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Isearch
Guest
You are obligated to follow the laws of the Church.
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1ke
Guest
Jesus didn’t say that, no argument there.
First, for me personally, I don’t go to mass out of obligation. I go because I want to.
The “obligation” is a positive law of the Church, meant to help us in striving for holiness. The obligation stresses the importance of communal worship, which is evident in the New Testament— we hear over and over about gathering on the Lord’s day, and Hebrews admonishes those who neglect gathering in the assembly.
The Church has the authority to create this positive law through the power of the Keys, or binding and loosing.
It is a positive law, therefore it isn’t binding in times when it isn’t possible to meet the obligation such as illness, care of infants, and weather, etc.
Obligation:
- the condition of being morally or legally bound to do something.
- a debt of gratitude for a service or favor.
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Bluebright
Guest
For me there are many many reasons. Primarily it’s because God has given me everything and I adore him beyond what words can say and I’d rather give up all my food on Sunday than give up mass. The ten commandments say to honour the Lords day and keep it holy (Sunday) and to honour our mother and father. God is our Father and we go to church to honour our Father and to keep the Lords day holy. I think that it is the very least we can do for the Being who created us,sustains us and died for our sins.
As to why the church makes it an obligation … that’s easy. We are like naughty children and behave as such we don’t know what is good for us so the church teaches us and makes it an obligation so we do it cos she loves us and wants us to go to heaven. When we are older (spiritually mature) many people go anyway out of love and if the obligation is lifted (it still is in my country cos of covid) people would go anyway and/or we go during the week when there is no obligation.
Much like little children learning to go to bed they hate it when they are tiny but when you are middle aged most people quite like going to bed!
As to why the church makes it an obligation … that’s easy. We are like naughty children and behave as such we don’t know what is good for us so the church teaches us and makes it an obligation so we do it cos she loves us and wants us to go to heaven. When we are older (spiritually mature) many people go anyway out of love and if the obligation is lifted (it still is in my country cos of covid) people would go anyway and/or we go during the week when there is no obligation.
Much like little children learning to go to bed they hate it when they are tiny but when you are middle aged most people quite like going to bed!
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First of all, the word “obligation” comes out sounding absolutely horrible in modern English. Unless there is a better way of expressing the concept of “the Church binds you to assist at Mass each and every Sunday and Holy Day under pain of mortal sin, unless there is an excusing cause (and these are abundant)”, then I guess we’re stuck with the limitations of words and their semantics.
I would explain it something like this:
I would explain it something like this:
- Our Blessed Lord wants us to worship Him, and has the right to have us worship Him, each and every Sunday (again, without excusing cause)
- The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is not just a “church service”, it is the unbloody continuation of the Sacrifice on Calvary, and He becomes present in His Body and Blood, of Which we are invited to partake if we are worthy
- Sunday is a day to be kept holy
- The Church, as a wise mother, knows that if she did not impose this obligation, many would just not go to Mass very often or at all — the “Chreaster” Catholic phenomenon (though, admittedly, this isn’t something a lot of nominal Catholics worry about anymore). It is the same as the obligation to do penance — the normative practice of the Church is to prescribe a token penance (and it is “token”) of abstaining from meat every Friday, not just during Lent. Where this has been mitigated, and allowed to be substituted with works of penance or charity, have Catholics exercised this option, or do they simply conclude “we can now eat meat on Friday”? Where are the reminders from the pulpit?
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Jen7
Guest
Nope. He didn’t. Just God the Father in the 10 Commandments!
If this relative is annoyed you won’t skip Mass or something don’t forget you don’t owe him an explnation. “This is what I choose to do.” End of story.
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1ke
Guest
The Ten Commandments do not required mass attendance.
Don’t confuse divine law and Church law— fulfilling the commandment in particular ways established by church authority.
Tis_Bearself
Patron
Tell your relative that God requires one small hour of your time at Mass per week, and gives you the whole rest of the week to yourself. You should be able to give God at minimum the one hour.
If they still won’t accept that, then tell them that as Scripture said, “as for me, I will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15) and go to Mass yourself.
If they still won’t accept that, then tell them that as Scripture said, “as for me, I will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15) and go to Mass yourself.
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Cor_ad_Cor
Guest
A wife may not tell her husband that he needs to acknowledge their anniversary, but if he loves her, he will. For some husbands, it’s a little more challenging (perhaps?) to be mindful of that, and so marking the calendar or creating some kind of to-do on the agenda is necessary.
The same is true of our Sunday obligation; we go for love of the Lord, and it’s a way we’ve been taught to express it. There is an “obligation” for those who need a little help getting in the right mindset. There are sometimes circumstances beyond our control that prevent our presence, but if we willfully stay away from Sunday Mass, we’d better be expecting to show remorse and apologize to get the relationship back on track.
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Tis_Bearself
Patron
Jesus said to his apostles in the Garden, right before his Passion, “Could you not watch one hour with me?” (Matthew 26:40)
The Mass is the commemoration of Jesus’ passion and crucifixion. It takes about one hour.
