Is there a set distance in miles, travel time you aren't obligated to go to mas

[DaisymaeD]

Dear Sirach 2,

Actually, no, I wasn’t trying to lay a guilt trip, and I certainly don’t want anybody to take it that way. There are real and true grave reasons for missing Mass? A lady I know has sole custody of a very autistic boy who acts disruptive, and at unpredictable times. Sometimes she can get to Mass with him and he’s fine. Other days she can’t even get out the door.

Then I know other people who are looking for excuses to not climb out of bed in the morning.

The OP doesn’t sound like the second example, but some bystanders reading this thread might be looking for the legalistic excuse to miss.

Actually, the above post was a story I heard on a tour years ago and it fascinated and inspired me–they didn’t have the Real Presence, but they went to great lengths to worship.

It inspires me when I feel tempted to sloth.

 

[Sirach2]

Dear Sirach 2,

Actually, no, I wasn’t trying to lay a guilt trip, and I certainly don’t want anybody to take it that way. There are real and true grave reasons for missing Mass? Then I know other people who are looking for excuses to not climb out of bed in the morning.

I am reminded many times of Our Lord’s words that were written by His holy saints – it all depends on our “purity of intention” how God will judge the interior motives of our decisions.

It does concern me that excess scrupulosity comes into play with some folks who think God is there with the hammer to send them to hell for an infraction, and they put themselves into harm’s way in order not to meet up with that consequence. The Jews of old had 613 rules that arose from the 10 Commandments, on how they were to live. Jesus’ disciples were castigated for “not washing their hands” etc., etc. We need to be careful of how we give information to others. Thanks for explaining.

 

[ready]

There are other things besides distance that could impair one’s ability to attend mass. Last year, gas was $3.95/gal. in my state. If your vehicle only gets 20 mpg, it would cost nearly $10 to go to Mass (both ways considered). If the family budget is constrained to the point that the gas is needed for work, then that could also be a factor. God does not expect the impossible of us, when it becomes a point of hardship or danger, not simply inconvenience or unwillingness to worship at liturgy.

If a person who is not negligent with spending money hasn’t enough money to get to Mass every Sunday, then how could he be held culpable, so long as he assists at Mass on Sundays as frequently as possible?–and I mean as frequently as possible. He would just need to try and make more money if possible, and explain to his confessor his hardship. Thanks for your post. God bless you!

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Geesh, I wonder what the saints who died trying to attend Mass are thinking as they are reading this right now…

Do we Catholics in the modern first world have near the amount of faith and obedience we should?
Heck this Sunday perhaps millions of Catholic will risk their lives to attend Mass in hostile situations, ones where if caught, their children could be beheaded in front of them. But please, lets continue to cite gas prices for legitimate reasons not to be at the Crucifixion of our Lord this Sunday… It gets in the way of the Super Bowl anyway…

 

[pianistclare]

Geesh, I wonder what the saints who died trying to attend Mass are thinking as they are reading this right now…

Do we Catholics in the modern first world have near the amount of faith and obedience we should?
Heck this Sunday perhaps millions of Catholic will risk their lives to attend Mass in hostile situations, ones where if caught, their children could be beheaded in front of them. But please, lets continue to cite gas prices for legitimate reasons not to be at the Crucifixion of our Lord this Sunday… It gets in the way of the Super Bowl anyway…

Not what the OP is asking The question is whether or not there is a concrete place where it states that people CAN’T EVER miss Mass and not sin.
That is what is being debated.
Nobody here is advocating taking their obligation lightly.

Some want to see “where it says”.

