Is Missing Mass a Mortal Sin?

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There is one concern. Most people, right before they are received into the church are very enthusiastic about participating. Especially this time of year with things like passion Sunday etc. but you blew it off for sleep. To me it seems like a bachelor hitting up the strip club before the wedding. It’s concerning because there will be a time in your life where getting up for mass every Sunday will be less and less appealing. You need to make the choice to do this. And frankly, this obligation should have been covered in your classes. We, as Catholics make it darn hard to join our faith and the reason we give is the massive amounts of catechisis that we think needs to happen, but at the end of it all we have a person a week away from joining us and entering into the biggest mystery of all, the Eucharist and the re presentation of the sacrifice of God himself and we are discussing if one HAS to go!?

If I were pope of the world I’d fire any RCIA ir religious Ed person, who had a person enter thier program and ask this question now.

All that being said, welcome! I am not saying that you are not ready to be confirmed but only that you can get so much more out of it if you dive into it right now!
 
Don_Ruggero said:
The question is being made needlessly convoluted when, in this particular case, the answer is straightforward.
  1. You are an RCIA candidate.
  2. Attendance obliges those who are Catholic, not those preparing to be so.
  3. Therefore, you are not guilty of mortal sin for missing Mass.
  4. Therefore, you have no need to go back to confession.
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So as a candidate they have already been to the sacrament of confession. What is there to confess if they are not bound by the church?
 
Hoosier_Daddy said:
So as a candidate they have already been to the sacrament of confession. What is there to confess if they are not bound by the church?
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You do not know the difference between ecclesiastical law, cited in canon 11, and divine positive law?
 
Hoosier_Daddy said:
There is one concern. Most people, right before they are received into the church are very enthusiastic about participating. Especially this time of year with things like passion Sunday etc. but you blew it off for sleep. To me it seems like a bachelor hitting up the strip club before the wedding. It’s concerning because there will be a time in your life where getting up for mass every Sunday will be less and less appealing. You need to make the choice to do this. And frankly, this obligation should have been covered in your classes. We, as Catholics make it darn hard to join our faith and the reason we give is the massive amounts of catechisis that we think needs to happen, but at the end of it all we have a person a week away from joining us and entering into the biggest mystery of all, the Eucharist and the re presentation of the sacrifice of God himself and we are discussing if one HAS to go!?

If I were pope of the world I’d fire any RCIA ir religious Ed person, who had a person enter thier program and ask this question now.

All that being said, welcome! I am not saying that you are not ready to be confirmed but only that you can get so much more out of it if you dive into it right now!
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If you were involved in any form of ministry in a parish over which I had pastoral care, your ministry would have been terminated as a result of what you have said in this post.
 
Hoosier_Daddy said:
It’s concerning because there will be a time in your life where getting up for mass every Sunday will be less and less appealing.
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Indeed. And coupled with aches and pains of an aging body and/or growing dependence on others to move around it becomes even more challenging.

To me, it’s an issue of setting good habits, and attending Mass should be one of them. OTOH, you start missing Mass for any reason and it can easily become a bad habit. Frankly I’m surprised no one has brought up the issue of “force of habit” as a possible mitigating circumstance as they have with other sins.
 
Don_Ruggero said:
If you were involved in any form of ministry in a parish over which I had pastoral care, your ministry would have been terminated as a result of what you have said in this post.
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I doubt I would have been hired anyway seeing as I wouldn’t have applied. 😉
 
Don_Ruggero said:
You do not know the difference between ecclesiastical law, cited in canon 11, and divine positive law?
Click to expand...
I admit that I just dropped in on this discussion, and I know that there are a few members on this discussion board who have knowledge of ecclesiastical law etc, but I assume that most of us board members do not have any knowledge of ecclesiastical law. Sometimes people are just asking a question. period. 🤷
Aside from any knowledge of ecclesialtical law, there is the knowledge that us common folk understand that if the missing of Mass in this situation was not a deliberate act, then it was not a mortal sin. I think that should be mentioned along with the posting of any ecclesiastical law.
 
Don_Ruggero said:
The question is being made needlessly convoluted when, in this particular case, the answer is straightforward.
  1. You are an RCIA candidate.
  2. Attendance obliges those who are Catholic, not those preparing to be so.
  3. Therefore, you are not guilty of mortal sin for missing Mass.
  4. Therefore, you have no need to go back to confession.
Click to expand...
Thank you!
 
zab said:
I admit that I just dropped in on this discussion, and I know that there are a few members on this discussion board who have knowledge of ecclesiastical law etc, but I assume that most of us board members do not have any knowledge of ecclesiastical law. Sometimes people are just asking a question. period. 🤷
Aside from any knowledge of ecclesialtical law, there is the knowledge that us common folk understand that if the missing of Mass in this situation was not a deliberate act, then it was not a mortal sin. I think that should be mentioned along with the posting of any ecclesiastical law.
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Father was asking if the poster did not know the difference, in light of the question of “what to confess?”; not whether the poster knew ecclesiastical law.

