I missed Sunday mass - knowing it was a sin

[dolphinlove]

Yes, I know its a mortal sin, i made a mistake and knowing what i did was wrong.
My question is, im going to confession, but going to mass everyday during the week make up for my disobediance?

 

[baltobetsy]

The Lord’s death on the cross makes up for your disobedience, but going to daily Mass is always a good thing. Do it if you wish, but what you must do is the penance assigned to you when you go to confession.

Betsy

 

[bkayw]

I’d suggest holding back this next week on daily Mass participation if it is tiring you out for the weekend service. To find a balance that works best for you.

I have fleeting seconds of sloth toward Mass (and I really enjoy Mass). I actually think that that slothful feeling is my subconscience response toward understanding my own death.

As a revert, I’ve learned to develop an ability to join in and at times to lead the singing from the pews. I don’t have that great of a singing voice, but I think my enthusiasm for participation in the Mass wins people over and encourages them to sing.

I wish more people would get “into” the Mass. Those songs are responsorial psalms. Part of the Mass.

Scott Hahn & Mike Aquilina wrote a book titled: “Living the Mysteries: A Guide for Unfinished Christians” and it’s really helped me understand the Early Church and how they felt about the Mass.

I’ve been thinking about bringing a small backpack to Mass with me with Catholic reading materials for young children who become bored and disruptive.

 

[kimbaichan]

Daily Mass does not substitute for Sunday Mass no matter how many you go to. Go to confession for missing Mass and then go to daily Mass if you want to, it would be good for all of us to do but it’s not a penance.

 

[TheQuestioner]

Also, remember that though you are free to go to daily Mass, you should not receive the Eucharist while in a state of mortal sin. Also also, your penance is given by a priest during confession. You cannot decide your own penance for skipping Sunday Mass. Also also also, if you went to Saturday evening Mass it counts as Sunday Mass, so you would be fine in that case.

 

[centurionguard]

Yes, I know its a mortal sin, i made a mistake and knowing what i did was wrong.
My question is, im going to confession, but going to mass everyday during the week make up for my disobedience?

Yes, I know its a mortal sin, i made a mistake and knowing what i did was wrong.

I believe it is you yourself who can only answer the true reason why you chose not to go to Sunday Mass. Nobody can answer that for you but yourself between you and God.

The Sabbath was made for Man/Not man for the Sabbath.

** i made a mistake and knowing what i did was wrong.**

That mistake you made doesn’t necessarily imply you made a mortal sin.

Perhaps that mistake was valid. Your not clear in your writing, declaring the reason for that mistake. I’m not here to be judgmental, but could you elaborate why you believe you made a mistake and why you believe it was wrong?

Yours in Christ Jesus
Chris

 

[DexUK]

It should be pointed out that although it’s the normal practise that weekday Mass doesn’t fulfil one’s Sunday Obligation, you can receive a dispensation if your job completely precludes the possibility of attending a Sunday Mass, in which case, in those special circumstances a weekday Mass will be acceptable, but it MUST be done with an official dispensation from the parish priest (and it might also involve the authorisation of the Bishop). I know this since my parish priest is about to move to a new parish where this is the case for some people who work in live-in care facilities for the elderly/infirm and who are obliged to be on duty for the whole of the weekend.

This is by way of a point of information in relation to a reply, rather than appropriate to the OP, in whose case Confession is expected, as has been said.

 

[baltobetsy]

I believe it is you yourself who can only answer the true reason why you chose not to go to Sunday Mass. Nobody can answer that for you but yourself between you and God.

The Sabbath was made for Man/Not man for the Sabbath.

That mistake you made doesn’t necessarily imply you made a mortal sin.

Perhaps that mistake was valid. Your not clear in your writing, declaring the reason for that mistake. I’m not here to be judgmental, but could you elaborate why you believe you made a mistake and why you believe it was wrong?

Yours in Christ Jesus
Chris

I think the OP is perfectly clear about having committed a mortal sin and is using the term, “made a mistake,” to indicate the bad decision involved in missing Mass and committing the sin. It does not appear to me to be some inadvertant error that resulted in missing Mass.

Betsy

 

[centurionguard]

I think the OP is perfectly clear about having committed a mortal sin and is using the term, “made a mistake,” to indicate the bad decision involved in missing Mass and committing the sin. It does not appear to me to be some inadvertent error that resulted in missing Mass.

