It will be a blizzard here... Mass attendance protocol?

[datingtrappists]

So, I know that if it is physically unsafe because of tons of ice and snow to make it to Mass this Sunday, that my obligation is waived… Normally, I attend a Latin Mass that’s 45 minutes away. Now, my geographical parish is perhaps 2 miles away, and I know that’s an option for this Sunday. However, and it pains me greatly to even say this, but it’s an occasion of sin for me to attend Mass there… I am too human and weak to ignore the loud conversations in the nave before Mass and to look past the music that does nothing to capture the essentials of the faith, and in fact is heretical for much of the time, and the many other liturgical “innovations” and oddities. Since I have not been able to stay in a state of grace until the Eucharist when I attend Mass there, I have not been able to receive Communion there (not that that has anything to do with fulfilling my obligation… just saying). Afterwards, I have to go to confession, usually the next day with the chaplain of aforementioned Latin Mass priest.

How sinful would it be this Sunday if I couldn’t make it to my normal Mass, but could make it to my geographical parish, if I were to miss Mass this Sunday?

 

[SMHW]

If you can make it to your geographic parish, but not safely to some other parish, then you should go to your geographic parish.

Attendance at Mass is FAR, FAR, more important than the reverence of you or anyone else who happens to be there.

Better than you should attend a rambunctious Mass in your pajamas than miss Mass.

(Are the two parishes you mentioned the 1st and 2nd closest to you?)

 

[malphono]

This situation is reminiscent of a [thread=419241]thread[/thread] in another forum here. The reasons are not the same, but it seems to me the upshot is. Note that I am not making a judgment, but merely pointing out that there are differences of opinion.

 

[dixieagle]

So, I know that if it is physically unsafe because of tons of ice and snow to make it to Mass this Sunday, that my obligation is waived… Normally, I attend a Latin Mass that’s 45 minutes away. Now, my geographical parish is perhaps 2 miles away, and I know that’s an option for this Sunday. However, and it pains me greatly to even say this, but it’s an occasion of sin for me to attend Mass there… I am too human and weak to ignore the loud conversations in the nave before Mass and to look past the music that does nothing to capture the essentials of the faith, and in fact is heretical for much of the time, and the many other liturgical “innovations” and oddities. Since I have not been able to stay in a state of grace until the Eucharist when I attend Mass there, I have not been able to receive Communion there (not that that has anything to do with fulfilling my obligation… just saying). Afterwards, I have to go to confession, usually the next day with the chaplain of aforementioned Latin Mass priest.

How sinful would it be this Sunday if I couldn’t make it to my normal Mass, but could make it to my geographical parish, if I were to miss Mass this Sunday?

Good heavens…are you moved to contemplate murder or something by the goings-on at the second parish??? I find it hard to believe that you would commit MORTAL sin as a result of being distracted by conversations and music that is not to your liking.

If you can get to Mass safely (and that might not be possible, knowing as I do what happens during snowstorms in the south) just suck it up and offer up your discomfort.

 

[CDNowak]

I completely understand where you are coming from. I, myself drive ~45 minutes to attend the EF, for similar reasons. However: If you can get to Mass, you must.

I have, at times, taken an older missal to help me focus on why I was at Mass in similar situations. The other thing that helped me to cope with abuses (at times, ignorance truly is a blessing) is the recitation of a prayer of reparation (personally, Divine Praises). This also spurred me on as a reminder of my on faults and, again, why I was at Mass, to praise and adore God, as best I can.

 

[corsair]

I find myself in a similar position every once in a while. Go to the NO Mass and offer it up to God. We are constantly told to offer up All the parts of our living, happiness, sorrows, pain, and suffering. If you find that any of these things fits for an offering then do it. But get back to the EF as soon as possible.

 

[bpbasilphx]

I completely understand where you are coming from. I, myself drive ~45 minutes to attend the EF, for similar reasons. However: If you can get to Mass, you must.

I have, at times, taken an older missal to help me focus on why I was at Mass in similar situations. The other thing that helped me to cope with abuses (at times, ignorance truly is a blessing) is the recitation of a prayer of reparation (personally, Divine Praises). This also spurred me on as a reminder of my on faults and, again, why I was at Mass, to praise and adore God, as best I can.

If you are sitting there with your nose buried in a prayer book so you can be shielded from the actual liturgy going on around you that’s not to your liking, YOU are committing sin of schism by separating yourself from the rest of the body–to say nothing about judgement.

