Leaving Church

[Bashful]

I may consider leaving the church. The Catholic Church considers missing mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation a mortal sin and I guess if missing mass happens on a routine basis would be grounds for excommunication. I can no longer make mass every single weekend due to the fact that my employment schedule does not allow me to have every weekend off to attend mass. I work twelve hour shifts rotating nights/days at the refinery and I work on two weekends out of four in a month if I don’t have to work overtime. It would be impossible for me to attend mass every weekend and still keep my job so therefore I may have to leave due to the fact that I can no longer be in compliance with the Sunday obligation to attend mass.

 

[Church_Militant]

I may consider leaving the church. The Catholic Church considers missing mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation a mortal sin and I guess if missing mass happens on a routine basis would be grounds for excommunication.

Nope. It means you need to go to confession and get yourself straightened out my friend.

I can no longer make mass every single weekend due to the fact that my employment schedule does not allow me to have every weekend off to attend mass. I work twelve hour shifts rotating nights/days at the refinery and I work on two weekends out of four in a month if I don’t have to work overtime. It would be impossible for me to attend mass every weekend and still keep my job so therefore I may have to leave due to the fact that I can no longer be in compliance with the Sunday obligation to attend mass.

Dear friend,

You are all messed up on this whole thing.

It seems clear to me that you WANT to go to Mass, right?

Well then I have some very good news for you.
Is missing Mass on Sunday because of work a mortal sin?

Check that out, then relax, and do your best to go when you aren’t working and stop beating yourself up for no reason.

 

[Fidelis]

I worked a shift like yours for many years and rarely had to miss Mass. I lived in a big city at the time and there was always a Mass I could attend --either an early Saturday vigil or a Sunday evening.

Perhaps you live in a rural or remote area without many
Mass times choices. If that is so, you should talk to your pastor. He should be able to set your mind at ease.

 

[LilyM]

My dear, be assured you have absolutely no reason to leave the Church in such circumstances!

If you truly have work obligations that you cannot get around (say by swapping shifts with other employees or what have you) then that IS a legitimate reason for missing Mass. You have no obligation to attend at those times if there is no Mass that you can go to either Saturday evening or Sunday.

Check all the timetables at all the Churches in your area to make sure there are none that you can attend between, before or after your shifts.

Missing Mass because of unavoidable work obligations is no sin. Otherwise no Catholic could ever study medicine, or probably work as a nurse or in the emergency services.

As long as you attend when you can, and in the meantime, if possible, consider looking for other work that doesn’t involve Sundays, then you’ve done all that God and man require.

 

[Church_Militant]

My dear, be assured you have absolutely no reason to leave the Church in such circumstances!

If you truly have work obligations that you cannot get around (say by swapping shifts with other employees or what have you) then that IS a legitimate reason for missing Mass. You have no obligation to attend at those times if there is no Mass that you can go to either Saturday evening or Sunday.

Check all the timetables at all the Churches in your area to make sure there are none that you can attend between, before or after your shifts.

Missing Mass because of unavoidable work obligations is no sin. Otherwise no Catholic could ever study medicine, or probably work as a nurse or in the emergency services.

As long as you attend when you can, and in the meantime, if possible, consider looking for other work that doesn’t involve Sundays, then you’ve done all that God and man require.

 

[agangbern]

Rest assured, that would not be a ground for excommunication.

 

[Bashful]

Nope. It means you need to go to confession and get yourself straightened out my friend.
Dear friend,

You are all messed up on this whole thing.

It seems clear to me that you WANT to go to Mass, right?

Well then I have some very good news for you.
Is missing Mass on Sunday because of work a mortal sin?

Check that out, then relax, and do your best to go when you aren’t working and stop beating yourself up for no reason.

I do want to make mass. I live in a small town and there is not that much flexibility in times. My shift runs from 5pm - 5am on nights and 5am-5pm on days. There are no masses after 5pm in my area on Saturday and on Sunday there are only morning masses and no mass earlier than 8am. There are some occasions where i may have to work 18 hours also to cover overtime if someone calls in sick and it happened to me before where I have to work 18s. Plus if I get off on a Sunday morning and I try to get to 8am mass, chances of me falling asleep and getting in a wreck on my way home are extremely high so I believe the safety of me and others on the road is more important than me risking getting in a wreck on my way to and from church at 8am. There is no mass time in my area earlier than 8am on Sundays so the mass schedule is not friendly to 12 hour shift workers who go from 5 - 5. On weekends I don’t have to work, I make every effort to attend mass.

