Does mandatory Sunday church attendance help or hurt the Mass experience?

[fisherman_carl]

Does mandatory Sunday church attendance help or hurt the Mass experience?

 

[Peter_Plato]

Does mandatory Sunday church attendance help or hurt the Mass experience?

Neither. The mandatory nature of attendance is neither here nor there.

Does the mandatory nature of a law against stealing or dishonesty help or hurt your experience of acting honestly and fairly?

The mandatory nature of any “law,” say a prohibition against theft, would seem to only be of concern if you have some compulsion to steal, be dishonest or break the law. If you understand and are content with the reasons for the law, then the mandatory nature is of absolutely no concern.

 

[vsedriver]

Does mandatory Sunday church attendance help or hurt the Mass experience?

I don’t think I understand the question. I got to Mass to experience the Eucharist.

How can you tell who is devout and who is there out of obligation? And why would that have any impact on your Mass experience?

 

[fisherman_carl]

I don’t think I understand the question. I got to Mass to experience the Eucharist.

How can you tell who is devout and who is there out of obligation? And why would that have any impact on your Mass experience?

Ive been at a Mass where the people behind me were laughing amd talking through the whole thing and making fun of things. If u go to a week day Mass the people there want to be there and are generally more prayerful. There are more distractions at Sunday Mass.

 

[Georgia]

You cannot know whether people are there to satisfy an obligation or if they are there out of love. In my opinion, you should try to avoid those thoughts. That’s something we simply cannot and should not judge.

I will say, however, that the behavior of others can change your own experience. For example, if you have people in the pew in front of you who whisper and giggle pretty much throughout the Mass, you simply are not going to have as deep an experience as would be the case otherwise.

 

[KLJM12]

Does mandatory Sunday church attendance help or hurt the Mass experience?

It is not, in any way, mandatory Sunday church attendance. That does not exist in Catholicism.

Rather, our obligation on Sundays (and Holy Days of Obligation), is to participate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.So for Catholics, we are not just “attending” some “church service”. We are participating in the Holy Sacrifice of Our Lord, every Sunday.

Would Jesus Christ himself have instituted something that hurt his flock? Of course not. The Sunday Obligation was instituted by Christ. There is no alternative that could help the “Mass experience”.

Let me ask you this:

If you talked to a close friend on the phone (perhaps this friend gave you an organ donotation for a transplant that you badly needed), and this friend told you to meet him less than a mile down the street because he wanted to give you a gift that was worth quite a lot of money, would you go meet this friend?

Wouldn’t you even say that you have an obligation to meet this friend, considering the extraordinary kindness that he has shown you to this point? You could, of course, just blow the friend off and not meet. However, doing so would be a direct denial of the gift, and in some ways the friendship.

As Roman Catholics, Jesus Christ is giving his actual, physical Body and Blood for us to eat. For free. He gives us eternal salvation. For free. He gives us forgiveness of sins. For free. All we have to do is come to the Sacrifice and the gift is ours. So what happens if we have other plans on Sundays? What message does it send to Our Lord Jesus Christ if we have better things to do on Sundays?

It is a direct denial of his free gift. That is pretty serious.

When you believe what we believe about what is going on at the Mass (It is in no way a “church service”), then it becomes obvious why we have a Sunday obligation every week. There cannot be anything more important going on in our lives when we can say, “Well, I could go to Mass and literally be in the presence of God, and then eat his flesh and drink his blood, but I have better things to do.”

To abrogate the obligation is to deny Christ himself and those who deny Him, He will also deny in front of His Father (i.e. you go to hell for denying Christ).

The Sunday obligation, therefore, exists because it has to. The very nature of he Mass requires an obligation to attend.

 

[Peter_Plato]

Ive been at a Mass where the people behind me were laughing amd talking through the whole thing and making fun of things. If u go to a week day Mass the people there want to be there and are generally more prayerful. There are more distractions at Sunday Mass.

Now I see what you are getting at.

You are asking whether the mandatory nature of the Mass results in more distractions since a number of people might go simply because it is mandatory.

That is an interesting question.

The difficulty with answering it, however, is that we as human beings have no idea what benefits are being received even by the noisy and distracted ones.

An analogy might be the emergency room of a hospital. If people who are going to Mass are receiving “emergency” aid and barely staying alive because of it, we might need to just grin and bear it if we are in a less precarious condition. However, you might want to try other Mass times or compensate by attending a weekday Mass or Adoration in quiet when available.

 

[fisherman_carl]

Now I see what you are getting at.

You are asking whether the mandatory nature of the Mass results in more distractions since a number of people might go simply because it is mandatory.

That is an interesting question.

The difficulty with answering it, however, is that we as human beings have no idea what benefits are being received even by the noisy and distracted ones.

