Dispensation to celebrate mass on a weekday?

[laurenrachelle]

Does anyone know if families have ever gotten approval to celebrate mass on a different day of the week and not on Saturdays and Sundays?

My husband is a new airline pilot and from the looks of it, scheduling is really tough the first few years, working every weekend. We both love mass and our faith, pray together daily, but it looks like Sunday mass together won’t be happening for a while and much of the time he won’t be able to make it to mass while he is gone. It’s most likely that it will be like this for years, and when he eventually moves up to Captain, it will just start all over again.

When we have children in the next couple years, we want to eventually home school and basically have our week around his schedule, kids doing school while he is gone and having our “weekends” just whenever he is home. We want to have a big family, God willing, and have them all close in age too so I will likely not be doing any grocery shopping until he gets home. Our nearest relative is also a 30+ hour drive away so I wouldn’t have a helping hand either.

Father mentioned that if my husband can’t make it to mass on a Sunday, that he should attend another day of the week instead. Has anyone ever heard of families instead going to mass say, every single Tuesday together? We are looking for a strong parish that has a great priest. We’d still read the Sunday readings together every week, but I really feel mass is so important for our marriage and family. We desire for our future children to grow up having mom and dad going to mass together and I think it will be really hard for me after we have a couple little ones to do it all on my own… Obviously if he gets a Sunday off though, or his schedule has Sunday’s off we would attend mass then!

Do priests give dispensations to attend mass another day of the week in this situation?

 

[1ke]

Does anyone know if families have ever gotten approval to celebrate mass on a different day of the week and not on Saturdays and Sundays?

No. It is not possible to do so.

Father mentioned that if my husband can’t make it to mass on a Sunday, that he should attend another day of the week instead.

I think you have misunderstood what your priest was saying. If your husband cannot attend Mass on Sunday or Saturday evening to fulfill the obligation, for example because he is in the air, then it is not sinful. He is not obligated to do what he cannot do.

Father was merely suggesting a way to enrich his spiritual life with the suggestion he attend during the week. Attending during the week in no way replaces or fulfills the Sunday obligation.

Has anyone ever heard of families instead going to mass say, every single Tuesday together?

It would be wonderful for you as a family to attend daily Mass on Tuesday or any day.

However, what is not possible is to attend Mass on Tuesday instead of Sunday. You (and your children when they are of age) have an obligation to attend on Sunday and Holy Days, regardless of where your spouse may be at that time.

We are looking for a strong parish that has a great priest. We’d still read the Sunday readings together every week, but I really feel mass is so important for our marriage and family.

You are barking up the wrong tree here. It seems you don’t understand the Sunday onbligation at all.

We desire for our future children to grow up having mom and dad going to mass together and I think it will be really hard for me after we have a couple little ones to do it all on my own… Obviously if he gets a Sunday off though, or his schedule has Sunday’s off we would attend mass then!

Sounds like maybe his chosen profession and your desired lifestyle are not a match.

Of course you can always go together as a family when he is home AND go on Sunday.

Do priests give dispensations to attend mass another day of the week in this situation?

NO.

 

[brigid12]

When you do have children, and while they are very small you could ask Father for a dispensation from Sunday Mass for yourself, if you don’t think you could handle taking them to Mass and your husband won’t be there. As the previous poster mentioned, this won’t have anything to do with daily Mass at all since you can’t replace Sunday Mass with daily Mass.

The previous poster has given good answers to your question.

 

[CB_Catholic]

I can understand your desire to worship as a family, laurenrachelle, but what perhaps you may not realize is that Sunday is not “family day”. It is the day when the entire Christian community comes together as the Body of Christ to worship God. It has been that way for 2000 years, weekdays have never been seen as a substitute for Sunday, and the priest has no power to change what is part of Sacred Tradition.

Your children should not be taught that it is ok to substitute a weekday for Sunday worship with the Body of Christ. They should, according to the rules of the Church recognize Sunday as the Lord’s Day and understand they are obliged to attend Mass on Sunday.

I hope you can attend Sunday worship with your husband often, but when that is not possible, you should attend Mass with your children every Sunday unless you are ill or it is impossible.