Ecclesiastical law binds only the faithful. The opening poster is in RCIA, and is not bound by the precept to attend Sunday Mass.

Divine law binds everyone.

The answer to the question Father was rhetorically addressing was “sins” or “violations of divine law”, not merely ecclesiastical law.
 
zab said:
I admit that I just dropped in on this discussion, and I know that there are a few members on this discussion board who have knowledge of ecclesiastical law etc, but I assume that most of us board members do not have any knowledge of ecclesiastical law. Sometimes people are just asking a question. period. 🤷
Aside from any knowledge of ecclesialtical law, there is the knowledge that us common folk understand that if the missing of Mass in this situation was not a deliberate act, then it was not a mortal sin. I think that should be mentioned along with the posting of any ecclesiastical law.
Click to expand...
The quotation that you cited is in response to the very specific question of what would a person have to confess if they were not yet bound to ecclesiastical law, in light of canon 11. The answer is the whole of divine positive law as well as natural law.

My response was also predicated on other statements the questioner advanced; those no longer appear on the thread.

I apply the same methodology here that I would have applied to seminarians in class. It is fundamental to the application of canon law – and a first year seminarian begins to acquire it. You do not proceed to examine if someone is excused when you have negatively answered: “Does this law apply to the person?”

The answer I provided is not derived from my suppositions or from common knowledge…it derives from being a priest who was also a professor who lectured the classes of liturgy and sacraments, theology and the code of canon law, and canon law in pastoral ministry.
 
Hoosier_Daddy said:
So as a candidate they have already been to the sacrament of confession. What is there to confess if they are not bound by the church?
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They are not bound by the precepts of the Church, such as fasting and hearing Mass on Sundays & holy days, but they are still bound by divine & natural law. They would still have to confess murder or theft, for example, but they wouldn’t have to confess not hearing Mass for all the years they weren’t Catholic.
 
Confiteor_Deo said:
They are not bound by the precepts of the Church, such as fasting and hearing Mass on Sundays & holy days, but they are still bound by divine & natural law. They would still have to confess murder or theft, for example, but they wouldn’t have to confess not hearing Mass for all the years they weren’t Catholic.
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Ok, so I understand, baptized catechumens are not Catholic under the law?

What are they? Why does the law have a position for them?
 
Hoosier_Daddy said:
Ok, so I understand, baptized catechumens are not Catholic under the law?

What are they? Why does the law have a position for them?
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They are not “the faithful”, but are “joined to the Church in a special way.” The obligation to hear Mass on Sundays binds only “the faithful.”

The law addresses the catechumens in other matters, such as pastoral care and funerals. For the purposes of funerals, catechumens are to be treated as faithful.
 
porthos11 said:
They are not “the faithful”, but are “joined to the Church in a special way.” The obligation to hear Mass on Sundays binds only “the faithful.”

The law addresses the catechumens in other matters, such as pastoral care and funerals. For the purposes of funerals, catechumens are to be treated as faithful.
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Interesting. What is the source for this so I can learn more?
 
Hoosier_Daddy said:
I think this brings up some good points.
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Actually, the thread is purposeless as it is people who clearly do not know what they are talking about postulating about a topic.

It does have its moments of levity if unintended as demonstrated by the quote:
I’m really not sure but i’d say, in certain way [sic], yeah we are kinda [sic] obligated if we are serious about joining the Church. Plus, we might as well get in the habit of going every Sunday anyway because after we receive our full communion [sic], it’ll definitely be an obligation
As I have made clear, this matter is resolved by the law itself and the question has been answered. If you are unable to understand the text of the canon, I suggest you apply yourself then to the commentary published by the Canon Law Society of America.

The random musings of people on Internet, stating things such as in the above quote, do not alter canonical reality.
 
Hoosier_Daddy said:
Ok, so I understand, baptized catechumens are not Catholic under the law?

What are they? Why does the law have a position for them?
Click to expand...
If they are a catechumen, they cannot be baptised by the nature of the fact itself. A catechumen is one who is preparing for baptism.

A candidate, however, is one previously baptised who is being prepared to be received into full communion with the Church. Until the moment that they are received into full communion, they are not bound by merely ecclesiastical law, according to the plain text of the canon itself.

The original poster, since he stated that he had been to confession in preparation for his Confirmation, obviously by the statement of the facts he relates, cannot be a catechumen. The sacrament of penance cannot be celebrated with one who is not baptised. The norms of theology and of the code are strictly dispositive in the situation.
 
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