Does a Communion service fulfill Sunday or holy day obligation?

[milimac]

The feast of the Assumption was the day after my wife gave birth and we were still in the hospital. I may have been able to go to Mass, and my wife may have been fine with it (she’s not Catholic), but I didn’t want to ask. However, the chapel had a short communion service that I did attend.

Does attending a communion service fulfill the holy day obligation (both in general and specifically in my case)?

 

[frommi]

It’s kind of an odd thing…

On the one hand…NO it does not fulfill the Sunday obligation, but on the other hand it falls under that grey area “where the faithful can’t have mass they should still gather”.

Think of it this way…it can’t fulfill your mass obligation because it is not a mass…but, near as I can tell, it wouldn’t be a sin.

 

[CatholicNick]

I wouldn’t take the chance…

 

[Brendan]

It does not fulfill the Sunday Obligation.

But if you were in the hospital assisting your wife, you were not obligated to attend Mass. The obligation is removed when one is caring for the sick or a young child.

So you had no obligation to fulfill that particular Sunday.

But taking part in the Sunday Communion Service was a wonder pious action.

In general, if one is resonably able to attend a Mass, then the obligation is not fulfilled by a Communion Service. If there is no Mass offered near where one is at, then one does not have the obligation.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

The feast of the Assumption was the day after my wife gave birth and we were still in the hospital. I may have been able to go to Mass, and my wife may have been fine with it (she’s not Catholic), but I didn’t want to ask. However, the chapel had a short communion service that I did attend.

Does attending a communion service fulfill the holy day obligation (both in general and specifically in my case)?

If you truly could not leave the hopstial even for the few hours that it would take to go to Mass on Saturday evening or Sunday morning then you did not have any obligation. It sounds to me that you could have but chose not too.

 

[Brendan]

If you truly could not leave the hopstial even for the few hours that it would take to go to Mass on Saturday evening or Sunday morning then you did not have any obligation. It sounds to me that you could have but chose not too.

Brother Rich, I would disagree with your assessment.

I covered this very scenario in my diaconate classes and from personal experience.

There is an exception for care for the sick which applies not only to the one who is sick or injured, but to the primary caregiver(s) as well. The father of a newly born child has an obligation to care for his post-partum spouse and the new child. That means to he should be present to provide for their needs if at all possible.

Yes, it might mean that, in hindsight, the wife and child slept peaceably throughout the time Mass would have been going on, but that information would not have been available when the decision is made to care for one’s wife shortly after a tramatic medical experience or to attend Mass.

Overall, the OP should talk to his pastor about this issue and heed his advice.

 

[richard1]

What stabs me in these answers is the continual coming back of the word OBLIGATION.
According to my conception of the sunday mass and gathering I have come to the habit of turning away the medal face of OBLIGATION to see LOVE on the other face.
You love God, you go to mass!
You want your sins taken out of you, You place Jesus inside you because he is the one who takes away the sins.
You feel hunger and thirst for peace and justice, You run after Christ on Sundays because he said “I am the light, the truth and the life.”
What, what, what???
The hammer of OBLIGATION on the head of a slave, I reject it. I am so happy to discover that you found the way to answer the call of the Holy Spirit bringing you closer to the Only One who can satisfy your longings. Continue to do so, my friend. God bless ! ! !

 

[MaryAgnes]

Brother Rich, I would disagree with your assessment.

I covered this very scenario in my diaconate classes and from personal experience.

There is an exception for care for the sick which applies not only to the one who is sick or injured, but to the primary caregiver(s) as well. The father of a newly born child has an obligation to care for his post-partum spouse and the new child. That means to he should be present to provide for their needs if at all possible.

Yes, it might mean that, in hindsight, the wife and child slept peaceably throughout the time Mass would have been going on, but that information would not have been available when the decision is made to care for one’s wife shortly after a tramatic medical experience or to attend Mass.

Overall, the OP should talk to his pastor about this issue and heed his advice.

There is much wisdom here. If we have to speak in terms of “obligation” then I think we need to seek the spirit of the law as well as the law itself.

I agree with you … the real “obligation” was to honor the marriage covenant and care for the spouse “in sickness and in health.”

 

[milimac]

What stabs me in these answers is the continual coming back of the word OBLIGATION.
According to my conception of the sunday mass and gathering I have come to the habit of turning away the medal face of OBLIGATION to see LOVE on the other face.
You love God, you go to mass!
You want your sins taken out of you, You place Jesus inside you because he is the one who takes away the sins.
You feel hunger and thirst for peace and justice, You run after Christ on Sundays because he said “I am the light, the truth and the life.”
What, what, what???
The hammer of OBLIGATION on the head of a slave, I reject it. I am so happy to discover that you found the way to answer the call of the Holy Spirit bringing you closer to the Only One who can satisfy your longings. Continue to do so, my friend. God bless ! ! !