 

[mlz]

I do agree with those who posted above. By all means go to a weekday Mass when he is home but do not miss the Sunday ( or Sat. evening) Mass with your children. I grew up far from family so I understand the difficult situation you have not having family near. Hopefully you will meet some dear fellow Christians able to exchange times of help with each other to make schedules work better.
My prayers for you,
mlz

 

[pianistclare]

I ran across this with a cantor at my previous parish. She stopped cantoring because her husband convinced her that if they were at Mass she had to sit with them, so she could not be cantoring from the loft.
She said to me “How will my children know that church is for family if we don’t sit together?”
Well, my children knew what Mass was for and their dad NEVER went with us, and everyone in the choir had family, and presumably they also knew what Mass was about.
It was a shame because she was really gifted vocally.
But she refused to lead the singing because of her husband’s notion of “togetherness”.
Sadly, they’re divorced now.

 

[Ad_Orientem]

Just a point of terminology. The expression “celebrate Mass” normally refers to what the priest alone does. The laity merely “assist at Mass,” although this does involve offering the sacrifice together with the priest.

 

[laurenrachelle]

You are barking up the wrong tree here. It seems you don’t understand the Sunday onbligation at all.

Sounds like maybe his chosen profession and your desired lifestyle are not a match.

I think your first sentence there is rather rude. I attend mass each Sunday, I understand the importance of coming together as a community of believers and but I am in a situation which is likely very different than your life, and that statement is judgemental. I am extremely close to my priest, but recently moved so it’s been rather difficult finding a parish and great priest that is similar to the one I grew up in.

I was expecting a very different lifestyle when I married him, yes, but the state of the airline industry for pilots now days is nothing like it use to be and I didn’t realize that. They are paid very little, especially in the beginning, and have few benefits, days off and flexibility. He is an amazing pilot, he loves flying and he is on a good track right now to get lots of hours and work his way up to possibly not having to fly full time in another 2 decades, and instead only fly once or twice a week. But this is the situation I am in now, and I am merely seeking advice on how I can keep my marriage and family strong, when mass is now seemingly impossible to join in together. I went to mass for 7 years by myself every Sunday/Saturday evening (my family never followed) and now I am seeing a future again just like that for a while. Even during our courtship and engagement I went alone as my dh and I were long distance. Going to mass with my husband for the past 3 months has been a treasure… Right now, I desire for him to just have a MF 9-5 job, to wake up and fall asleep next to him every day, rather than less than half the week, but that’s not a reality and our day of rest won’t be one for him or me as we are both working every weekend. Until we have children, I will keep going to mass each Sunday, even if I am alone, but I don’t know how I will do it once we have children. My question was more so for when we have a family, can they dispensate us so I am not alone in mass, sitting in the cry room with 3 little ones, hearing little of the mass and being distracted the entire mass because I am alone with no one to help me…

I watched my mother stop going to mass when I was in 5th grade because 4 was too many to handle on her own once my dad stopped going to mass. Even then he could have watched my baby brother and one of my sisters and she could have gone with just 2, but I won’t have the luxury of having a extra pair of hands. With us desiring a large family (at least by today’s stabdards), I think it would be more fruitful to rather go to mass on a weekday all together when both of us are there to care for our children, and Sunday mass whenever possible that we are all together. I know the Lord calls us to “assist” at the mass on Sundays and celebrate his resurrection, coming together as believers, I get that but I think the situation of a mom with several little ones all on her own without the help of others would be a different situation. Yes, there are families where only the mother attends mass with the kids, but I would bet she likely wasn’t the only one getting them bathed, fed and dressed for mass. I also don’t think my kids would much know the difference either, especially since once they are more manageable on my own and older we would attend mass on Sundays regardless of my husband’s schedule.

My question was slightly hypothetical. This is all assuming we are able to bring life into the world and have our big family that we so greatly desire, and that my husband’s job stays in this current time position (Fri-Mon) that we hear most pilots are getting stuck in for many years. My mother in law thinks we are crazy for wanting more than 2, but we feel called to have a large family if the Lord wills it and stay open to life biologically or through adoption.

 

[1ke]

I think your first sentence there is rather rude. I attend mass each Sunday, I understand the importance of coming together as a community of believers and but I am in a situation which is likely very different than your life, and that statement is judgemental. I am extremely close to my priest, but recently moved so it’s been rather difficult finding a parish and great priest that is similar to the one I grew up in.

I am sorry that I offended you.

