Communion Service meets Sunday Obligation?

[MSSheBear]

I attempted to attend the Saturday evening Mass at my parish. No priest showed up. Several laity did a Communion service and one lady announced that the Service met our obligation. Is this correct?

We are in an urban area with other parishes nearby and most of us would be capable of attending a Mass. So were we misinformed?

FYI: I live for Mass so I definitely will try to go tomorrow.

 

[Catholic1954]

That is correct. Last month the priest did not show up for the 6pm Mass on Sunday night and the EM’s and Lectors did a fine job of doing a Communion Service without notice. Since we went to Mass with every intention of fulfilling our Sunday obligation and there was no priest, the Communion Service was sufficient.

 

[Vico]

A communion service does not substitute for an obligation to participate in Mass. If it was impossible to get to any Mass, then of course the communion service is recommended but not required.

 

[Corki]

I attempted to attend the Saturday evening Mass at my parish. No priest showed up. Several laity did a Communion service and one lady announced that the Service met our obligation. Is this correct?

We are in an urban area with other parishes nearby and most of us would be capable of attending a Mass. So were we misinformed?

FYI: I live for Mass so I definitely will try to go tomorrow.

The Sunday obligation is to attend Mass. You cannot substitute a Mass with something else. If there is no Mass available or if you cannot reasonably get to Mass (such as when you are ill), there is no obligation.

The lady, while well intentioned, was mistaken.

 

[MSSheBear]

The Sunday obligation is to attend Mass. You cannot substitute a Mass with something else. If there is no Mass available or if you cannot reasonably get to Mass (such as when you are ill), there is no obligation.

The lady, while well intentioned, was mistaken.

This is what I assumed. :banghead: Unfortunately most of the parishioners probably won’t go to a Mass.

 

[robwar]

A communion service does not substitute for an obligation to participate in Mass. If it was impossible to get to any Mass, then of course the communion service is recommended but not required.

so what do you suggest when people go to Church to attend Mass and there is no priest or no priest shows up. (I’ve known this to happen to more than one Catholic church) and through no fault of anyone there, it quickly becomes a communion service because the priest didn’t show up for whatever reason and at the last minute. So should everyone just get up and leave because it’s not a Mass but turns into a communion service?

 

[Vico]

so what do you suggest when people go to Church to attend Mass and there is no priest or no priest shows up. (I’ve known this to happen to more than one Catholic church) and through no fault of anyone there, it quickly becomes a communion service because the priest didn’t show up for whatever reason and at the last minute. So should everyone just get up and leave because it’s not a Mass but turns into a communion service?

If it was me, I would leave for another Catholic Church if I knew there was another nearby. That may not be possible in some locations, or if another one is far away.

 

[tawny]

The Sunday obligation is to attend Mass. You cannot substitute a Mass with something else. If there is no Mass available or if you cannot reasonably get to Mass (such as when you are ill), there is no obligation.

The lady, while well intentioned, was mistaken.

Correct.

 

[WetCatechumen]

The Sunday obligation is to attend Mass. You cannot substitute a Mass with something else. If there is no Mass available or if you cannot reasonably get to Mass (such as when you are ill), there is no obligation.

The lady, while well intentioned, was mistaken.

I would like to add that you cannot satisfy a Sunday obligation with valid liturgy at a non-Catholic church, such as a Greek Orthodox parish. In any event that you are unable to attend a Catholic liturgy on a day which has an obligation, there is no obligation for you.

 

[MSSheBear]

so what do you suggest when people go to Church to attend Mass and there is no priest or no priest shows up. (I’ve known this to happen to more than one Catholic church) and through no fault of anyone there, it quickly becomes a communion service because the priest didn’t show up for whatever reason and at the last minute. So should everyone just get up and leave because it’s not a Mass but turns into a communion service?

I stayed for the Communion Service but I had actually considered just leaving. It will be fairly easy for me to find another Mass although in my case I do need to wait for Sunday morning. I feel that the lady who informed us that a Communion Service met our obligation was incorrect and that those of us who are capable should attend a Mass, perhaps at another parish.

 

[robwar]

I stayed for the Communion Service but I had actually considered just leaving. It will be fairly easy for me to find another Mass although in my case I do need to wait for Sunday morning. I feel that the lady who informed us that a Communion Service met our obligation was incorrect and that those of us who are capable should attend a Mass, perhaps at another parish.

She might have said that because maybe the priest who didn’t show (maybe there was some big emergency) suggested her to say it. since we don’t know what happen to the priest at the last minute. I think it is a good question and I’ve known parishes where this has happen. Sometimes, there is some kind of dispensation for things like this. They also could have been told to say that by the Bishop if he was contacted at the last minute but was unable to sub in himself for the priest. These types of situations are emergencies and unless we hear from either a priest or bishop themselves, I would reserve final say either way.

 

[DarkLight]

There is no situation where something other than a Mass meets the Sunday Obligation. There are only situations where the obligation is dispensed. It would not be dispensed if it is reasonable to go to Mass still.