An analogy might be the emergency room of a hospital. If people who are going to Mass are receiving “emergency” aid and barely staying alive because of it, we might need to just grin and bear it if we are in a less precarious condition. However, you might want to try other Mass times or compensate by attending a weekday Mass or Adoration in quiet when available.

That’s a good point. I suppose it could help them even if they dont want to be there. I dont know. I just like the weekday Mass better. The atmosphere is better. I just find it harder to concentate with so many distractions on Sunday. Im not talking anything theological here. Just personal experience.

 

[Lost_Sheep]

Two thoughts.

If someone behind you is causing a distraction why not simply get up and go find another seat?

Second, God gave everyone free will; ostensibly so we would choose to follow Him as opposed to be compelled to follow Him. So using that same logic, would it not be better if Mass was optional and we attended on our own initiative rather that it be mandatory and go there just to get our ticket punched?

 

[JRKH]

God gave everyone free will; ostensibly so we would choose to follow Him as opposed to be compelled to follow Him. So using that same logic, would it not be better if Mass was optional and we attended on our own initiative rather that it be mandatory and go there just to get our ticket punched?

Too many people seem to look at the teachings of the Church as “rules” issued by some “power” instead of seeing them as “responsibilities” described and taught by those in authority and for our own good.
The Sunday mass “obligation” is not some random rule…but a responsibility that stems from the great commandment that we Love God above all else. If a person (without good reason) chooses not to attend Sunday mass…that is to choose not to put God first in their week…what does this say about where God is in their life? What are their priorities.
The “Sin” incurred from missing Sunday mass is therefore not for “breaking the Mass obligation rule”, but for failing to place God first in ones life.

The misunderstanding that I speak of above, along with the idea expressed in your post, can lead to two different errors…Each quite dangerous in it’s own way.
The person who attends simply out of obligation - as you say - to get their card punched, is placing too great an emphasis on “works”.
At the other end - is the possibility of spiritual sloth and drifting from the faith. The person says "Oh I don’t HAVE to go to church on Sunday to be a “Good Christian”, but then they are not spiritually fed regularly and slowly drift from other practices until…

In each case, there is a lack of true understanding of what it means to Love God above all else.

As long as a person looks at the Sunday obligation simply as a “rule” they will continue to labor under a misconception. If one considers carefully how this obligation fits into the “Great Commandments” - that all law and prophets depend…then one understands why the Church teaches the necessity of Sunday Mass attendance as she does.

Peace
James

 

[Carolus_Martell]

Attendance at Sunday mass keeps the faithful in step with the 3rd commandment…and that’s that. It doesn’t matter what we think.

 

[Don_Jackson]

Does mandatory Sunday church attendance help or hurt the Mass experience?

Should have no impact, however, anyone participating in Mass out of obligation and not out of desire might have some self-reflecting to do. It might be argued that attending out of obligation is sinful by not loving God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul.

 

[Actaeon]

Does mandatory Sunday church attendance help or hurt the Mass experience?

That’s the wrong question to ask, because even those who show up out of mere loyalty are still subject to the grace of the mass, even if they’re just a little farther back along the spiritual trail to sanctification.

The RIGHT question is whether going to mass every Sunday rather than just when you feel like it helps in that spiritual walk… and I would assert that it most assuredly does.

 

[PazzoGrande]

Interesting question.

I find that in the United States, when people don’t want to go to Mass, they just don’t. Those who are prone to getting bored and chatting just don’t go. Mass ends up being solemn.

In the Philippines however, it is different – people do often chat during Mass and it can be irreverent.

Why the difference? It’s due to how big the Catholic portion of the population is.

In a country where over 80% of people are Catholic like the Philippines, people generally go to Mass, there being a tendency to go with the herd. The United States has a smaller percentage of Catholics (in the 20s I think?) so there is no go-with-the-herd tendency to go to Mass – actually the herd tendency is to be secular and to dismiss church off. As a result, the chatters tend to get filtered out and just don’t go, so what’s left are people who are more capable of respectful liturgy.

In my experience, American parishes tend to be smaller in size or in attendance (or both), whereas in the Philippines a lot of people go. So in the US, if you’re noisy in church, people will notice. In the Philippines, it would be harder to spot out who’s making noise. Overseeing a big assembly differs from overseeing a small one.

I think culture and education factor in too. In the Philippines, the vast majority of the people are impoverished and uneducated and might not follow decorum the way you and I think is appropriate.

The Sunday obligation isn’t a bad rule, but the Vatican has the unfortunate task of coming up with rules that must apply universally (they can’t make up one set of rules for one region and another set for another region). It can end up incomprehensibly lopsided sometimes, but that’s just the nature of the world God gave us and the Vatican is trying to be as fair as is humanly possible.