I was expecting a very different lifestyle when I married him, yes, but the state of the airline industry for pilots now days is nothing like it use to be and I didn’t realize that. They are paid very little, especially in the beginning, and have few benefits, days off and flexibility. He is an amazing pilot, he loves flying

I am the only member of my family not a pilot, and they all love flying and are all wonderful pilots. But they do not fly for a living. They fly recreationally. I know my stepdad and brother would have loved to fly commercially, but that wasn’t realistic for raising their families. My uncle did fly commercially, after a career air force, so he had lots of hours and seniority. But their children were all grown by then.

Perhaps your husband and you might reconsider his choice for a job versus a hobby. If it is more important for you to be together, then that may be the choice you have to make as a couple.

My question was more so for when we have a family, can they dispensate us so I am not alone in mass, sitting in the cry room with 3 little ones, hearing little of the mass and being distracted the entire mass because I am alone with no one to help me…

The answer to that is no.

but I think the situation of a mom with several little ones all on her own without the help of others would be a different situation.

It’s not. If you really believe this is an impediment to your spiritual life, the answer is a different career choice, not trying to find a way to not go to Mass.

Just something to consider.

 

[pianistclare]

I think your first sentence there is rather rude. I attend mass each Sunday, I understand the importance of coming together as a community of believers and but I am in a situation which is likely very different than your life, and that statement is judgemental. I am extremely close to my priest, but recently moved so it’s been rather difficult finding a parish and great priest that is similar to the one I grew up in.

I was expecting a very different lifestyle when I married him, yes, but the state of the airline industry for pilots now days is nothing like it use to be and I didn’t realize that. They are paid very little, especially in the beginning, and have few benefits, days off and flexibility. He is an amazing pilot, he loves flying and he is on a good track right now to get lots of hours and work his way up to possibly not having to fly full time in another 2 decades, and instead only fly once or twice a week. But this is the situation I am in now, and I am merely seeking advice on how I can keep my marriage and family strong, when mass is now seemingly impossible to join in together. I went to mass for 7 years by myself every Sunday/Saturday evening (my family never followed) and now I am seeing a future again just like that for a while. Even during our courtship and engagement I went alone as my dh and I were long distance. Going to mass with my husband for the past 3 months has been a treasure… Right now, I desire for him to just have a MF 9-5 job, to wake up and fall asleep next to him every day, rather than less than half the week, but that’s not a reality and our day of rest won’t be one for him or me as we are both working every weekend. Until we have children, I will keep going to mass each Sunday, even if I am alone, but I don’t know how I will do it once we have children. My question was more so for when we have a family, can they dispensate us so I am not alone in mass, sitting in the cry room with 3 little ones, hearing little of the mass and being distracted the entire mass because I am alone with no one to help me…

I watched my mother stop going to mass when I was in 5th grade because 4 was too many to handle on her own once my dad stopped going to mass. Even then he could have watched my baby brother and one of my sisters and she could have gone with just 2, but I won’t have the luxury of having a extra pair of hands. With us desiring a large family (at least by today’s stabdards), I think it would be more fruitful to rather go to mass on a weekday all together when both of us are there to care for our children, and Sunday mass whenever possible that we are all together. I know the Lord calls us to “assist” at the mass on Sundays and celebrate his resurrection, coming together as believers, I get that but I think the situation of a mom with several little ones all on her own without the help of others would be a different situation. Yes, there are families where only the mother attends mass with the kids, but I would bet she likely wasn’t the only one getting them bathed, fed and dressed for mass. I also don’t think my kids would much know the difference either, especially since once they are more manageable on my own and older we would attend mass on Sundays regardless of my husband’s schedule.

My question was slightly hypothetical. This is all assuming we are able to bring life into the world and have our big family that we so greatly desire, and that my husband’s job stays in this current time position (Fri-Mon) that we hear most pilots are getting stuck in for many years. My mother in law thinks we are crazy for wanting more than 2, but we feel called to have a large family if the Lord wills it and stay open to life biologically or through adoption.