 

[Sirach2]

Geesh, I wonder what the saints who died trying to attend Mass are thinking as they are reading this right now…

Heck this Sunday perhaps millions of Catholic will risk their lives to attend Mass in hostile situations, ones where if caught, their children could be beheaded in front of them. But please, lets continue to cite gas prices for legitimate reasons not to be at the Crucifixion of our Lord this Sunday… It gets in the way of the Super Bowl anyway…

What an encouraging message!!!
Please read my words again with an honest heart. **It all depends on our “purity of intention” how God will judge the interior motives of our decisions. **God sees the heart. I can see that you have read very few lives of saints, or you would not make such a bizarre statement, that they died trying to get to mass. Sources, please?? Try reading a definition of the virtue of prudence. Fr. Hardon has a good one:

PRUDENCE. Correct knowledge about things to be done or, more broadly, the knowledge of things that ought to be done and of things that ought to be avoided. It is the intellectual virtue whereby a human being recognizes in any matter at hand what is good and what is evil. In this sense, it is the moral virtue that enables a person to devise, choose, and prepare suitable means for the attainment of any purpose or the avoidance of any evil. Prudence resides in the practical intellect and is both acquired by one’s own acts and infused at the same time as sanctifying grace. It may be said to be natural as developed by us, and supernatural because conferred by God. As an act of virtue, prudence involves three stages of mental operation: to take counsel carefully with oneself and from others;** to judge correctly on the basis of the evidence at hand**; and to direct the rest of one’s activity according to the norms determined after a prudent judgment has been made.

A prudent judgment would know immediately that nobody in our country is in these dire circumstances of becoming beheaded, and no decision needs to be based on the extremity of what someone in these nations must face. Pray for the true spiritual gift of counsel, my friend, since yours is extremely off the mark and would harm others, spiritually, if followed.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

What an encouraging message!!!
Please read my words again with an honest heart. **It all depends on our “purity of intention” how God will judge the interior motives of our decisions. **God sees the heart. I can see that you have read very few lives of saints, or you would not make such a bizarre statement, that they died trying to get to mass. Sources, please?? Try reading a definition of the virtue of prudence. Fr. Hardon has a good one:

PRUDENCE. Correct knowledge about things to be done or, more broadly, the knowledge of things that ought to be done and of things that ought to be avoided. It is the intellectual virtue whereby a human being recognizes in any matter at hand what is good and what is evil. In this sense, it is the moral virtue that enables a person to devise, choose, and prepare suitable means for the attainment of any purpose or the avoidance of any evil. Prudence resides in the practical intellect and is both acquired by one’s own acts and infused at the same time as sanctifying grace. It may be said to be natural as developed by us, and supernatural because conferred by God. As an act of virtue, prudence involves three stages of mental operation: to take counsel carefully with oneself and from others;** to judge correctly on the basis of the evidence at hand**; and to direct the rest of one’s activity according to the norms determined after a prudent judgment has been made.

A prudent judgment would know immediately that nobody in our country is in these dire circumstances of becoming beheaded, and no decision needs to be based on the extremity of what someone in these nations must face. Pray for the true spiritual gift of counsel, my friend, since yours is extremely off the mark and would harm others, spiritually, if followed.

My response is that I have no response.

 

[Xantippe]

There is no set distance that I have ever heard about. So, I would just use common sense. If you’re in the mountains and the roads could be icy or snow covered and you wouldn’t go anywhere else that same amount of distance under the same conditions, then stay home.

Right. If you would drive the same distance for a casual social engagement, you should drive it for Mass.

Ditto with illness. If you’re sick enough that you’d skip a social engagement, that’s sick enough to skip Mass.

 

[thistle]

The CHURCH DOES PERMIT us to miss Mass (without any culpability on our part) if we live more than an hour away and some grave hardship is involved. Do not think that you know more than the traditional priests that I know, who are all responsible teachers and who all have much more learning than you do, thistle. None of them would EVER lead me astray by telling me that the Church permits me to miss Mass when some grave hardship presents itself given I live over an hour away. Be humble and recognize that you do not understand the Universal Ordinary Magisterium, which you obviously do not given your response. The Church PERMITS us to miss Mass if under hardship when far distances are involved; if she did not, then she would have most certainly corrected the accepted teaching of theologians and pronounced that we can NOT go by their teaching–this is how the Church traditionally has worked, this is how the Universal Ordinary Magisterium works, thistle. God bless you

ALL teachings we are required to accept are documented. If its not documented by the Church we are not bound.

