Do you really believe its a mortal sin to miss mass on Sunday and make sure you go to confession

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almost2

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Do you really believe its a mortal sin to miss mass on Sunday and make sure you go to confession on that issue alone?

Or do you figure out a way its not a mortal sin that time for you?
 
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IT"S ALWAYS a Mortal sin unless there’s serious illness, old age, or extreme weather

Its NOT up to US, its up to GOD

GBY

Patrick
 
Yes it is a mortal sin. What kind of a Christian would I be if I can’t give God one hour in a week? If I’m brutally ill and can’t get out of bed, it’s a different story.

But I’m a sinner. There is never one issue alone. I need the sanctifying grace and I want to receive the Eucharist.
 
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Not an expert, I thought missing mass was a grave sin and gravity was only one mark on the mortal sin checklist.
 
JetteZ said:
Not an expert, I thought missing mass was a grave sin and gravity was only one mark on the mortal sin checklist.
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Correct. Intentionally missing Mass on a Sunday or Holy Day of Obligation without a valid reason is objectively grave matter.

The other two conditions are still required for mortal sin.

That said, it is common practice in Catholic circles to use the term “mortal sin” loosely, usually along the lines of “mortal sin=grave matter” when technically, grave matter is only 1/3 of mortal sin.
 
almost2 said:
Do you really believe its a mortal sin to miss mass on Sunday and make sure you go to confession on that issue alone?

Or do you figure out a way its not a mortal sin that time for you?
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I believe what the Church teaches, which is that we have a grave obligation to assist at mass on Sundays and holy days unless we are dispensed by our pastor or we have a legitimate reason for not attending examples of which include care of infants, illness, care of elderly, inability to get there (ice storm, flat tire), travel, and other serious reasons.

The Church doesn’t teach that the obligation is absolute. You haven’t worded your question properly.
 
If I miss Mass without a good reason, then yes I do go to confession before I receiving the Eucharist. I know it is grave matter…check 1; I do it anyway…check 2; and I do it with full consent…check 3, mortal sin. I can’t imagine a faithful Catholic who doesn’t know missing Mass is grave matter and does it anyway with full consent.

However, I know there are exceptions when missing obligatory Mass is not a mortal sin. Last Christmas I wasn’t able to fulfill the obligation as there was several feet of snow blocking my driveway and I could not get out, not that it mattered, I wouldn’t have been able to travel on my road even if I could have gotten out. Then is was not a mortal sin.
almost2 said:
Or do you figure out a way its not a mortal sin that time for you?
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A mortal sin is pretty objective, I don’t understand how one could figure out a way it’s not. Do you not believe God knows all of our hearts?
 
Jesus gave himself completely and totally so that we may partake of the sacrifice of the Mass. Missing Mass without a serious reason simply isn’t a sinless option.
 
Almost2, it has to make one wonder, about " free will " and The Churches view or Gods’ view on " love " .

Do what I say , or else. Is the same as saying I love you, so if you dont do what i say, i am going to punish you, or being in a harmful marriage where one spouse says to the other, I do the things you don’t like because I know what is good for you, wether or not you believe me, and if you dont like it too bad and on top of that i will hurt you.

How really does one justify the concept of freedom of choice or love or the church being all kind and understanding or implying that God really wants us to do something when we either have no desire to, nor want to do.

We are supposed to believe that is better for someone who isn’t catholic, doesnt want to be catholic or is a fallen away catholic or whatever, for that person to be there in the pew, when they have no desire to be there for whatever reason they have and to go through the motions, because the alternative is damnation.

And in what world is any of that even remotely logical ? I mean we mine as well pick our mates by force or have forced marriages and state they are for our own good or else.

But the sly answer to get out of being the wrong for this rule, is, big drum roll…

A person punishes him or her self by not being happy or wanting to go to Church and yadda yadda yadda.

So if you don’t understand the Church, don’t like and love the Church, and don’t want to sit in the pews and you dont feel it necessary to go through the motions while there, then woah upon thee.

do people realize that if the Vatican and the Pope came together, and decided that before every Mass, people had to go outside and walk in a circle three times single file, while whistling dixie, or else those who didnt, didnt really love the Church, or God and there fore have commited a mortal sin… that there would be no questions asked and the exact same answer as to why do catholics have to do this, would still be the same answer.

So people feel that rationalizing why things are wrong is incorrect or " bad " yet the way the Church and the Vatican/ Papacy does it is fine because supposedly they are better than the rest of humanity.

That is my reply to your question almost2 which is basically a question with in itself. If you want to take a stab at figuring that out I’ll be interested in your reply. Cheers.
 
I work seven days a week between two jobs. I only get a few days off every eight weeks as a rule. One priest told me that civil servants who do this are excused if they are just plain exhausted. There are times when I could have gone, say to an 8:00AM service before I go in at 10:00am. I just usually sleep in under that scenario. I usually confess it, as another priest once told me I still should go, even under the circumstances I’ve described.
 
Missing Mass “just because”

Sin–clearly.

However, given that something like 80% of the church is made up of those over 65, I WILL stay home even I “just” have a minor cold. It could kill an old person–or at least make them very ill.

I’ve also missed mass because of a rough pregnancy—I think that I missed about 2 months with my first–and I’ve missed a few here and there because there was just not enough Mommy patience in the world to take a screaming child to Mass…or out of the house, period.