The first thing you have to do is determine which Mass offers a nursery, or if there is another parish that does. Then, keep the oldest child with you and send the other 2 to the nursery. You do have a Sunday obligation. There have been tens of thousands off mothers in the past with large families (large families used to be the norm) who took everyone to Mass and they lived through it. I know of one family dear to us that even walked both ways to Mass, sometimes in very bad weather. But their mom never missed Mass and neither did her 9 children. Her devotion was the big reason that her husband finally converted. He came to the dinner table one day and after the blessing said “Well, I guess y’all are pretty serious about this Catholicism thing…I’d better go talk tot he priest and see what it’s all about.” You never know what your good example will bring.
I don’t think anyone is discounting your perceived dilemma, but it doesn’t sound like anything you can’t manage. Little ones are wiggly, and it’s up to your fellow parishioners to be patient.
There’s a way to work this out. But looking for dispensations in not the place to start.
If there is no nursery option, then approach the DRE of the parish. Many times, high school students are seeking community service hours. Perhaps they can put you in touch with someone who can watch them at church, or even come to your home if they are very small. Make your issue known, and someone will offer advice or personal help.
But don’t miss Mass due to this. If you are alone part of the week, you need the blessing and strength that partaking of Mass and the Eucharist gives us. That is the most important thing. For you and your little family.
Peace.
Peace.

 

[OraLabora]

Yours is a situation of pastoral care that sometimes arise when our situation doesn’t fit the neat categories that the law provides for.

I would suggest that you speak to your priest; however, my belief is that care for little ones automatically excuses one from Mass if the little ones are too small to attend Mass or are so numerous and immature that one person alone can’t handle them at Mass.

Only you can say what your abilities are concerning supervising your children at Mass. Having had three sons ourselves (all now adults), my wife and I know that sometimes dealing with three small children alone is like herding cats and keeping them still for an hour through something they don’t understand is near impossible.

§2. If participation in the eucharistic celebration becomes impossible because of the absence of a sacred minister or for another grave cause, it is strongly recommended that the faithful take part in a liturgy of the word if such a liturgy is celebrated in a parish church or other sacred place according to the prescripts of the diocesan bishop or that they devote themselves to prayer for a suitable time alone, as a family, or, as the occasion permits, in groups of families.

(Code of Canon Law)

From the Catechism:

2181 The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor.119 Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.

(my emphasis)

You can discuss this with your priest. He may formally dispense you, or he may simply say to act according to your conscience, knowing that the care of infants is an appropriate excuse for missing Mass.

Note that in either case (whether dispensed, or in good conscience you consider yourself excused), a weekday Mass does not replace the Sunday obligation, and weekday Mass is not an obligation for the laity. But that does not mean that it isn’t laudable to attend as a family during the week, and on those rare occasions when your husband can attend with you on a Sunday or other holy day of obligation, accept it as a special grace from God. The family that prays together, stays together! Moreover, even though Sunday is an obligation, the grace obtained from the Eucharist is efficacious whether we receive on Sunday or a weekday.

I do think that the Church does allow significant latitude for serious circumstances; she doesn’t expect us to do the impossible! It is very easy to fall into a kind of strict legalism that leads to scrupulosity. It’s why I think it’s often helpful to have a spiritual director, or in the absence of one, speak to your priest.

God bless and good luck to you and your husband (I’m a private pilot so I’m kind of jealous! Wished I could have flown for a living, but circumstances didn’t work out, but I do know that entry-level pilots in the airline industry have a particularly difficult lifestyle; one wouldn’t do it unless one truly loves flying).

 

[OraLabora]

It’s not. If you really believe this is an impediment to your spiritual life, the answer is a different career choice, not trying to find a way to not go to Mass.

Just something to consider.

With all due respect I think this is very poor advice, and is really sticking your nose into what is not your business. She is asking for help to make her spiritual life work for her circumstances, not having her husband change careers. It is possible to be a junior airline pilot and a good Catholic, husband, and father. Easy? Perhaps not. But possible.

I married a family physician who, at the time, had a heavy rural obstetrics practice. I knew at the time that it would involve sacrifices and giving up weekend freedom to care for our three children. I also used to travel internationally at that time for work (trips of up to two weeks that would interfere with my wife’s call schedule), and fortunately with the help of family and good friends we managed to make it work but those trips were very stressful for my wife. I wasn’t a practicing Catholic at the time (I am a revert), but looking back, if I was, on my wife’s on-call weekends when my kids were 6 months, 2 and 4 years old, I too probably would have excused myself from Mass, I would have been overwhelmed and our parish church was very ill equipped if I had to change diapers, or feed the baby, for instance.

