Late for mass

[mommyof4]

Seven. Sydney is like most major cities in that it has at least the one church that has half-a-dozen masses a day and non-stop confession for the extra-devout Catholics

Wow! That would be awesome.

 

[mommyof4]

When I was growing up, we were told that you needed to be there for 1) the offertory, 2) concecration, and 3) the priest’s communion.

Is this still being taught anywhere?

 

[bear06]

Late is anytime after the Mass has started. As for receiving Communion…Only you know your reasons for being late so you’d probably have to decide on that one. We try never to be late. In fact, we try and get there at the very least 15 minutes early. Occasionally there are things beyond our control. Usually when these come up, we just try and hit a later Mass if possible. If not, we just get there as fast as we can.

 

[BeeSweet]

When I was growing up, we were told that you needed to be there for 1) the offertory, 2) concecration, and 3) the priest’s communion.

Is this still being taught anywhere?

That’s what my dad taught me. I try very hard to get there early to pray before hand though. If I have to walk in late, I usually delay myself till the next mass of the day so I don’t have to be late at all.

 

[anamchara]

This is interesting, everyone is talking about being late to Mass in such technogcial terms… before this or that. How about it’s rude to show up late to anything, especially church for heaven sake. It’s our Lord. I grew up Protestant, late is when you don’t arrive when Church starts, period! This is one of my biggest pet peeves with Catholics sense converting, at larger parishes I see people showing up late and then making matters worse by leaving early!

No one is perfect, we have all been late to things including Church but the idea here is, you shouldn’t be late so make the effort to be there when it begins. If I know I’m going to be late then I’d plan to go to the next Mass and just be early.

 

[mommyof4]

This is interesting, everyone is talking about being late to Mass in such technogcial terms… before this or that. How about it’s rude to show up late to anything, especially church for heaven sake. It’s our Lord. I grew up Protestant, late is when you don’t arrive when Church starts, period! This is one of my biggest pet peeves with Catholics sense converting, at larger parishes I see people showing up late and then making matters worse by leaving early!

No one is perfect, we have all been late to things including Church but the idea here is, you shouldn’t be late so make the effort to be there when it begins. If I know I’m going to be late then I’d plan to go to the next Mass and just be early.

I’m just curious. How many people do you have to get ready for church? I have 4 children that I need to get ready for mass by myself. I also have to drive to my mother-in-law’s house to pick her up. She’s handicapped, so I have to make sure that I get her in the car safely (and this takes a long time, sometimes) and get the walker packed into my trunk. We live out in the country, so we have a longish drive into the city to get to mass. Gravel roads can be nasty in the winter, so it’s slow going at times. Then, when we get to mass, I have to wait my turn at the curb to let my MIL get out of the car, unpack walker, get her out of the car, get her in the door, along w/4 kids, go back to said car and try to find a parking place in a crowded lot, and then get my fanny into the church myself.

My point? Please don’t judge those of us who may run a few minutes late now and then. Until you KNOW what someone has to go through to get to mass, please don’t think the worst of us.

 

[vince2paul]

I’m just curious. How many people do you have to get ready for church? I have 4 children that I need to get ready for mass by myself. I also have to drive to my mother-in-law’s house to pick her up. She’s handicapped, so I have to make sure that I get her in the car safely (and this takes a long time, sometimes) and get the walker packed into my trunk. We live out in the country, so we have a longish drive into the city to get to mass. Gravel roads can be nasty in the winter, so it’s slow going at times. Then, when we get to mass, I have to wait my turn at the curb to let my MIL get out of the car, unpack walker, get her out of the car, get her in the door, along w/4 kids, go back to said car and try to find a parking place in a crowded lot, and then get my fanny into the church myself.

My point? Please don’t judge those of us who may run a few minutes late now and then. Until you KNOW what someone has to go through to get to mass, please don’t think the worst of us.

Ack! I can understand that. Since my mum adopted my little sister. I can truly understand those that come in with little kids. my sister is 8 years old this year, and I can tell you that it’s still difficult to just get her to be ready for mass. Usually, I’ll go for saturday sunset mass, so that she can have 2 hours to get ready, and sometimes it’s still not enough! (I don’t want to wear this! I want my hair to be like this! where’s my bag? Where’s my shoes? etc)
Can’t imagine if I have 4 though.