So this whole “Jesus didn’t say that” just reflects a poor understanding of Scripture.
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TheIttyBitty
Guest
I thought that more or less was referencing daily prayer.
What if Mass is substantially shorter than an hour? My
Parish Mass is only 25-35 min long (I think, as I don’t ever bring a watch or phone with me and stay after to help clean pews)…
What if Mass is substantially shorter than an hour? My
Parish Mass is only 25-35 min long (I think, as I don’t ever bring a watch or phone with me and stay after to help clean pews)…
Tis_Bearself
Patron
If your Mass is even shorter than an hour, then God is requiring even less of you by being at it, so why would you say no?
Most people waste 25 minutes staring at TV or looking at the Internet or doing some other relatively unimportant thing every day…surely you can give God 25 minutes.
People are just lazy. I know because I used to be lazy like that for years.
If we didn’t have Sunday obligation (when there wasn’t COVID), then you’d get about the same number of people on Sunday that you do at daily Mass.
Most people waste 25 minutes staring at TV or looking at the Internet or doing some other relatively unimportant thing every day…surely you can give God 25 minutes.
People are just lazy. I know because I used to be lazy like that for years.
If we didn’t have Sunday obligation (when there wasn’t COVID), then you’d get about the same number of people on Sunday that you do at daily Mass.
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TheIttyBitty
Guest
Well, yes. Hmm. I’m dispensed, and still yet I go. I pray an hour a day at the bare minimum.
The question was different though, at least what I meant to ask was: which is Jesus referencing in The Garden? Mass or Prayer? Or either?
The question was different though, at least what I meant to ask was: which is Jesus referencing in The Garden? Mass or Prayer? Or either?
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Tis_Bearself
Patron
He’s referencing the general concept that he is about to give his life for us and our sins, and can’t we at least come and spend some time in his company.
Mass is the form of prayer that best commemorates his passion. Of course you can spend an hour at Adoration, or saying the Stations of the Cross, or reading Scripture, etc. and those are also good ways to spend time with Jesus. But Mass is considered the highest form of prayer for a Catholic. At every Mass, we witness a miracle of the priest consecrating the Holy Eucharist in which Jesus is truly present. You can bet that if an apparition of Jesus was supposed to be happening, then the church would be so full people would be out on the sidewalk; yet they miss the miracle right in front of them.
Mass is the form of prayer that best commemorates his passion. Of course you can spend an hour at Adoration, or saying the Stations of the Cross, or reading Scripture, etc. and those are also good ways to spend time with Jesus. But Mass is considered the highest form of prayer for a Catholic. At every Mass, we witness a miracle of the priest consecrating the Holy Eucharist in which Jesus is truly present. You can bet that if an apparition of Jesus was supposed to be happening, then the church would be so full people would be out on the sidewalk; yet they miss the miracle right in front of them.
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Yes, and that’s what a lot of “mainline” Protestant churches are like — Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopal, and so on. In the meantime, free-form evangelical and “convergence” churches are growing exponentially (sadly, much of this fueled by ex-Catholics as well).
Keep in mind that the Mass rarely lasts much more than an hour (it can go on a bit longer if there is a “please be seated” request after communion, what some call “the liturgy of the bulletin”). Catholics get off very easily compared to a lot of Christians, when it comes to a time investment on Sundays. And our giving expectations are very modest, compared to a lot of churches.
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Tis_Bearself
Patron
That’s for sure. The one time I went to an evangelical church, I was there for over 3 hours, over 2 of which were spent listening to the preacher give a sermon.
It’s pretty much the whole day, by the time you go in the morning, and then go back that evening. Historically African American churches might be even longer.HomeschoolDad:
That’s for sure. The one time I went to an evangelical church, I was there for over 3 hours, over 2 of which were spent listening to the preacher give a sermon.
Tis_Bearself
Patron
At least the ones that go all day long usually have a nice big awesome home-cooked meal happening at the Sunday dinner hour.
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fhansen
Guest
The bible is in noways exhaustive on many teachings; it was never meant to be, as if it was intended as some sort of catechism or something. That’s what Tradition, the Church’s lived experience from the beginning, is all about. She received the gospel and practiced and preached the faith before a word of the New Testament was written-and Scripture, itself, tells us that not everything was written but that some teachings were passed down orally as well. Otherwise, going by Scripture alone much doctrine is just guess-work: may the “best” exegete win.
Anyway, our Sunday obligation keeps our priorities straight, keeps our focus on Who should be our highest priority, ahead of all those other weekend pastimes and distractions.
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PennyinCanada
Guest
Remember this image of Moses coming to the Burning Bush on the top of the mountain? It was written for us, so that we might understand that Christ is with us. He has come down from that holy mountain to be a prisoner of love. For us. What could a person possibly offer to me that I should skip that? Every Mass should be considered as a Burning Bush experience. When we leave the church, WE are the candle!
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