t have a Saturday night service or else I would have gone then.

Question:
Shouldn’t a believer (Catholic or non-Catholic) attend church out of desire to be in God’s House rather than be compelled out of a sense of obligation? Otherwise, to me it sounds more like coercion to get parishoners to attend by calling it a sin. By the way, I understand one of the Ten Commendments is to ‘Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy’ but when I have to travel on a Sunday sometimes the best I can do is go to the airport chapel or listen to church on the radio in my car on the interstate.

Correct me if I a wrong, but it doesn’t seem fair to have to confess the sin of missing church when you get an emergency call from work and have to report there on an emergency problem during the time that church is in progress. To me, if that is a sin, I can see why so many people have Scupulosity issues. .

Note: In my heart, I do realize I probably sinned – Ok, I did sin – by staying home and watching “Breakfast at Wimbledon” that one Sunday. I probably should have just DVR’ed it. . I wonder what kind of penance I would’ve gotten for that.

A Catholic should go out of wanting to be with God and worship Him. However the obligation is very useful. We have obligations all the time.

For example, my marriage. I should on my own want to stay faithful to my husband and spend time with him. However, we all know that eventually with a marriage you are going to go through the “worse” times of for better or for worse. That is when you keep plugging away because you have an obligation. Eventually it will turn around.

Same is true for the Sunday obligation. Most times, of course I go every Sunday and I enjoy doing so. But I (like everyone else) have experienced those dry times where I don’t “feel” like it and I am not getting anything out of it. But perseverance due to the obligation is what gets you through and allows you to come out the other side. In fact I think God is more pleased with those times because you are still there worshiping even though you don’t get anything out of it and it feels dry. But because of love and your promises and obligations you are still there. That is when God really sees your heart and your true love.

 

[rfournier103]

As I indicated in my post, I agree it was wrong of me to choose tennis over church that day. It was a one time occurrence. I’m not sure what your point is unless you are just toying with me here. I would’ve gone to church the Saturday night before but my church only has a worship service on Sunday mornings.

I’m just wondering what is more serious, me (a Protestant) who misses a church service one Sunday a year to watch the Wimbledon tennis finals or countless Catholics in European countries like Spain who rarely – if ever – show up for Mass at all? I realize I shouldn’t try to justify a bad decision I made by pointing out other bad behavior, but I am doing so in this case to put things in perspective.

Hi, Tommy.

I would like to chime in, here.

As another poster said; God and Holy Mother Church know better than we do that life happens. Even a die-hard football fan who lives on the West Coast and misses mass so he can watch the early games at 10am (1pm Eastern) MUST know in his heart that he’s wrong to miss mass.

If there’s a LEGIT reason; that’s another story.

As for the MILLIONS of people in places like Spain who blithely stroll through life and care NOTHING of their obligation to God to worship Him FOR ONE HOUR OF ONE DAY PER WEEK… I dare say that they will have to explain to Christ sooner or later what it was that they were doing that was more important than going to mass.

7 days in one week. God only asks for one day.
24 hours in one Sunday. God only asks for one hour.

BILLIONS of people pelt God day and night with prayers asking for this and that… and God asks so little of us. Yet He asks so much…

Truthfully… of all the things that Christ and His Church ask of me; sometimes I find mass to be the easiest

 

[GoldenSeal]

Formerly an evangelical protestant, I converted to Catholicism just over a year ago. At first, it seemed strange to think about being “obligated” to go to Mass each week. What if I didn’t feel like going? What if there was something I needed to get done at that time? Why shouldn’t I be able to make it up on another day of the week? And so on.

Now, there is no sense of obligation whatsoever. I love going to Mass. Not only do I attend each Sunday (or Saturday Vigil), but I often go during the week, too. There’s nothing like receiving Jesus in the Eucharist. It seems to empower me to live as Christ wants me to live. Several times over the past year God has given me spiritual victories I never would have imagined, and I believe it is through receiving His body and blood in the bread and wine.

“Obligation” is a word that just doesn’t fit.

 

[Tommy999]

Thanks for the insights and examples, Annabelle Marie, rfournier103, and GoldenSeal.

In all honesty. I don’t always feel like going, but most of the time I do. I also serve as an usher and don’t want to let the church (parish) down when they are counting on me to serve.

Thanks for putting things in perspective, rfournier103. You’re right. One hour a week isn’t that much to ask. It’s being compelled to go that bothers me a little, but I would still go anyway.

The marriage obligation example is fittiing, Annabelle Marie. I have been married for 33years now and our commitment to work together during the hard times and not call it quits has helped my wife and I to stay together this long because it’s not all love and kisses all the time, although I like to think of myself as a lovable teddy bear .

GoldenSeal, I am happy for you.

 

[zz912]

Thanks for your insights, zz912. That helps clarify it for me a litttle more.

To my knowledge, my AOG denomination doesn’t consider it a sin to miss church but everyone is encouraged to attend regularly based on Hebrews 10:24-25 where it says to not forsake the gathering together of believers.