 

[R_C]

I understand your point (somehow): it is more or less (but I may be exaggerating ) the point that St. Paul makes when he speaks of law vs. grace, and how grace fulfills the law.

However, remember that the mandatory participation to Holy Mass on the Lord’s Day is one of the five precepts of Holy Church for an excellent reason. In fact, I believe it is for our very salvation that Holy Church, in her motherly wisdom, has established this for us.

In fact, I firmly believe that nobody in this life can truly grasp what Holy Mass on the Lord’s Day is, and that we will be greatly astonished when we find out in heaven, assuming (but not presuming) that we “run the race and keep the faith”

Surely there is no need for those who love the Lord with their whole heart to be told to go to Sunday Mass. In fact, many spontaneously go during the week as well (as witnessed by the many daily Masses that every Parrish has). However, since not all of God’s children are as in love with Christ as they should be if they knew Him well, Holy Church has added this precept for the health of their soul.

There are other things that can hurt the experience of praying the Mass. For instance: poor preparation. An hour of proper preparation would be the least that we should all do before approaching the Lord. And that’s a bare minimum, since no time would suffice to be truly prepared to be open to the fullness of the grace that Christ is willing to give us in Holy Communion. In fact, one Communion received with perfect preparation can make someone a saint in an instant.

Other things that can hurt are to go out of custom, that is, because we have to or because we are used to. This displeases the Lord. Mass attendance ultimately must not be an act of obedience: “what is given out of love should be received out of love”.

Yet another thing that can affect the Mass is to forget that we are not there to receive, but to give: namely, as the divine Bridegroom gives Himself to us and we accept Him in His body, soul, and divinity, we offer ourselves entirely, in our body, soul, and humanity, and retain nothing - in fact, we should offer our very life to Him who is Life itself.

Finally, to complete this list of mine, I’d add poor reverence after Holy Mass. We often forget that for about 15 minutes after Holy Communion we are living tabernacles. While the usus antiquor Mass had a consistent amount of time after Holy Communion, the ordinary form often ends withing minutes (if not seconds!) after Holy Communion, and people leave or get distracted and talking, forgetting that within them is Christ, the Lord. In fact, I often unworthily pray before the icon of Our Lady after Mass, because we greatly resemble Her during that time: Christ, the Son of God, is truly within us. To leave after Mass is ended as if the Lord was not within us can only displease Him whom we are unworthy to receive.

 

[iloveangels]

Interesting question.

I find that in the United States, when people don’t want to go to Mass, they just don’t. Those who are prone to getting bored and chatting just don’t go. Mass ends up being solemn.

In the Philippines however, it is different – people do often chat during Mass and it can be irreverent.

Why the difference? It’s due to how big the Catholic portion of the population is.

In a country where over 80% of people are Catholic like the Philippines, people generally go to Mass, there being a tendency to go with the herd. The United States has a smaller percentage of Catholics (in the 20s I think?) so there is no go-with-the-herd tendency to go to Mass – actually the herd tendency is to be secular and to dismiss church off. As a result, the chatters tend to get filtered out and just don’t go, so what’s left are people who are more capable of respectful liturgy.

In my experience, American parishes tend to be smaller in size or in attendance (or both), whereas in the Philippines a lot of people go. So in the US, if you’re noisy in church, people will notice. In the Philippines, it would be harder to spot out who’s making noise. Overseeing a big assembly differs from overseeing a small one.

I think culture and education factor in too. In the Philippines, the vast majority of the people are impoverished and uneducated and might not follow decorum the way you and I think is appropriate.

The Sunday obligation isn’t a bad rule, but the Vatican has the unfortunate task of coming up with rules that must apply universally (they can’t make up one set of rules for one region and another set for another region). It can end up incomprehensibly lopsided sometimes, but that’s just the nature of the world God gave us and the Vatican is trying to be as fair as is humanly possible.

Absolutely correct. In the US, only about 20% of the country is Catholic, and only about 20% of those actually go to mass weekly. This is 20%x20% or about 4% of the population. The individuals that make up that approximately 4% of the country, who take the obligation to go seriously enough to show up, are usually pretty respectful. We do have some who only show up when they feel like it, but they’re subdued by the more serious 4% here in most cases.