Now, if this happened at the Sunday evening Mass I usually attended, the obligation would be dispensed.

 

[phil19034]

There is no situation where something other than a Mass meets the Sunday Obligation. There are only situations where the obligation is dispensed. It would not be dispensed if it is reasonable to go to Mass still.

Now, if this happened at the Sunday evening Mass I usually attended, the obligation would be dispensed.

Correct, the Sat night Mass would not typically be dispensed unless the Sunday Masses were going to be canceled too. Also, typically, this would usually have to be in “Mission Territory” where the next Catholic Church is far away.

But if the EC was authorized to tell you there was a dispensation, that would have come from the Bishop.

Finally, if this wasn’t today, you didn’t know so it was most likely not mortal for you. But you will know for next time

God Bless

 

[Jeancreese]

Because of the shortage of priests many communities do not have Holy Mass,although the Holy Mass is important, the Eucharistic service does fill the void as the word is shared and hosts consecrated by a priest are distributed. These services are usually conducted by lay ministers who are schooled in the faith and are fully aware that they are not priests.

 

[DarkLight]

Because of the shortage of priests many communities do not have Holy Mass,although the Holy Mass is important, the Eucharistic service does fill the void as the word is shared and hosts consecrated by a priest are distributed. These services are usually conducted by lay ministers who are schooled in the faith and are fully aware that they are not priests.

In this case however the OP said it was an area with plenty of churches. The priest at this one simply didn’t show up. But there were places to go for Sunday Mass.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

I would think the correct procedure would be to announce that father is not available so there won’t be a Mass and to list the masses available nearby on Sunday.

If there are other reasonably close parishes and this parish offers other masses than I don’t believe they should hold a communion service at all. I know the regulations have been posted here before (and someone will likey post them again) but it’s the bishops call.

 

[MSSheBear]

What happened was our regular priest was out of town or otherwise unavailable and the substitute priest did not show up. I live in an urban area so there are plenty of other Masses in the area that most of us could have attended. So I was wondering if the lay person who announced that the Communion Service met our obligation was correct.

I don’t know if our bishop could have permitted this in our diocese or not beforehand.

 

[janeway529]

What happened was our regular priest was out of town or otherwise unavailable and the substitute priest did not show up. I live in an urban area so there are plenty of other Masses in the area that most of us could have attended. So I was wondering if the lay person who announced that the Communion Service met our obligation was correct.

I don’t know if our bishop could have permitted this in our diocese or not beforehand.

My experience with has been that those “plenty of other Masses” actually start the same time or around the same time. So once it is discovered that the priest does not show up, after attempts to contact him or another priest, usually it will be halfway through another Mass nearby. The time needed to travel to the other parish usually gives you the same result - either you’ll end up with a Communion service anyway (since you’ve missed over half of the Mass already) or Mass will be over.

 

[ProVobis]

I would think the correct procedure would be to announce that father is not available so there won’t be a Mass and to list the masses available nearby on Sunday.

That would have been the sensible thing to do. OTOH, one always needs a backup plan for everything. A priest not showing up for whatever reason happens not too often but does happen. It happened twice in one parish I was going and people stopped going there.

Yes, it is a hardship when the Mass you’re going to is at 12pm and gets cancelled. So there is another one at 3pm or 5pm further away. Going back and forth takes up a lot of Sunday time, but rules are rules. In the north we are having our own problems with the all drifting snow and the marginally undriveable conditions this winter. Many don’t make it to work.

 

[robwar]

My experience with has been that those “plenty of other Masses” actually start the same time or around the same time. So once it is discovered that the priest does not show up, after attempts to contact him or another priest, usually it will be halfway through another Mass nearby. The time needed to travel to the other parish usually gives you the same result - either you’ll end up with a Communion service anyway (since you’ve missed over half of the Mass already) or Mass will be over.

Yes, this happen at my sister-in-laws parish, the substitute priest didn’t show, they scrambled around and found a retired priest to come in at the last minute which was about a half hour later. My parish priest has some health issues that pop up once and a while and this happen during a weekly Mass we were at. The organist announced nearby Masses (which we already knew about anyway) and if anyone wanted to go there, they were welcomed too. Yes, I live in an areas where there are other parishes but one is assuming that people can quickly pop in their car and go to the other Church, that there is a staggered time to do so. Since it is usually the elderly that attend Saturday Mass, you are assuming that some can quickly hop in the car and drive (if they know even where the nearest parish is) to go. Likewise, one is assuming that people can attend Sunday Mass even. Some of us work on weekends and maybe Saturday Mass was the only time to attend. When a priest doesn’t show for Mass, usually there is some time of scrambling to either contact that priest or find another (usually retired) that can step in at the last minute or that if nearby parishes have an associate priest available to help. I guess I would rather assume that the sacristan tried their best, maybe even contacting the Bishop on what to do and this might have been his suggestion to announce a dispensation for those there in consideration of their effort to attend. With a shortage of priests available to do Masses, I think we should step back and look at the bigger picture instead of wagging a finger at someone for making that announcement probably out of the best intentions.