Is helping people a good reason to miss Mass on Sunday?

[Neithan]

I knew a girl who was anti-Christian along with her family (they were against all “organised religion”). She told me a story that she and her mother had been driving along a country road one Sunday when their car broke down. There was a farmhouse nearby and so they went to knock on the door and ask for some help. As it happens the family was just heading to Mass (this was in Catholic Bavaria, by the way) and explained they were running late and had to leave. Well this girl and her mother were disgusted that people would rather attend a religious service than help others in need, and denounced an institution that would demand its members to act in such a way.

Was it wrong for that family to shrug them off and head to Mass? In rural areas often the local parish has only one Mass on Sundays, so they would likely have missed it entirely if they had stayed to help. Admittedly I felt that there was something wrong with them rushing off like that, even though I understand that there is nothing more important than the Holy Mass.

 

[Lazerlike42]

It really depends on the situation.

What sort of helping is it? How pressing is it? Those are the two criteria that would make a difference.

For example, say your neighbor is going in to labor and needs to be brought to the hospital. Then yes, you miss Mass.

Say a fellow got into an accident outside your house and has a broken arm. Yes, you miss Mass.

Say a friend asks you to help them study for a test. Well… no, in this case, you don’t miss Mass.

Think of it like Mortal sin, which requires grave matter. If something is “grave matter,” then you miss Mass to help the people. I would have to know more about the situation you described, but if these people broke down and there was nobody else to help them, then they ought to help them. Now they ought to try a couple of things, such as inviting the broken down folks to go to Mass with them, or, if the situation was not urgent, perhaps asking them if they would mind if they went to Mass first, with the full understanding that if they said they’d rather they not go that there would be no hard feelings.

There was once a saint - I forget which one - who came into the church and saw one of the brothers praying his breviary. There was a homeless person at the door who had come for some food. The saint asked the brother why he wasn’t helping the man, and the brother said he was in the middle of offering the Divine Office and he had to finish it. The saint violently slapped the breviary out of the brother’s hand and across the room and ordered him to go help the homeless man.

The point of the story is that our worship of God matters above all else, but that that worship is done most importantly in the Love with which we live toward both God and others. The purpose of Mass - in addition to glorifying God - is the sanctification of the soul to make us holy so that we might live a life of giving and Love. In other words, we go to Mass to glorify God and to be turned into people who will serve others. If we don’t serve others, then we’re missing the entire purpose of the Mass in the first place.

Recall Jesus’ words when the disciples were scandalized for the sinful woman annointing Him with expensive perfume: ‘The poor you will always have with you, but I you will not always have with you.’ He was going to die the next day, the poor would still be there to feed the next day. The situation is reversed now. God will be there to worship always. The person who needs your help is only there right at this moment.

 

[TC2]

The family should have offered them a ride, or their phone for a phone call. I wouldn’t have been impressed, either.

 

[Tantum_ergo]

How do we know they didn’t offer? Remember, we’re getting results ‘third hand’–from the ‘friend’ to the poster to us. The only ones who know the whole story are the friend and the ‘family’. . .and God, of course.

Obviously the ‘friend’ got back. . .how do we know that this family didn’t direct them to the house 50 yards down the hill where the family there happened to be home and able to assist them?

 

[TC2]

Perhaps they did. But if so, they may have lost (and it appears that they did) lose a wonderful opportunity to witness their faith in action.

‘Sorry, we’re busy, but they can help you’ seems weak.
I think Christ would have taken the time to help them, and would
encourage us to do the same.

 

[Lazerlike42]

Perhaps they did. But if so, they may have lost (and it appears that they did) lose a wonderful opportunity to witness their faith in action.

‘Sorry, we’re busy, but they can help you’ seems weak.
I think Christ would have taken the time to help them, and would
encourage us to do the same.

Perhaps so. In any case, let’s remember that the OP is asking about the general rule, not this particular situation.

Just don’t want the discussion to get sidetracked from his question and leave him empty handed.

 

[Pope_Noah_I]

There was once a saint - I forget which one - who came into the church and saw one of the brothers praying his breviary. There was a homeless person at the door who had come for some food. The saint asked the brother why he wasn’t helping the man, and the brother said he was in the middle of offering the Divine Office and he had to finish it. The saint violently slapped the breviary out of the brother’s hand and across the room and ordered him to go help the homeless man.

That’s a great story. Any chance you could find out what Saint it was?

 

[Antegin]

Jesus said it all when He addressed the pharasees (sp) “Sabbath was made for the man, not man for the sabbath.”
It never was about missing the 9:30 mass on Sunday morning. The Sabbath and the requirement to rest was God teaching man how to avoid burnout and keep themselves always fit and ready for His service.

The good works we do are the natural fruits of a rich robust spiritual life which include participation in the mass, confession and private prayer. Unless you are doing something incorrectly, they should not be mutually exclusive.

You can husk the corn in the field to feed the hungry and still honor God on the Sabbath. Funny thing is, the Jews already knew that. I am not entirely clear on why they were giving Jesus and his followers so much grief on this point when there were much juicier matters to argue about.

 

[Lazerlike42]

That’s a great story. Any chance you could find out what Saint it was?

Ya. I’ll wait until someone who knows the answer stumbles across this thread

 

[Neithan]

Think of it like Mortal sin, which requires grave matter. If something is “grave matter,” then you miss Mass to help the people. I would have to know more about the situation you described, but if these people broke down and there was nobody else to help them, then they ought to help them. Now they ought to try a couple of things, such as inviting the broken down folks to go to Mass with them, or, if the situation was not urgent, perhaps asking them if they would mind if they went to Mass first, with the full understanding that if they said they’d rather they not go that there would be no hard feelings.

There was once a saint - I forget which one - who came into the church and saw one of the brothers praying his breviary. There was a homeless person at the door who had come for some food. The saint asked the brother why he wasn’t helping the man, and the brother said he was in the middle of offering the Divine Office and he had to finish it. The saint violently slapped the breviary out of the brother’s hand and across the room and ordered him to go help the homeless man.

This makes sense, and that story definitely seems to apply to this case.

 

[Neithan]

Jesus said it all when He addressed the pharasees (sp) “Sabbath was made for the man, not man for the sabbath.”
It never was about missing the 9:30 mass on Sunday morning. The Sabbath and the requirement to rest was God teaching man how to avoid burnout and keep themselves always fit and ready for His service.

The good works we do are the natural fruits of a rich robust spiritual life which include participation in the mass, confession and private prayer. Unless you are doing something incorrectly, they should not be mutually exclusive.

You can husk the corn in the field to feed the hungry and still honor God on the Sabbath. Funny thing is, the Jews already knew that. I am not entirely clear on why they were giving Jesus and his followers so much grief on this point when there were much juicier matters to argue about.

I gather they should have stayed to help them then? The Church would exonerate a Catholic from missing Mass if it was to help someone in need - as long as it wasn’t trivial.

 

[Newbie2]

Look at the story of the good Samaritan…

Agreed, it couldn’t be a matter that’s trivial or could be taken care of after mass or on a different day.

 

[puzzleannie]

of course it is, if the need is pressing.
since we know absolutely nothing about the anecdote in OP, we cannot judge those circumstances.