 

[ready]

The CHURCH DOES PERMIT us to miss Mass (without any culpability on our part) if we live more than an hour away and some grave hardship is involved. Do not think that you know more than the traditional priests that I know, who are all responsible teachers and who all have much more learning than you do, thistle. None of them would EVER lead me astray by telling me that the Church permits me to miss Mass when some grave hardship presents itself given I live over an hour away. Be humble and recognize that you do not understand the Universal Ordinary Magisterium, which you obviously do not given your response. The Church PERMITS us to miss Mass if under hardship when far distances are involved; if she did not, then she would have most certainly corrected the accepted teaching of theologians and pronounced that we can NOT go by their teaching–this is how the Church traditionally has worked, this is how the Universal Ordinary Magisterium works, thistle. God bless you

I meant Ordinary Magisterium for Universal Ordinary Magisterium. God bless you.

 

[otjm]

My response is that I have no response.

That would be a blessing, as you warped the comment by Sirach2 in a rigorist fashion. It would appear you have never been in a financial position where you had to make a choice about feeding your children or letting them go hungry. It is so easy to be flippant when one has the luxury of sitting back and judging others’ struggles.

Christ had a whole lot to say about the rigorist attitudes of the Pharisees; we would all do well to take the Gospel readings to heart. Jewish moral theology was very well defined, and a really serious infraction was in not keeping the Sabbath holy; and this got down to what was or was not “work”. Christ’s response when He and the apostles were shucking grains to eat might be worth reviewing.

Someone who is down financially to the point of having to choose whether to go to Mass or go to work is not flippantly making decisions about the price of gas, as you so snidely imply; when one is scraping the bottom of the barrel and all they are coming up with is slivers of wood, then the issue is far more serious than whether or not there is a bit of snow on the road.

Interestingly, Christ made the point repeatedly that the Pharisees were constantly putting form over substance.

Or as Sirach2 put it, form over purity of intention.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

That would be a blessing, as you warped the comment by Sirach2 in a rigorist fashion. It would appear you have never been in a financial position where you had to make a choice about feeding your children or letting them go hungry. It is so easy to be flippant when one has the luxury of sitting back and judging others’ struggles.

Christ had a whole lot to say about the rigorist attitudes of the Pharisees; we would all do well to take the Gospel readings to heart. Jewish moral theology was very well defined, and a really serious infraction was in not keeping the Sabbath holy; and this got down to what was or was not “work”. Christ’s response when He and the apostles were shucking grains to eat might be worth reviewing.

Someone who is down financially to the point of having to choose whether to go to Mass or go to work is not flippantly making decisions about the price of gas, as you so snidely imply; when one is scraping the bottom of the barrel and all they are coming up with is slivers of wood, then the issue is far more serious than whether or not there is a bit of snow on the road.

Interestingly, Christ made the point repeatedly that the Pharisees were constantly putting form over substance.

Or as Sirach2 put it, form over purity of intention.

Wow. I have been resoundingly put in my place about the poverty of the internet connected gas guzzling poor people of the USA! Thanks.

I have completely changed my mind and will be missing mass this week to save some money for my Mcdonalds!

 

[otjm]

Wow. I have been resoundingly put in my place about the poverty of the internet connected gas guzzling poor people of the USA! Thanks.

I have completely changed my mind and will be missing mass this week to save some money for my Mcdonalds!

I have thought of several replies; but I think I will just let your response stand for itself.

Y’all have a nice day now, y’hear.

 

[thistle]

I meant Ordinary Magisterium for Universal Ordinary Magisterium. God bless you.

Catholics are bound by Church teachings (infallible and non-infallible). To reject any would be a sin of grave matter. We even must accept disciplines.
The “teaching” which you seem to think exists is NOT a Church teaching. We are not bound by anything else.

Since our last comments I have asked some priests, one of whom is a friend, and all of them say there is no such teaching. It simply up to our prudential judgement.

 

[Joie_de_Vivre]

On Sunday I traveled late at night, for an hour, across two bodies of water and four counties to ensure I made it to Church, I’ll be damned or crippled before I miss Sunday Mass.