I agree with your sentiment – when you’re in love with the Lord and with our Blessed Mother, “obligation” seems like a harsh word. I don’t attend Mass because I have to, but because I want to. It’s a very light burden.

Still, I don’t think love and obligation are mutually exclusive. Do I have an obligation to say “thank you” when someone does an act of kindness towards me, or an obligation to in some way recognize my and my spouse’s wedding anniversary? I would say yes, but built on top of that is something better – a sincere desire to fulfill those obligations that is driven by love. The obligation does not go away just because you want to fulfill it (“I have not come to do away with the law, but to fulfill it”).

Obligations are also important because if the Church says it’s an obligation, but I don’t have a desire in my heart to fulfill it or my conscience tells me it’s ok not to fulfill it, then it’s a good indicator that something is wrong with my heart or my conscience and I need to take steps to correct it. Otherwise, I’m just a feel-good Christian who uses it as a technique to make me feel good about myself and stir up feelings of love and peace, but never lets myself be truly challenged to become who Christ wants me to be. Obligation (duty), obedience, submission: they’re not dirty words.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Brother Rich, I would disagree with your assessment.

I covered this very scenario in my diaconate classes and from personal experience.

There is an exception for care for the sick which applies not only to the one who is sick or injured, but to the primary caregiver(s) as well. The father of a newly born child has an obligation to care for his post-partum spouse and the new child. That means to he should be present to provide for their needs if at all possible.

Yes, it might mean that, in hindsight, the wife and child slept peaceably throughout the time Mass would have been going on, but that information would not have been available when the decision is made to care for one’s wife shortly after a tramatic medical experience or to attend Mass.

Overall, the OP should talk to his pastor about this issue and heed his advice.

I have never seen a hospital that required the family to provide the medical care for an in-patient, generally that is what doctors and nurses are paid to do.

I understand that a new father or husband would WANT to stay and help or be with his wife or child, caring for his new child but that is far from being required to do so.

In this situation it would seem that he was not prevented from attending Mass by things outside of his control.

 

[milimac]

Brother Rich, I would disagree with your assessment.

I covered this very scenario in my diaconate classes and from personal experience.

There is an exception for care for the sick which applies not only to the one who is sick or injured, but to the primary caregiver(s) as well. The father of a newly born child has an obligation to care for his post-partum spouse and the new child. That means to he should be present to provide for their needs if at all possible.

Yes, it might mean that, in hindsight, the wife and child slept peaceably throughout the time Mass would have been going on, but that information would not have been available when the decision is made to care for one’s wife shortly after a tramatic medical experience or to attend Mass.

Overall, the OP should talk to his pastor about this issue and heed his advice.

Brendan, I like this response best of all, for obvious reasons: it eases my conscience. But this is also why I have to be cautious with it, for what if my conscience is somewhat defective? I don’t want to fall into the trap of legalism or scrupulosity, but I will at least bring it up next time I go to confession.

Taking the time to go to Mass the day after my wife gave birth would’ve been a strong witnessing to her of how important Jesus and Mary are to me. Since she already knows how important they are to me, yet not going to Mass but to a quick communion service in the chapel instead, shows her both.

I have a strong devotion to Mary and wanted to fulfill the holy day obligation, but felt like I should stay just in case I was needed (even though things seemed to be going smoothly and continued that way). If it was the day of the birth, it would’ve been obvious to me – I still would’ve stayed with my wife and baby.

Unfortunately, it was long enough after the birth to make it a gray area for me – was I using the situation as an excuse to stay in the hospital and get some sleep rather than sacrificing some sleep as a gift to Mary? I did leave the hospital earlier that day to go pick up and return relatives so they could see the baby in the hospital. Should I not also have taken time out to attend Mass, or would I have been neglectful by spending even more time away? Am I being scrupulous for even considering this or does my conscience truly need some tuning? My feeling is that it is at least a little on the scrupulous side.

 

[Brendan]

Brendan, I like this response best of all, for obvious reasons: it eases my conscience. But this is also why I have to be cautious with it, for what if my conscience is somewhat defective? I don’t want to fall into the trap of legalism or scrupulosity, but I will at least bring it up next time I go to confession. .

Great attitude!

Our consciences can certainly lead us astray.

One of the disadvantages of this type of board is that one cannot get into some of the necessary details. But that is why we have priests.

Discuss this with your pastor, he is the assigned shepard of your soul.