 

[OraLabora]

I had a similar situation a few weeks ago. Normally I attend Mass at a Benedictine abbey about a 35 min. drive from home. The Mass there is reverent, and though in the vernacular, the proper chants and kyriale are in Latin Gregorian Chant. A blizzard made the roads unsafe.

There is a parish on the way that is part of our pastoral unit though not my home parish. The Mass at the Abbey is at 11, and the parish on the way, 10:30 so it worked out. I drove the 10 km or so to the parish (my home parish is about the same distance in the other direction), and decided that going farther towards the abbey was unsafe on the mountain roads I would have to traverse.

So I cringed my way through a very bad Mass; lots of talking and socializing before it started so no opportunity to pray, the priest wore neither chasuble nor stole, played the guitar and sang during his homily… you get the picture.

But for me it wasn’t an occasion of sin. Just one of great sadness. And even though I received the Eucharist (assuming the priest was the real thing and not an imposter!), I felt empty afterwards, as if my Sunday wasn’t complete.

Still, an obligation is an obligation, and unless infirmity and icy sidewalks make even a 2 mile trip dangerous for you, as others have said go and offer it up.

One very important thing about Catholicism: the Mass isn’t about the quality of the homily. It isn’t about the quality of the music. It’s about Him, our Lord and Saviour, and He transcends the hokiness of a bad Mass to make Himself really and truly present and alive in our lives through the most Blessed Sacrament.

So, try to contain your anger, and when the Host and the Cup are raised, say “My Lord and my God”.

That’s the miracle of the Mass, and it’s why I’ll drag myself kicking and screaming to a bad Mass rather than miss it.

 

[1ke]

How sinful would it be this Sunday if I couldn’t make it to my normal Mass, but could make it to my geographical parish, if I were to miss Mass this Sunday?

The obligation is to attend Mass, not to receive the Eucharist.

You have an *obligation *that you can easily fulfill. IMHO, you would be committing a serious sin by not attending.

 

[revert_jen]

How sinful would it be this Sunday if I couldn’t make it to my normal Mass, but could make it to my geographical parish, if I were to miss Mass this Sunday?

If you can go, you should go. The Mass is spiritually beautiful, even when it isn’t visibly (or audibly) beautiful. If you are distracted by things in the Mass, then concentrating on your own sin in being distracted and the lack of charity you are showing people who in large part don’t mean any harm and probably don’t know any better (I mean the talkers and the musicians, rather than the priest), will help you get through the Mass.

Sorry if I sound harsh, but it’s exactly what I’ve had to do myself so I know it’s possible. There’s no need to go overboard and suffer through it every week for a few years (which is what I actually did), but you can make it for one Mass. Your suffering at (shudder) “We are Many Parts” or (grimace) “On Eagle’s Wings,” while certainly real, is much less than Christ’s suffering on the cross.

Sometimes, during a particularly misleading (or even heretical) homily, I would start a rosary on my fingers to keep from analysing the homily and having bad thoughts about it. Divine Praises, as CDNowack suggests, would also work here. But for the other parts of the liturgy, I would focus on what is happening rather than the manner of its happening.

Good luck!

–Jen

 

[jmcrae]

So, I know that if it is physically unsafe because of tons of ice and snow to make it to Mass this Sunday, that my obligation is waived… Normally, I attend a Latin Mass that’s 45 minutes away. Now, my geographical parish is perhaps 2 miles away, and I know that’s an option for this Sunday. However, and it pains me greatly to even say this, but it’s an occasion of sin for me to attend Mass there… I am too human and weak to ignore the loud conversations in the nave before Mass and to look past the music that does nothing to capture the essentials of the faith, and in fact is heretical for much of the time, and the many other liturgical “innovations” and oddities. Since I have not been able to stay in a state of grace until the Eucharist when I attend Mass there, I have not been able to receive Communion there (not that that has anything to do with fulfilling my obligation… just saying). Afterwards, I have to go to confession, usually the next day with the chaplain of aforementioned Latin Mass priest.

How sinful would it be this Sunday if I couldn’t make it to my normal Mass, but could make it to my geographical parish, if I were to miss Mass this Sunday?

Go to the local Mass - and rather than focus on yourself and how much you dislike this or that, focus on Jesus Christ, present in the Eucharist and coming down from Heaven on to the Altar with all the Angels and the Saints.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

Yes, go to the local Mass. Just be very careful because in an ice storm it can be dangerous to go even two miles. I will be praying for you.