I really do think we need to allow some wiggle room for a well-formed conscience to take over and not always look for the answer in strict legal codes. I am sure, for instance, that there may be Sundays where the OP, with kids would have the ability to take them to Mass alone, and others, where due to fatigue and having had a very bad week, she would feel overwhelmed. It shouldn’t be necessary to run to a priest for a dispensation each time.

 

[dans0622]

Does anyone know if families have ever gotten approval to celebrate mass on a different day of the week and not on Saturdays and Sundays?
…
Father mentioned that if my husband can’t make it to mass on a Sunday, that he should attend another day of the week instead. Has anyone ever heard of families instead going to mass say, every single Tuesday together? …

Do priests give dispensations to attend mass another day of the week in this situation?

Hello,

Perhaps you are thinking of what is called a “commutation” of the obligation. As canon 1245 states, it is possible that the parish priest (pastor) can “commute” the obligation to attend Mass on days of obligation into “some other pious works.” This could mean that he would “commute” this obligation to the attendance at Mass on another day of the week.

But, that would only apply to the person who is not able to attend Mass on the day of obligation–in this case, your husband. That person’s family (you and children) would not be granted this favor, if they are able to attend Mass on the obligatory day itself. This is my opinion as a canon lawyer lay person. I’m not a parish priest.

Dan

 

[1ke]

With all due respect I think this is very poor advice, and is really sticking your nose into what is not your business. She is asking for help to make her spiritual life work for her circumstances, not having her husband change careers. It is possible to be a junior airline pilot and a good Catholic, husband, and father. Easy? Perhaps not. But possible.

Posting on a public forum sorta makes it the business of whoever takes the time to read, consider and reply. I said it was just something to consider. The OP has some specific ideas about how she wants/prefers her homelife and spiritual life to be.

I really do think we need to allow some wiggle room for a well-formed conscience to take over and not always look for the answer in strict legal codes.

Of course, but that is not the question the OP asked.

I am sure, for instance, that there may be Sundays where the OP, with kids would have the ability to take them to Mass alone, and others, where due to fatigue and having had a very bad week, she would feel overwhelmed. It shouldn’t be necessary to run to a priest for a dispensation each time.

I never said it was.

 

[BettyBoop416]

With all due respect I think this is very poor advice… It is possible to be a junior airline pilot and a good Catholic, husband, and father. Easy? Perhaps not. But possible.

You got that right. My husband has been a pilot since his 16th birthday - the first day he was allowed to solo. He put himself through college flight instructing. He put himself through law school flying night freight. He is now a part-time pilot in the National Guard where most of his buddies are airline pilots. These guys have really crazy schedules. They not only have to juggle their airline and military obligations, but many of them live far from their home base and have to commute to work. But they love it. They wouldn’t trade it for anything. If you were to suggest that the answer to their scheduling issues was a different career choice, they would look at you like you had two heads and probably disregard every word that came out of your mouth from that point forward.

I really do think we need to allow some wiggle room for a well-formed conscience to take over and not always look for the answer in strict legal codes. I am sure, for instance, that there may be Sundays where the OP, with kids would have the ability to take them to Mass alone, and others, where due to fatigue and having had a very bad week, she would feel overwhelmed. It shouldn’t be necessary to run to a priest for a dispensation each time.

Well that’s something you don’t see on CAF every day…common sense.

 

[TK421]

Whenever I encounter a person that takes pleasure in creating drama, in my experience, I find the only useful tactic is to ignore them. Nothing else works.

Does anyone know if families have ever gotten approval to celebrate mass on a different day of the week and not on Saturdays and Sundays?

My husband is a new airline pilot and from the looks of it, scheduling is really tough the first few years, working every weekend. We both love mass and our faith, pray together daily, but it looks like Sunday mass together won’t be happening for a while and much of the time he won’t be able to make it to mass while he is gone. It’s most likely that it will be like this for years, and when he eventually moves up to Captain, it will just start all over again.

When we have children in the next couple years, we want to eventually home school and basically have our week around his schedule, kids doing school while he is gone and having our “weekends” just whenever he is home. We want to have a big family, God willing, and have them all close in age too so I will likely not be doing any grocery shopping until he gets home. Our nearest relative is also a 30+ hour drive away so I wouldn’t have a helping hand either.

