Daily Saturday vs full mass

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I have been going to church every sunset Saturday mass ever since baptised as a catholic. Over the years I have been to 3 parishes but none made me felt inspired or spiritual uplifting. Recently I tried the daily mass on Saturday morning and felt a sense of peace and infact look forward to the mass as the days near. How sinful can I be because I stopped the Saturday sunset mass altogether. Hope to hear from you. Regards Jan
 
Jan4 said:
How sinful can I be because I stopped the Saturday sunset mass altogether. Hope to hear from you. Regards Jan
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Saturday morning Mass does not fulfil your Sunday obligation. Not fulfilling your Sunday obligation is grave matter and therefore potentially a mortal sin.

Try all the Masses that fulfil your obligation and see if you like one of the others better.
 
Or go on Saturday and on Sunday.

Mass isn’t really supposed to be uplifting. It’s great if it is, but it is not it’s primary purpose.
 
Do not confuse the Holy Mass with a Protestant church service! Our liturgy and there’s (if you can even call it a liturgy) are so diametrically opposed.

The holy sacrifice of the Mass is giant prayer in of itself (the most powerful one the Church offers). It is all about renewing the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, calling to mind our sins, our failings, the need to ask for God’s mercy, offering up all our sufferings, and anxieties upon the high altar, and meeting Our Lord in Holy Communion. And that is a “in a nutshell” explanation for you.

Have you ever considered maybe experiencing the beauty and mystery that is the Extraordinary Form (Traditional Latin Mass)? It is quite a different experience than the Ordinary Form.
 
Saturday morning Mass is Holy Mass, as is Saturday evening Mass. The former does not fulfill the Sunday obligation, while the latter does.

I didn’t see the OP talking about any Protestant church services and understood both Masses mentioned to be Catholic Masses. Did I miss something? :confused:
 
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I think the implication was that Protestant services are often supposed to be uplifting (depending on denomination). The Mass is a very different kind of service.
 
Our purpose at mass is not to be uplifted.
It is not to hear stirring homilies.
It is not for the choir or musical ensemble.
It is not for fellowship.
It is not primarily even to receive the Eucharist.

Our purpose is to offer ourselves as living sacrifices in atonement for our sins and those of the entire world. We do this not only because we are commanded to, but also because, by our baptism, we have been adopted into Christ’s mystical Body. We are His Body, while He is the Head of the Church.

Now, if you want something uplifting, check out when your parish offers Adoration of Christ in the most Blessed Sacrament. Go and sit in His presence. Read scripture, pray, or simply contemplate His sacramental presence among us. Miracles occur in His presence.

After you go, be as patient with Him as He has been with you. And, as Fr. Benedict Groeschel† C.F.R. taught:
“You can spend your life looking forward to it, or looking back on it, but when you are aware that He is there, you will be changed.”
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Look, if you found a Mass that you like better than whatever Mass you were going to before, then feel free to attend it.

However, please understand that Masses on Saturday morning do not fulfill your Sunday obligation, so if you go to a Saturday morning Mass then you still need to go again to Mass either late on Saturday, or any time on Sunday, to fulfill your Sunday obligation. You cannot just go to a Saturday morning Mass and say okay, that covers my obligation. If you are not attending either a Saturday late afternoon Mass or a Sunday Mass (any time Sunday), then you’re committing sin because you missed your Sunday obligation.

Perhaps you could go to a Sunday morning Mass if you’ve decided you prefer morning Masses. Sunday morning Mass would cover your obligation.

Covering your obligation is not about you getting “inspired feelings” from the Mass. It’s about complying with the rules of the Church.
 
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po18guy said:
Our purpose at mass is not to be uplifted.
It is not to hear stirring homilies.
It is not for the choir or musical ensemble.
It is not for fellowship.
It is not primarily even to receive the Eucharist.
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While those things may not be the purpose of Mass they do not run contrary to the purpose and if the Church wants people going to Mass they should imo be more common.
 
Elf01 said:
Our purpose at mass is not to be uplifted.
It is not to hear stirring homilies.
It is not for the choir or musical ensemble.
It is not for fellowship.
It is not primarily even to receive the Eucharist.
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The problem is that they are often very subjective. Two people can go to the exact same Mass and one will be very uplifted by it and enjoy all of the above, and the other person will be disappointed because they wished to hear a different homily subject, or hear a different type of music, or experience more or less fellowship or in a different way.
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Of course a Mass should be as much like Heaven on Earth as it can be. But that is a matter of what is fitting when God is worshipped, not a guarantee that I will be feeling it.

A feeling of uplift is basically a tiny form of divine consolations. And those are great. That is how God encourages us in the early stages of deepening our faith in Him, and at intervals afterward when needed.

(If you believe in Christ’s Resurrection and your eternal life as part of His Body, you should be worshipping Him on Sunday, the Day of His Resurrection and ours in Him.)

But consolations, or even uplift, do not happen all the time, generally speaking. God starts making us exercise our faith muscles more and giving us less spiritual candy. Spiritual.dryness and other forms of trial can occur, and we have to keep going anyway. Eventually you come out the other side with stronger faith, and you realize that God was always there helping, but it is never fun!

So basically, the feeling of uplift is nice, but good spiritual habits are what keep you going in rough times. So you should make sure you are not missing Sunday Mass (whether you go on Saturday night or Sunday morning).
 
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Thank you bros and sisters in Christ for your kind words. I shall resume my usual weekend mass as I now have a clearer understanding. Peace be to all of you. Regards Jan
 
Tis_Bearself said:
The problem is that they are often very subjective. Two people can go to the exact same Mass and one will be very uplifted by it and enjoy all of the above, and the other person will be disappointed because they wished to hear a different homily subject, or hear a different type of music, or experience more or less fellowship or in a different way.
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True. As I’ve said ideally a Paish would offer as much variety as possible to accommodate different tastes - and perhaps they do. I understand that priests don’t all have all the skills and there are only so many priests available.
 
Jan4 said:
Over the years I have been to 3 parishes but none made me felt inspired or spiritual uplifting.
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This is why we do not base our Faith on emotions. Feelings can, and often do, mislead us.
 
Saturday morning mass does not fill your obligation. At the daily mass,the creed,the penitential act and the gloria is not used(at least that I know of)and these are important parts. Just keep trying different parishes because each one is different.
 
I will be more specific in future, mentioning that they are not our PRIMARY purpose at mass.

The problem is that we long ago lost our knowledge (if indeed we ever had it) of our primary purpose.

Just saying.
 
Everyone is right that a Saturday morning Mass does not fulfill your obligation. And they are right that we do not attend Mass principally for receiving good feelings.

Nonetheless, I’d say it’s a positive thing that you found a Mass that inspires you. That can definitely be a great spiritual consolation. But there’s no reason not to also attend Mass on Saturday evening or Sunday morning. Going to Mass more than once a week is a good thing. 🙂
 
I agree that, if possible, you should try each of the Sunday services offered and see if any fulfill you as the Saturday morning mass does. I know that the three Sunday masses offered at my parish are pretty vastly different to me. Best wishes.
 
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