Betsy

Perhaps your correct in what your stating, I don’t know. I’m just not here to cast judgment on the OP’s situation. Part of me wrote what I did in favor of the OP because two Sundays ago I myself deliberately opted

not to go to Sunday Mass

. Was it a mortal sin in my situation? Perhaps it was? But all I can say it certainly wasn’t out of deliberate spiteful neglect.

Two Sundays ago I woke up at my usual 7:00am with the desire to take a shower and put on clean clothes for Sunday Mass at 11:00 am. My younger 50 year old brother who sleeps in another room in the house was also getting up at the same time to do the same. Minutes after 7:00am I heard a thundering crash hit the floor. It was my brother convulsing on the floor for over three minutes while I nervously called 911 requesting an ambulance. Firemen paramedics and Ambulance paramedics thankfully arrived at at my home in minutes. In the frantic moments that transpired I grabbed for my Nitro-spray due to angina pain and called my oldest sister so we could go to the city hospital to be sure my brother was OK. Ne suffered a mini-stroke. Coincidentally; while all this was going on a few miles away my youngest sister’s husband suffered a heart attack later in the day.

Making sure my brother was stable and being admitted into the hospital, my older sister and I left the hospital at 10:45am. I told my sister to drive me home because of my dirty clothes I had on. She in turn drove her car to Mass being ten minutes late.

So was I wrong being a nervous wreck that morning and having dirty clothes on and deliberately choosing not to go to Sunday Mass indicative of committing a deliberate Mortal Sin? If so I will owe up to such fault and seek penance. Yet part of me feels there was no deliberate sin on my part given my condition. Maybe I’m wrong.

My apologies to the OP. I’m not deliberately trying to hijackthis thread.
Just trying to fathom the situational nuances of committing a Mortal Sin in differentiating circumstances.

 

[NFPgirl]

If you missed Sunday Mass on purpose (i.e. there wasn’t a good reason for you to miss like illness, taking care of the sick, being prevented by circumstances beyond your control, etc, etc.), then you definitely need to go to Confession, receive absolution, and do your penance before you receive the Eucharist again. Going to Daily Mass is a wonderful thing and you can certainly receive many graces just by being present, but until you make it to Confession, you must refrain from receiving the Eucharist at Daily Mass.

I would encourage you if you are going to Daily Mass to perhaps try and get there a little early and see if you can speak with the priest about possibly doing Confession then. That way, if he’s able to accommodate you (and most priests will if it’s at all possible) then you can receive the Eucharist during the Daily Mass that follows. If you’re not able to get there early, then perhaps after Mass, try speaking to the priest about hearing your confession. If he hears it after Mass, he may very well ask (or you can ask him) if you want to receive the Eucharist then after your confession. I know a priest did this for me once. There is always a reserve of the Precious Body in the tabernacle that is reserved there for the purpose of taking the Eucharist to the sick or giving it to communicants outside Mass in extraordinary circumstances.

One more quick thing about Daily Mass vs. Sunday Mass. Sunday Mass is an obligation. Daily Mass is optional (but a good thing nonetheless). If you willfully miss Sunday Mass, going to Daily Mass does not substitute for it. It’s boils down to the commandment that says we’re to keep the Sabbath holy.

God bless you!

 

[DexUK]

Centurionguard, I would struggle to describe your missing Mass in your situation as any sort of sin.

You had suffered shock at your brother’s collapse, an angina attack and you were in no fit state to be doing anything other than getting your bearings. Your individual circumstances at that time made you unwell, even if others’ reactions to such events might not have been the same. You were still in the midst of the emergency situation and emotional distress is more than enough of a reason in my eyes. Any priest worth his salt should say the same.

A similar thing happened to me a few years ago. One Saturday evening my elderly father took a nasty tumble and was in no fit shape to do anything - not even climb the stairs. I had to bring his bed down from the upstairs bedroom so he could rest and sleep. As a result I missed our normal vigil Mass. Then, the following morning, he was unable to move at all. So off we pootled in an ambulance and I missed Sunday morning Mass as well. Now I suppose that it was technically feasible for me to have left him in the hospital (which was in the next town) and sought out the local parish and possibly managed to find out the right times of their Sunday Masses, but I think my duty was to look after my father and ensure that his care was well managed. Nobody, not even my then parish priest, ever suggested I did anything wrong.

If someone is dying in front of us, or in danger of death, then we attend to them first. Our Sunday Mass obligation gives way to that and, in a sense, we give our most effective and visible loyalty to the teachings of Our Lord by doing so, since He commanded us to love others because of our love for God.