Well, most of the time Murphy’s law applies (If anything can go wrong, it will!), especially if we’re running late.

Few minutes late is fine, but how about those that come in just right before concluding prayer and go right to the front seat?

My mum did it once , coz she forgot that it was first Friday and the mass was 1 hour earlier. Oh, there’s another one, she often misread when is the first Friday also , twice she dragged me and my sis to church, to find out that it’s still the 4th or 5th Friday, not the first Friday!

 

[anamchara]

I’m just curious. How many people do you have to get ready for church?

Mommy, bless your heart, I’m sorry you took it so personally. There’s five of us and it’s not easy but I’ve been doing it since they were babies, I just always got a lot ready the night before and made us leave early. One of my daughters is severly learning disabled and suffers from seizures so I know about moving slow, believe me If you went to my parish it would be obvious as why you might be runing a bit late at times. You are a blessed expection my friend.

Believe me when I say you can tell the difference from the people who are trying to make the effort and those who either don’t care or are just simply disorganized and couldn’t make it to thier own wedding on time. I say that thinking of this women about my age who shows up with her husband and two kids. She shows up, her hair not brushed, seriously it’s bad, old jeans and a tie-die shirt that looks like she slept in it and she’s late! You would think she would look half way decent being late lol! But nope. To be honest I wonder if she suffers from ADD. I’m not joking on that score. I actually worry a bit about her.

Btw, I have two dogs, three cats, two bunnies and one bird one my daughters is in 4-H so one of those bunnies will be shown at the county fair this year…off topic moment.

 

[mommyof4]

Btw, I have two dogs, three cats, two bunnies and one bird one my daughters is in 4-H so one of those bunnies will be shown at the county fair this year…off topic moment.

Yep, we do the 4-H thing, too.

Sorry I took your comment personally. I think I have PMS and I’ve been snapping at everyone today. My poor kids think mommy is ready for the loony bin tonight. And I agree with them. My husband is smart - he stayed at work late to work, hoping I’ll be in bed, hibernating with a book and a good glass of wine. Hummm…doesn’t sound too bad right now, does it??

 

[anamchara]

Yep, we do the 4-H thing, too.

Sorry I took your comment personally. I think I have PMS and I’ve been snapping at everyone today. My poor kids think mommy is ready for the loony bin tonight. And I agree with them. My husband is smart - he stayed at work late to work, hoping I’ll be in bed, hibernating with a book and a good glass of wine. Hummm…doesn’t sound too bad right now, does it??

Been there! No problem. Glass of wine sounds pefect and why not? My husband is gone tonight as well. I need to convince myself to go do those dishes in my kitchen

 

[thistle]

Rule of thumb: the priest should be last into the church and first one out.

 

[otjm]

If this is a Sunday day or Holy Day of obligation you do not meet your obligation unless you assist at the entire Mass, including Liturgy of the Word and Liturgy of the Eucharist.

You are usually accurate, but it seems that on previous threads it was noted that there is no longer a specific rule. Perhaps I am mistaken, but for those who are looking for a legal(istic) answer, do you have a citation?

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

You are usually accurate, but it seems that on previous threads it was noted that there is no longer a specific rule. Perhaps I am mistaken, but for those who are looking for a legal(istic) answer, do you have a citation?

Generally speaking Mass is from the Sign of the Cross to the Sign of the Cross. One is obligated to assist at Mass every Holy Day of Obligation which includes every Sunday. What does it mean to assist at Mass? Be there for the first 10 minutes and then you can leave? Be there at least for the last 15 minutes? It means to be there from the opening Sign of the Cross to the final Blessing. If there was a written rule, when was it dispensed with? If it was not formally dispensed with then it’s still in force.

 

[otjm]

Generally speaking Mass is from the Sign of the Cross to the Sign of the Cross. One is obligated to assist at Mass every Holy Day of Obligation which includes every Sunday. What does it mean to assist at Mass? Be there for the first 10 minutes and then you can leave? Be there at least for the last 15 minutes? It means to be there from the opening Sign of the Cross to the final Blessing. If there was a written rule, when was it dispensed with? If it was not formally dispensed with then it’s still in force.