And you’ve touched upon a VERY important point that you should reflect seriously over. Who has authority from God to declare something sinful? Here you have two churches, both filled with God-loving, committed, faithful Christians who wish to do God’s will. And yet, one church (Catholic Church) declares deliberately missing Sunday Mass to be a sin. And the other (AOG) who says it is not a sin.

So who is right? Who has authority to decide this? Did Jesus leave us orphans? Who does the Bible say we should turn to for deciding matters such as this?

 

[zz912]

Some of us work all day Sundays at the parish. I suppose we’re “dispensed?” After all, the pastor schedules the workload.

Unless your workload consists of helping at Mass, or performing at Mass, then the pastor should know better. At NO POINT should a Catholic parish schedule someone so that they are not able to regularly make their obligation for Sunday Mass.

Mass is the highest form of worship that exists, and is the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. Everything should be centered around that. At no point should a parish set up a situation where someone isn’t able to properly live out the faith by making Sunday Mass.

If your work is not related to helping out at Mass, then bring the matter to your pastor’s attention.

 

[Tommy999]

And you’ve touched upon a VERY important point that you should reflect seriously over. Who has authority from God to declare something sinful? Here you have two churches, both filled with God-loving, committed, faithful Christians who wish to do God’s will. And yet, one church (Catholic Church) declares deliberately missing Sunday Mass to be a sin. And the other (AOG) who says it is not a sin.

So who is right? Who has authority to decide this? Did Jesus leave us orphans? Who does the Bible say we should turn to for deciding matters such as this?

Hi zz912,
I realize for you and most Catholics, the answer is the leadership of the Catholic Church is who decides. However, I am not Catholic.

I think the more important question is whether or not it is good for a believer to miss church.

For example, it’s not a sin to go without sleep, but if you do it long enough your body is deprived of what it needs to function properly. The same with nutrition, both of the body and spirit.

For me, it’s the same with church. There is someting about the gathering together of believers for corporate worship that you just can’t get anywhere else. God knows what is best for us.

Also, maybe God needs us to be a vessel to bring comfort to or build up another believer who needs a touch from God and maybe it is through church where we meet that person.

In the end, I think you and I arrive at the same place in the end (attendance at church) but perhaps our motivations are different as to how we get there.

 

[zz912]

Hi zz912,
I realize for you and most Catholics, the answer is the leadership of the Catholic Church is who decides. However, I am not Catholic.

I think the more important question is whether or not it is good for a believer to miss church.

For example, it’s not a sin to go without sleep, but if you do it long enough your body is deprived of what it needs to function properly. The same with nutrition, both of the body and spirit.

For me, it’s the same with church. There is someting about the gathering together of believers for corporate worship that you just can’t get anywhere else. God knows what is best for us.

Also, maybe God needs us to be a vessel to bring comfort to or build up another believer who needs a touch from God and maybe it is through church where we meet that person.

In the end, I think you and I arrive at the same place in the end (attendance at church) but perhaps our motivations are different as to how we get there.

You’re dodging the question a bit. Of course it is good to follow God’s commands, but the question is if it is a sin to miss Church on Sunday or not. As Scripture says, there is ONE faith. So how is a faithful Christian supposed to know if missing Church is a sin or not?

Your statement above, whether you realize it or not, is claiming authority to declare what is a sin and what is not. But it has to be asked, do you have such authority to make that declaration?

Who does have such authority? Who does the Bible tell us to turn to for the answer to these questions?

 

[Tommy999]

You’re dodging the question a bit. Of course it is good to follow God’s commands, but the question is if it is a sin to miss Church on Sunday or not. As Scripture says, there is ONE faith. So how is a faithful Christian supposed to know if missing Church is a sin or not?

Your statement above, whether you realize it or not, is claiming authority to declare what is a sin and what is not. But it has to be asked, do you have such authority to make that declaration?

Who does have such authority? Who does the Bible tell us to turn to for the answer to these questions?

In all due respect, I’m not dodging anything. I fully understand that Catholics are bound to follow the teachings of the Catholic Church, which are based on the authority passed down through the ages from pope to pope. The Catholic Church says it is an obligation to attend Sunday Mass and to miss it is a sin. Since I respect Catholicisn, I respect that position.

I am not a Catholic so I am not bound in a legalistic sense by Catholic Church rules.

However, I am a Christian and am bound to Chirst. Do I think a Christian should attend worship service every week if at all possible? Absolutely yes, and maybe during the week, also, if one feels so led.

My church has Wednesday night church service in addition to Sundays and I attend sometimes when I am able. However, I don’t keep track of my church attendance in some legalistic bookkeeping sense as if to earn brownie points with God by attending more than once a week. I go because I want to draw closer to God and His people, not to punch my spiritual clock like a factory worker at his place of employment.

Do I believe that the Lord’s Day should be special and not just a normal routine day and that we should keep it holy? Absolutely yes. That is scriptural and is in the Ten Commandments. Although church attendance is the optimal way to do that, there are other ways to keep The Lord’s Day holy if you can’t attend for whatever reason. My point is that it’s important not to miss often for your own spiritual well-being.