 

[englishredrose]

I might well add about an insight to those people who appear to be talking all the way through and making fun of things…
Although I am not Roman Catholic, I go to an Anglican Church of which some of the people there do like to give the impression they are more Catholic than Catholics and I use the upper case carefully here. But there again they wanted to pick and choose their rules so not very Catholic under the guise of it all… Since you guys follow each rule implicitly without any picking and choosing.
I believe obligation days are there but none of it is followed through for those as we are more 'flexible. But this is going of track.
What I want to say is that perhaps these people do believe in God and want to worship God the Catholic way, but feel threatend by something and have that need to giggle. Nervousness or something? They don’t feel as properly relaxed where they are amongst who they are with so they have to find a way through this somehow though want to be there.
I don’t mean relax as in chilled out etc. But relax with God. We each have our own ways. Some of us take longer than others at being able to relax with God. I for one am glad I go to a church with a very understanding priest. I didn’t relax in the communion part over the last two years and my own thoughts were driving me ‘wild’ and getting me nowhere. Finally I came up with my own solution which am thankful that the priest agreed and even more thankful that it has stopped that line of questioning for me at that time. I read anything I like so I take my kindle since am on the Altar. It not the done thing per se. But I can now sit there and read and its not a boredum thing as people seem to want to understand it as. It a sheer stopping the unwanted questions and its done that and I have relaxed with God as never have done in all the 25 years of going. (Naturally I don’t fully explain it not a boredum thing because they needn’t know. The priest knows and knows the positive result)May be these people you are complaining about are just as nervous or not relaxed about being there, not like you are. They may need just a friendly helping hand or to be included some way to help them feel at home too. Chat to them at some point. Dare I even suggest, turn around and give them a grin at something funny so they may pick up the point you can hear them. Scowl at them, and that achieves nothing. Give them a grin and in time they may hear they are disturbing you a little. Reverse psyhcology at work plus helping them to feel more welcome at home too. It their home as well as yours but if you’re relaxed and they aren’t then you knowing they aren’t relaxed can help them to relax. I am using my words very carefully here. As chatting away through the service etc could mean they are covering up that they are not that relaxed. It a sign of nerves in actualness.

Or just simply find another seat as someone else has previously suggested. Or ask the priest to cover it in a sermon perhaps…

 

[Lost_Sheep]

If a person (without good reason) chooses not to attend Sunday mass…that is to choose not to put God first in their week…what does this say about where God is in their life? What are their priorities.

That can be carried to an extreme. Where does it stop?

Should I go to work or stay home and pray my rosary all day? Well, God must come first so I guess I will stay home and pray.

Should I feed my family or stay home and pray my rosary all day? Well, unfortunately for my family, God must come first so I guess I will stay home and pray.

Should I do this or that or something else that is important? Nope. God is more important than anything else so I should pray instead.

The “Sin” incurred from missing Sunday mass is therefore not for “breaking the Mass obligation rule”, but for failing to place God first in ones life.

If I understand correctly…

1. There are two kinds of laws; the Laws of God and laws or the church.
2. Laws made by the Church can be changed. “Fish on Friday” for example is a Church law that was changed from every Friday to just Lenten Fridays.
3. God’s law, however, cannot be changed, and by extension, the Church cannot “create” new sins or “repeal” old ones.

Ergo, how can the Church say “missing mass is a mortal sin” when in fact mandatory mass attendance is a Church law?

 

[drforjc]

That can be carried to an extreme. Where does it stop?

Should I go to work or stay home and pray my rosary all day? Well, God must come first so I guess I will stay home and pray.

Should I feed my family or stay home and pray my rosary all day? Well, unfortunately for my family, God must come first so I guess I will stay home and pray.

Should I do this or that or something else that is important? Nope. God is more important than anything else so I should pray instead.

If I understand correctly…

1. There are two kinds of laws; the Laws of God and laws or the church.
2. Laws made by the Church can be changed. “Fish on Friday” for example is a Church law that was changed from every Friday to just Lenten Fridays.
3. God’s law, however, cannot be changed, and by extension, the Church cannot “create” new sins or “repeal” old ones.

Ergo, how can the Church say “missing mass is a mortal sin” when in fact mandatory mass attendance is a Church law?

The sin is, in fact, disobeying lawful Church authority. So, it is not a “new” sin that the Church creates, it is merely a specific occasion in which disobedience can occur.

That being said, though, the Church lawfully imposes this obligation on the basis that we should put God first in our lives.
Clearly, there are situations in which our obligation ceases. The Church has made that clear all along.

 

[R_C]

That can be carried to an extreme. Where does it stop?

Should I go to work or stay home and pray my rosary all day? Well, God must come first so I guess I will stay home and pray.

This is ridiculous. We have to do God’s will according to the state of our life. If you were a cloistered nun, you’d spend much more time praying than if you are a busy father of 3 with two jobs. If instead of acting upon what you are supposed to do you chose, out of your will, to do something else, then even praying can turn into a gravely sinful act.

In fact, the apostle James wrote on this matter:

you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”–but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?