Hubby still went unless I was so sick I couldn’t care for the kids. Once, I was ill and kids were a mess and he went during nap time–arrived late and left early–because that was the only way that it would work.

I think, from the outside people can get very judgy—but in the end the Church leaves it up to the individual to decide on what exempts one from Mass. This can mean for health, for children (under the age of 7 or handicapped) and for work reasons.
 
I’ll be honest with you, I don’t really believe it’s a mortal sin if not done in some spirit of willfully rejecting God. I also think the Mass times are often not the most convenient in the world, although I’m very grateful for the handful of parishes that have Mass at 5 pm or later on Sunday (not Saturday).

However, I do believe it’s a sin, albeit usually venial, to miss without a good excuse, plus I like to go see Jesus and be with Him, so I make the effort and have not missed in the last couple years, after spending almost a decade missing more often than I went. I am now working on being consistently on time, which is getting better.
 
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The Catholic Church teaches that missing Mass on Sunday or Holy Day of obligation without serious cause is a mortal sin.

Somewhere in the book of Hebrews there is an admonition to gather together for whatever form of Mass took place in the earliest days of the Church. In the Old Testament, there was no such weekly obligation. I think that there were three days on which one was supposed to go up to the Temple.

The origin of the local synagogue is shrouded in the mists of history, when the Jews were in exile in Babylon, as I recall reading. With that, the practice of gathering and prayer in a synagogue became common and was so, even in Jesus’s time. The synagogue may have become the substitute for going to the Temple, but that’s a guess on my part. And, as such they would have followed the practice of the 7th day of rest, described in Genesis.

I’ve seen that there are at least some Protestants who deny the importance of attending Sunday worship, in the form that they do. In the previous comments, someone mentions that giving an hour back to the Lord on Sunday is the least we can do – yes, it’s minimal. Actually, I think we’re supposed to give the whole day to the Lord, worship being only part of it. The other part of Sunday obligation is mentioned someplace in the New Testament: Do not appear before the Lord empty handed. In other words, contribute to the Church.

Teaching us these obligations devolves from the divine command to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength (resources). Now, turning Sunday morning into a fashion show or primarily a social event are other subjects. The Orthodox call the Divine Liturgy a victory celebration. Fr. John Riccardo of EWTN radio stresses that God wants to give Himself to us. Why wouldn’t we want this if we could go?
 
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Xanthippe_Voorhees said:
This can mean for health, for children (under the age of 7 or handicapped) and for work reasons.
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Also hazardous weather, particularly ice. The church parking lots can get very dangerous, especially in the days when I was taking an 89-year-old with me. If it was too hazardous for her to be out, I generally stayed home with her.
 
No I don’t believe this - sorry. Attendance at Mass to me is time spent in the presence of God. It is a chance for healing, reorientation. It should be done as often as possible for this reason - it strengthens you for dealing with the world. That said, if you cannot go to Mass for some good reason - and I am pretty open here - sick, (nonreligious) visitors, other obligations, hiking trip, etc. God understands and is with you. He doesn’t want you paralyzed with this kind of anxiety. If you have to miss, miss. Maybe pray about it. I would. Don’t make it a habit. I would say it is ok to miss maybe every 6 weeks, something like that? More than that would be an issue to me. I think that is quite lenient really. I am talking about situations where you are missing for a particular (good) reason, not just not going. Not going when you are able is a problem for someone who professes the Christian faith and membership in the Church.
 
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Salutations
We, as believers, WANT TO GO TO MASS. If that is true in our hearts and something unavoidable keeps you from going, I feel( which is not important here), it is not a sin. You are sad, you missed mass.
Now, it still takes mentioning in confession. The priest will review each moment.
If your sad, that is the right feeling. Don’t feel you’d go to hell if you died on Monday. If you feel that bad, go see priest on Monday to be absolved ASAP.
This is a church rule. God’s rule says, KEEP SABBATH HOLY… There are many ways to do this. I was an RN . I had to work some Sat. And Sun. If I wasn’t there, ppl could die.
Remember Jesus healing hand on Sun. The story of getting donkey out of well on a Sun.
In Medievil times, masses weren’t able to be shared all the time. Ppl in far away villages, couldn’t get to castle w church and priest. Marriages and Baptisms were way behind.
Handfasting in Scotland was considered marriage for a year and a day. Mainly, to marry till priest able to marry you
In Christ love
Tweedlealice
 
@superblue,

The Church has declared that we must attend Mass on Days of Obligation, which include each Sunday.
superblue said:
do people realize that if the Vatican and the Pope came together, and decided that before every Mass, people had to go outside and walk in a circle three times single file, while whistling dixie, or else those who didnt, didnt really love the Church, or God and there fore have commited a mortal sin…
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If you want to be ridiculous, fine, but Jesus gave the Church the authority to bind and to loose, that means the authority to make rules and to loosen rules. It is by Christ’s authority that the Church demands attendance at Mass. The Church only demands that we receive Communion once a year but Mass at least every week. As Catholics, we are bound to be obedient to Church law, which is made by the authority of God - therefore, by doing so we are being obedient to God.

Yup, I’m going all the way back…Adam and Eve presumed to know better than God and chose to make up their own minds as to what was right and wrong. Well, they decided wrongly, against God’s Word, they sinned and blew everything to hell. That’s what we do when we presume to know better than the Church on basics like going to church on Days of Obligation: we sin, and we sin in a serious manner because we know it to be serious and we know better and we do it anyway.
 
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