Holy day and kids in public school

  • Thread starter Thread starter LoriD
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It sounds like you have very good reasons not to do the late Mass just based on your health.
 
Yes, Lori. You can talk to your priest because u have special circumstances, and this makes it especially difficult.

I would bring your dh with you too when u speak to him, in case the priest tells u to bring the children in the morning.

God bless you.🌸
 
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As others have suggested I would ask your Pastor and do what he says. If he says go then they should go, if not he should give you a dispensation.

Personally I would take them because Holy days are much more important to me than missing an hour or two of school (and I used to be a public school teacher)
 
I don’t know. Look at the Saints. Look at Jesus. They often did very bold things for the love of the Lord. We should never put God aside for anything. God should be the center of our lives, values, etc.
 
As pnewton pointed out, “part of “the rules” is dispensation by one’s pastor.”

With regard to, as you say, doing “very bold things for the love of the Lord,” a sick lady taking two sleepy kids to Mass in the late evening by herself is probably a sacrifice Our Lord could do without.

If she continues to have any concerns, she should talk to her pastor about a dispensation.
 
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Melodeonist,

If/when you’re a married man with a family, you will have responsibilities to provide materially for your family. If your employer is unwilling to give you time off for Sunday or holy days, then you’ll have to choose between a) missing Mass and b) putting your family in jeopardy.

If you have any questions about this, talk to your pastor or to a devout older Catholic married father.
 
Your kids are at the age where they will remember, how you handle this helps show them if Mass is REALLY important.

Call your parish priest and explain the situation and ask for a dispensation to miss the Holy Day Mass.

Then, on the 1st, plan a special observance in your home. Before supper maybe you can talk about your patron Saints, have a special treat for the Holy Day and tell the kids "today is a Holy Day of Obligation. We asked Father Smith for permission to miss Mass today so you can get to bed on time.

We have asked Fr Smith if next year there can be Mass at 6 PM so we can make it before bed time."
 
I am going in the am. If kids are not falling asleep at 7 and still have energy I will go again. Taking a sleeping 7 year old to mass at night past their bedtime just to punch the time clock is not what mass is all about. If they were older, yes they go cause they are old enough to get it. My all forgiving God knows my life and he definitely knows how my kids are so if he thinks the kids will be ok He will direct me.
 
In the future, consider keeping the kids home from school on a Holy Day of Obligation. That is what we did, the school always considered it an excused absence for religious observance.
 
The issue is that the OP’s husband doesn’t want the kids to miss school for morning Mass–it’s not really a school problem.
 
Well I went with hubby in the am. Took kids at 7:30. Daughter wore her PJ’s.
 
8 pm seems like an early bedtime for a 7 and 9 year old? At that age my kids were in bed by 7 since they were normally up by 6 a.m., regardless of the time they went to bed.
 
They get up at 6am. The school they go to has outdoor PE with mountain bikes and inline skating. They are really challenged with class then tons of homework. They don’t really watch TV. They also have afterschool activities. It’s a busy active life. They can go to bed when tired, never had a set bedtime. My kids are 16 months apart. They did ok the other night at mass but by 8 they were asking how much longer. Never had sleep or food problems thank goodness.
 
I was allowed to stay up to about 8:30 or 9. I got up early too, I had stuff like band practice at 7 by the time I was 9.
I recall one of the issues being that almost all us kids watched “family viewing hour” TV shows that in those days ran from 8 to 10 pm, so I really wanted to see at least the first hour.
 
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Every kid is different. Mine are early to bed early to rise. My babies never had sleep or feeding problems. They keep growing so I must be doing something right. They do need 10 hours of sleep.
 
During the brief period in my childhood when I attended public schools, there were several of us who were Catholic and we’d come into class after Mass on Holy Days of Obligation. It wasn’t an issue. All we had to do was let the teacher know beforehand.
 
No problem at our school either but when your child has a learning disability and needs to be somewhere at every hour in school cause every class he misses puts his learning back one day you need to be flexible. That’s why Churches have vigil masses, and church on Saturday. One class might not seem like an issue to most people but a kid with learning issues you even hate to have them miss school when sick. Night time was an option, kids did good, son served mass. All is well.
 
Frankly, as a priest, I would say that these details are precisely the reason that a forum like this one is very ill suited in offering advice of the type you were seeking. It is filled with people not competent to address the concerns in the way a priest, particularly one with cura animarum, would be able to.
 
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