Sometimes people have legitimate reasons for missing church. As I mentioned previously, I miss maybe 3 or 4 Sundays a year. I heard on Catholic radio today that less than 30% of all US Catholics attend church regularly, even with the Sunday obligation in place.

Theoretical question: Would church attendance at Mass be more or less without the mandate?

I will not cast stones because I assume the attendance rate at Catholic parishes is similar to that of protestant churches, although I haven’t heard the exact numbers. All I know is that I see some parishoners just at Christmas and Easter which is sad, because they are missing out on so much during the year.

[edited]

When the Bible talks about “Do not forsake the gathering of yourselves together”, I don’t interpret that to be calling non-attendance a sin. However, it is good advice meant for our spiritual welfare and for the well-being of our fellow Christian brothers and sisters.

Once again, I think we arrive at the same place (church) but get there from different perspectives.

When I was a baby Christian, I used to attend church and serve God because I wanted to avoid hell. I still want to avoid hell, although now I attend out of love for God and His ways – not out of a sense of legalistic obligation. people must be careful because legalistic rule keeping for the sale of rule keeping can lead to Scupulosity, which is another form of bondage that is not from God. That is my opinion on the subject for whatever it is worth.

 

[Vico]

Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

legalistic: adjective, obeying the law too strictly

 

[zz912]

In all due respect, I’m not dodging anything. I fully understand that Catholics are bound to follow the teachings of the Catholic Church, which are based on the authority passed down through the ages from pope to pope. The Catholic Church says it is an obligation to attend Sunday Mass and to miss it is a sin. Since I respect Catholicisn, I respect that position.

I am not a Catholic so I am not bound in a legalistic sense by Catholic Church rules.

However, I am a Christian and am bound to Chirst. Do I think a Christian should attend worship service every week if at all possible? Absolutely yes, and maybe during the week, also, if one feels so led.

My church has Wednesday night church service in addition to Sundays and I attend sometimes when I am able. However, I don’t keep track of my church attendance in some legalistic bookkeeping sense as if to earn brownie points with God by attending more than once a week. I go because I want to draw closer to God and His people, not to punch my spiritual clock like a factory worker at his place of employment.

Do I believe that the Lord’s Day should be special and not just a normal routine day and that we should keep it holy? Absolutely yes. That is scriptural and is in the Ten Commandments. Although church attendance is the optimal way to do that, there are other ways to keep The Lord’s Day holy if you can’t attend for whatever reason. My point is that it’s important not to miss often for your own spiritual well-being.

Sometimes people have legitimate reasons for missing church. As I mentioned previously, I miss maybe 3 or 4 Sundays a year. I heard on Catholic radio today that less than 30% of all US Catholics attend church regularly, even with the Sunday obligation in place.

Theoretical question: Would church attendance at Mass be more or less without the mandate?

I will not cast stones because I assume the attendance rate at Catholic parishes is similar to that of protestant churches, although I haven’t heard the exact numbers. All I know is that I see some parishoners just at Christmas and Easter which is sad, because they are missing out on so much during the year.

[edited]

When the Bible talks about “Do not forsake the gathering of yourselves together”, I don’t interpret that to be calling non-attendance a sin. However, it is good advice meant for our spiritual welfare and for the well-being of our fellow Christian brothers and sisters.

Once again, I think we arrive at the same place (church) but get there from different perspectives.

When I was a baby Christian, I used to attend church and serve God because I wanted to avoid hell. I still want to avoid hell, although now I attend out of love for God and His ways – not out of a sense of legalistic obligation. people must be careful because legalistic rule keeping for the sale of rule keeping can lead to Scupulosity, which is another form of bondage that is not from God. That is my opinion on the subject for whatever it is worth.

You’re missing my point entirely. Re-read my post, but instead of discussing attendance at Sunday Mass, insert a different question of sinfulness. Maybe perhaps the question of contraception. The point I was making revolves around WHO has the authority to declare something sinful. Do you claim this authority for all Christians?

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

For me, it’s the same with church. There is someting about the gathering together of believers for corporate worship that you just can’t get anywhere else. God knows what is best for us.

Also, maybe God needs us to be a vessel to bring comfort to or build up another believer who needs a touch from God and maybe it is through church where we meet that person.

I really like what you’ve said here.

I can pray by myself or with one or two other people, and it’s a wonderful thing. But there’s something different about coming together with a large group of people to pray. Even ignoring everything else – the readings, the Eucharist – just being part of a worshiping group is huge!

And we have an obligation to each other that goes beyond any obligation that’s imposed on us. There are times when I’m the strong one in the group but there are also times that I’m the weak one. I need those other people to prop me up and support me, and I’m so grateful that they’re there. But I also need to be there when they need me to prop them up. And I don’t know if that will be this week or next week or two months from now. But whenever it is, I hope that I’m there for them as they have been there for me.

And zz912, you’re trying to derail this thread.