My point was that I have heard all sorts of time points which previous to Vatican 2 were the definition of attending Mass sufficiently to fulfill one’s obligation. It is still not clear if there was actually a rule defining that time (I was taught one needed to be there by the beginning of the Gospel, and remain until Communion was distributed - whether to all or only to that individual is no longer clear) and I have heard as late as the start of the Consecration to Communion. Puzzleannie is usually accurate; I was asking here what the rule was since she stated it in a way that implied the rule.

Personally, I think that the question itself begs an extremely poor understanding of moral law; it reduces it to a minimalistic, mechanistic, negativistic approach.

If I were invited to a friend’s house for a formal dinner, when would I be late? I wouldn’t even be asking the question becasue I would show up on time for the whole event. To ask what the minimum time is to “fulfill one’s obligation” is to me to have almost no understanding whatsoever of what the Mass is. It is kind of like asking “Do I have a good marriage if I give my wife my paycheck, sort of listen to her ask a question while I am watching TV, not request my marital right more than once or twice a month, and not beat her?”. It shows an ignorance of what marriage is about so great as to almost make any answer irrelevant. So, too, the question of “How long at Mass to fulfill my obligation”.

 

[CRW]

How do you define late when one goes to mass? and how late is too late to receive holy communion? Thanks

This is a good reference for your question answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum.

ewtn.com/library/Liturgy/zliturg9.htm

 

[Like]

Oh yeah, I’m on a lot - officially addicted. But then I work from home most of the time as well, which makes it easier. And a lot of those are short posts in the clubhouse threads or the game threads :yup:

Seven. Sydney is like most major cities in that it has at least the one church that has half-a-dozen masses a day and non-stop confession for the extra-devout Catholics

WOW! Lily,
Sure is different here in Hawaii (or should I say Kauai) they change priest ever 2 to 3 years & we have 2 priest for 3 churches. And without calling for an appointment for confession, they only offer 30 min. before the Sat.vigil Mass. Though I should add that they are very holy & devout priest (young) we have right now & will be with us for at least 2 more years! Both are from the Philippines, the youngest, 43 misses his brothers and sisters soooo much! I told him I was adopting him as a son & when he is ordained Bishop they have to move the diocese of Honolulu over here and the same for when he is elected Pope.

As for the late for Mass question, I was always tought that if you missed the Gospel, you needed to attend another Mass or it was considered to be a mortal sin. However I was taught this in a Catholic school in the 50ies. I don’t think that has changed through.

 

[LilyM]

WOW! Lily,
Sure is different here in Hawaii (or should I say Kauai) they change priest ever 2 to 3 years & we have 2 priest for 3 churches. And without calling for an appointment for confession, they only offer 30 min. before the Sat.vigil Mass. Though I should add that they are very holy & devout priest (young) we have right now & will be with us for at least 2 more years! Both are from the Philippines, the youngest, 43 misses his brothers and sisters soooo much! I told him I was adopting him as a son & when he is ordained Bishop they have to move the diocese of Honolulu over here and the same for when he is elected Pope.

As for the late for Mass question, I was always tought that if you missed the Gospel, you needed to attend another Mass or it was considered to be a mortal sin. However I was taught this in a Catholic school in the 50ies. I don’t think that has changed through.

I was taught that it was only a mortal sin if you missed Mass completely - otherwise a venial sin. And definitely not that missing the Gospel constituted missing Mass. Perhaps if you missed the Offertory or the Consecration? Mind you, I’m of a 70s rather than 50s vintage

As for the priests - it’s a fairly unusual situation here too. Most parishes apart from the Cathedral would only have two or three priests at most, many are one-priest shows.

 

[cathsem]

:clapping:
I can think of maybe 5 legitimate reasons to leave early
baby just filled his diaper to toxic level
toddler is having a meltdown
your pager went off and they have a heart ready for you
your pager went off and you are the doctor on the transplant team
you have to answer a call of nature

Excuses that don’t work:
I don’t want to listen to all the announcements
I hate the song they are playing for the recessional
I want to be first in line at Luby’s
I want to get out of the parking lot quick.
I see I guy to whom I owe money and I am avoiding him.

:clapping:

This might just be the clearest example of acceptable/unacceptable reasons too leave Mass early I’ve ever heard. I may have to borrow this information at some point.

As one priest I know says, “Only one apostle left the Last Supper early [Judas], and we know what he did later that night…”