Do remember though, God was the one who chose when your baby would be born, and He knows where you should have been that Sunday. It’s up to you and your priest to discern where exactly God wanted you then. But it’s a good chance that your priest and you will discern that God wanted you to be with your wife and the new gift He provided you both.

 

[InnocentIII]

It’s kind of an odd thing…

On the one hand…NO it does not fulfill the Sunday obligation, but on the other hand it falls under that grey area “where the faithful can’t have mass they should still gather”.

Think of it this way…it can’t fulfill your mass obligation because it is not a mass…but, near as I can tell, it wouldn’t be a sin.

Frommi is right about the first part (see Frommi I can agree with you sometimes) but the second would depend on whether you had a valid reason for not being able to attend Mass. A Communion Service cannot substitute for a Mass but if you are unable to attend a Mass for reasons of health, distance etc then you are encouraged to gather just as an earlier generation would gather to say the Rosary. The danger lies on seeing the Communion as the obligation. In fact you are not obligated to take communion (except at Easter) but your are obligated to attend Mass.

 

[richard1]

For me, I think that Sunday Mass is such important that even though it seems a burden to some or almost every Christian, it should be considered as a BIG GIFT the first one and the Last one that Mama Mary offered to the Church durind the public life of Jesus. Just remember CANA and AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS both event present THE NEW LIFE.
Let us take this mystery as a treasure. Today’s passage at mass was “I am the king of the sabbath.” Jesus speaks about the bread of the witness. Some are kings of the ring others kings of driving others kings of Mac Donald’s. Mass is a special offer to get every deed agreable to god. It is our tool for holiness. God Bless ! ! !

 

[wjp984]

how does it not fulfill the obligaton? I can think of three exampels where I went to a communion service instead of a mass on a Sunday. One was when the preist was visiting his sick mom in the hospital and there was no priest in that parish. The deacon said the communion service fulfilled the obligation even though I could have went to another church if I chose to. The second example was on a retreat where the priest was unable to attend on Sunday. He consecrated the bread on Saturday afternoon and then there was a communion service on Sunday. Third was on Easter. Although most of us had went to the vigil, we had a communion service the enxt day before a brunch and although it was highly recommended to have gone to another actual Easter mass, it was not obligatory.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

how does it not fulfill the obligaton? I can think of three exampels where I went to a communion service instead of a mass on a Sunday. One was when the preist was visiting his sick mom in the hospital and there was no priest in that parish. The deacon said the communion service fulfilled the obligation even though I could have went to another church if I chose to. The second example was on a retreat where the priest was unable to attend on Sunday. He consecrated the bread on Saturday afternoon and then there was a communion service on Sunday. Third was on Easter. Although most of us had went to the vigil, we had a communion service the enxt day before a brunch and although it was highly recommended to have gone to another actual Easter mass, it was not obligatory.

Easter Vigil satisfies your Mass obligation for Easter Sunday.

Everyone at the retreat should have been present at the Saturday evening Mass when the Hosts were consecrated. Or made other arrangements to attend Mass on Sunday.

The Deacon was wrong. If you could have attended a Mass at another parish then you did not meet your Mass obligation.

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

Brother Rich, I would disagree with your assessment.

I covered this very scenario in my diaconate classes and from personal experience.

There is an exception for care for the sick which applies not only to the one who is sick or injured, but to the primary caregiver(s) as well. The father of a newly born child has an obligation to care for his post-partum spouse and the new child. That means to he should be present to provide for their needs if at all possible.

Yes, it might mean that, in hindsight, the wife and child slept peaceably throughout the time Mass would have been going on, but that information would not have been available when the decision is made to care for one’s wife shortly after a tramatic medical experience or to attend Mass.

Overall, the OP should talk to his pastor about this issue and heed his advice.

This is so well said and SUCH GOOD fathering! Bravo, Brendan!

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

Personally, it sounds like a case of the scrupes to me. Like Loving Care Hair Color, only your confessor will know for sure. Ask.

 

[Kielbasi]

how does it not fulfill the obligaton? I can think of three exampels where I went to a communion service instead of a mass on a Sunday. .

The obligation is to hear mass. If you are unable to, because of the unavailability of a priest to say mass, the obligation isn’t fulfilled, but merely lifted.

Its a good practice, but not required, to attend a communion service or liturgy of the word instead, if its available under those circumstances.

 

[richard1]

What follows can open your minds to different options. While I was in Africa as a missionary, The priest had more than 140 chapel to visit. Can you Imagine how many mass services includins confessions and weddings he could organize in each of them? So, we were helping with communion services here and there once in a while especially at Christmas and Easter time. The gatherings and communion services were considered as I said in my other posts.
Where the priest was able to go only once a year, he was celebrating the Nativity Mass.