 

[DihydrogenOxide]

How much snow do you actually get down there? Sadly, I have lived in GA and I know people driving are the greatest danger in the snow/ice rather than the weather conditions.
Watch out for poor drivers.

Anyway, just take your time driving, go slowly and plan extra travel time. Wear shoes with traction.

 

[CDNowak]

If you are sitting there with your nose buried in a prayer book so you can be shielded from the actual liturgy going on around you that’s not to your liking, YOU are committing sin of schism by separating yourself from the rest of the body–to say nothing about judgement.

1. The concept of following along with each word the priest is saying is a novel one in the Latin Rite (and, if memory serves, not just the Latin Rite).
2. I was using a hand missal*, a practice that has considerable merit on its own and is in no way an innovation or a detraction from actual participation (which never has meant only the outward show of participation, a form I freely admit was hampered).
3. I was not referring to a failure of the Mass to meet my preferences, but cases of liturgical abuse (and like the OP, I confess that I cannot ignore the smaller ones out of my own weakness, hence my belief that those who are ignorant of them are blessed indeed). Likewise heretical hymns (and even questionable homilies) are rather common, not the norm, but far too common for anyone who finds them distracting even after they are finished. To flee from such abuses is natural, to flee into prayer the better course.
4. Anyone praying at a licit valid liturgy, even if they are not praying the liturgy, uniting themselves to the Sacrifice of the Altar, cannot be said to be “committing the sin of schism” by that act. Words cannot capture the ignorance that would lead one to make such a statement- to say nothing of judgement.

---

• There is a debate about the use of hand missals, of course. There is the school that says that they are a good aid to prayer because they allows to follow the Mass. Then there is the school that says that once we know the Mass, using the missal may distract us from actually praying. I am of a middle ground. Hand missals are a crutch, useful for when it is difficult to pray (be it distraction, tiredness, or something more), but to be put aside at the moment when prayer comes forth of its own accord.

 

[marchoi]

However, and it pains me greatly to even say this, but it’s an occasion of sin for me to attend Mass there… I am too human and weak to ignore the loud conversations in the nave before Mass and to look past the music that does nothing to capture the essentials of the faith, and in fact is heretical for much of the time, and the many other liturgical “innovations” and oddities. Since I have not been able to stay in a state of grace until the Eucharist when I attend Mass there, I have not been able to receive Communion there (not that that has anything to do with fulfilling my obligation… just saying). Afterwards, I have to go to confession, usually the next day with the chaplain of aforementioned Latin Mass priest.

How sinful would it be this Sunday if I couldn’t make it to my normal Mass, but could make it to my geographical parish, if I were to miss Mass this Sunday?

I frankly don’t understand how attending Mass, regardless of illicit activities that are perpetrated, can be an occasion of sin. It’s THE MASS! Yes, it is most unfortunate when you leave thinking to yourself, “Well, at least it was valid… I hope.” But at the core of it all, you have just experienced a foretaste of Heaven! (Albeit a fuzzier foretaste than others…)

I think there are two points to be made here. First, to answer your question, it would be a mortal sin for you to choose to miss Mass this Sunday if attending your geographic parish did not require an unreasonable effort. It does not matter how illicit certain aspects of that Mass may be - it is still the Mass. Second, ask yourself why you allow even an illicit Mass to be an occasion of sin. What are you doing about it? Are you praying for the parish? Are you bringing up your concerns to whomever the proper authorities may be - the pastor, the bishop, etc.? Or are you just sitting there letting your frustration (or anger) take over? There are constructive ways to address the situation you mention - allowing it to be an occasion of sin is not one of them.

 

[PaulAndrew83]

If you are sitting there with your nose buried in a prayer book so you can be shielded from the actual liturgy going on around you that’s not to your liking, YOU are committing sin of schism by separating yourself from the rest of the body–to say nothing about judgement.

Thats a lot of rubbish.

I bet you can find nothing to substantiate that.

Ignoring what goes on in the liturgy is not shcismatic in the slightest. One can say that you are commiting the sin of negligence.

However in the case the OP mentions I think it rather falls under the virtue of Custody of the Eyes.

From the Catholic viewpoint I think it is highly ironic for an orthodox to call a Catholic Schismatic.

Paul

 

[lordssoldier]

do what my priest does. pour a cool glass of tanqueray, pop in a microwave dinner, put on the spice channel and let the snow fall.