Father mentioned that if my husband can’t make it to mass on a Sunday, that he should attend another day of the week instead. Has anyone ever heard of families instead going to mass say, every single Tuesday together? We are looking for a strong parish that has a great priest. We’d still read the Sunday readings together every week, but I really feel mass is so important for our marriage and family. We desire for our future children to grow up having mom and dad going to mass together and I think it will be really hard for me after we have a couple little ones to do it all on my own… Obviously if he gets a Sunday off though, or his schedule has Sunday’s off we would attend mass then!

Do priests give dispensations to attend mass another day of the week in this situation?

A Holy Day is a Holy Day. So you wouldn’t be attending a Holy Day Mass if you were to attend at some other time of the week. A Mass is still a Mass though. A Tuesday morning Mass can be every bit as spiritually edifying as a Sunday Mass, and you’re receiving Christ just as much as you would on Sunday. They are identical in every aspect. It would be perfectly fine and edifying if you went on, say, a Tuesday morning during the summers when you could all go together. The only difference is that the Holy Day Mass is morally obligatory for those who are able to attend. Your husband is an airline pilot and it’s often the case that he won’t be able to make it. There is zero sin in this. He’s working to provide for himself and his family, and somebody has to do it. It’s a noble profession.

We should offer thanksgiving to God for those situations that can difficult, compared to a utopian, white picket scenario. It is in these times that we can find sanctification. It is often times the case that those who have everything easy, degrade in their maturity. If an irregular attendance at Mass as a whole family is the worst thing you’ll have to suffer in the family, then you are luckier than the vast majority of people. If it wasn’t this as an issue, it would probably be something else. He’d be around on weekends, but then he might have another job where he’s on call a lot in the evenings. If it wasn’t that, he might have a stable morning job, but then you’d have financial difficulties. There’s almost always going to be something that’s a challenge. I think if he’s visible about his faith at the home and offers spiritual direction to his children, then they will know perfectly well that mom & dad are on the same side, and when they get older, they’ll come to greatly appreciate those weekends that he was away working.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

You got that right. My husband has been a pilot since his 16th birthday - the first day he was allowed to solo. He put himself through college flight instructing. He put himself through law school flying night freight. He is now a part-time pilot in the National Guard where most of his buddies are airline pilots. These guys have really crazy schedules. They not only have to juggle their airline and military obligations, but many of them live far from their home base and have to commute to work. But they love it. They wouldn’t trade it for anything. If you were to suggest that the answer to their scheduling issues was a different career choice, they would look at you like you had two heads and probably disregard every word that came out of your mouth from that point forward.

Well that’s something you don’t see on CAF every day…common sense.

I have a friend that is an airline pilot for a package delivery company that is not brown.
He is a wonderful father, a great husband and a great man. He volunteers much of his time to the youth programs or other things. Often, he is gone for Mass. I assume he goes to Mass wherever he is. I have never really thought about it before. His wife and kids are often at Mass without him. Though I imagine his job provides a ton of stress, he balances it better than anyone I have seen. He coaches the soccer team at his son’s school and is wonderful. His wife and kids love him. He made it work. It is possible. But I doubt it was easy.

 

[brigid12]

Yeah, common sense! And “infants” are any child up to the age of 7 - the age of reason. They also don’t have the obligation to assist at Mass until they are 7.

 

[SyroMalankara]

Does anyone know if families have ever gotten approval to celebrate mass on a different day of the week and not on Saturdays and Sundays?

It’s possible. Talk to your priest and/or bishop. As an aside, due to the difficulties of living in certain Middle Eastern countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, etc), Catholics and Orthodox celebrate Sunday Mass on Fridays with the approval of the local hierarchs.

 

[OraLabora]

You got that right. My husband has been a pilot since his 16th birthday - the first day he was allowed to solo.

Born with avgas in his veins

I know the feeling, I got my private license when I was 23. Started my course at 22 as soon as I graduated and got my first job. But for me, it ended up as a hobby instead of a career, I ended up as a chemist, and then eventually, an IT analyst. I still fly regularly at 56, though I have to jump through hoops to maintain my medical due to diabetes.

I did however, spend a lot of times on airlines traveling on business, up until 2002. So I know full well the difficulties of attending Mass. Spent more than one Sunday transiting through an airport terminal, or missed it altogether due to crossing the International Date Line (leave Montreal Saturday morning, arrive Seoul Sunday evening). I just used common sense.