 

[agangbern]

Nope, you are completely incorrect. I live in a small town and there is not that much flexibility in times. My shift runs from 5pm - 5am on nights and 5am-5pm on days. There are no masses after 5pm in my area on Saturday and on Sunday there are only morning masses and no mass earlier than 8am.

It appears you work 24 hours a day! That must be real hard. Are there no labor laws in your place?

 

[Church_Militant]

I do want to make mass. I live in a small town and there is not that much flexibility in times. My shift runs from 5pm - 5am on nights and 5am-5pm on days. There are no masses after 5pm in my area on Saturday and on Sunday there are only morning masses and no mass earlier than 8am. There are some occasions where i may have to work 18 hours also to cover overtime if someone calls in sick and it happened to me before where I have to work 18s. Plus if I get off on a Sunday morning and I try to get to 8am mass, chances of me falling asleep and getting in a wreck on my way home are extremely high so I believe the safety of me and others on the road is more important than me risking getting in a wreck on my way to and from church at 8am. There is no mass time in my area earlier than 8am on Sundays so the mass schedule is not friendly to 12 hour shift workers who go from 5 - 5

Then I would say that your issue is solved and you are not leaving the church. This may be a hard time for you because of missing Mass so much, but if you get EWTN then I encourage you to TiVo or whatever the Sunday Masses and that way at least you get some contact with the Mass. I’d also try to make daily Masses when you can. They don’t fulfill Sunday obligation, but I’m more concerned with you getting the grace in your spiritual life to help you live the best possible life. I hope that helps.

 

[Bashful]

It appears you work 24 hours a day! That must be real hard. Are there no labor laws in your place?

At first I accidentally misread the question and I do wish to make mass so I had to revise my previous post. I work 12 hours

My shift schedule goes on a pattern like this

Monday - off

Nights: Tuesday - Thursday

Friday, Saturday, Sunday - off

Days: Monday - Thursday

Friday - Thursday (7 days off)

Nights: Friday - Monday

Tuesday - Thursday - off

Days: Friday - Sunday

 

[LilyM]

Then I would say that your issue is solved and you are not leaving the church. This may be a hard time for you because of missing Mass so much, but if you get EWTN then I encourage you to TiVo or whatever the Sunday Masses and that way at least you get some contact with the Mass. I’d also try to make daily Masses when you can. They don’t fulfill Sunday obligation, but I’m more concerned with you getting the grace in your spiritual life to help you live the best possible life. I hope that helps.

Good ideas.

 

[agangbern]

At first I accidentally misread the question and I do wish to make mass so I had to revise my previous post. I work 12 hours

My shift schedule goes on a pattern like this

Monday - off

Nights: Tuesday - Thursday

Friday, Saturday, Sunday - off

Days: Monday - Thursday

Friday - Thursday (7 days off)

Nights: Friday - Monday

Tuesday - Thursday - off

Days: Friday - Sunday

That is good enough work pattern. You have a time for God.

 

[edjco]

What you described is what we called a 2, 2, and 3 shift when I worked on an ambulance. I remember going to Church while on duty, although it was embarassing when my pager would go off (no silent mode in those days). I understand you can’t do that, but you are being way too hard on yourself.

Read carefully what the other posters said, there’s no need for me to repeat it. Talk to your priest, he can set your mind at ease.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

I may consider leaving the church. The Catholic Church considers missing mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation a mortal sin and I guess if missing mass happens on a routine basis would be grounds for excommunication. I can no longer make mass every single weekend due to the fact that my employment schedule does not allow me to have every weekend off to attend mass. I work twelve hour shifts rotating nights/days at the refinery and I work on two weekends out of four in a month if I don’t have to work overtime. It would be impossible for me to attend mass every weekend and still keep my job so therefore I may have to leave due to the fact that I can no longer be in compliance with the Sunday obligation to attend mass.

You obviously don’t understand under what circumstances missing Mass or being late to Mass is considered sinful.

 

[CB_Catholic]

I do want to make mass. I live in a small town and there is not that much flexibility in times. My shift runs from 5pm - 5am on nights and 5am-5pm on days. There are no masses after 5pm in my area on Saturday and on Sunday there are only morning masses and no mass earlier than 8am. There are some occasions where i may have to work 18 hours also to cover overtime if someone calls in sick and it happened to me before where I have to work 18s. Plus if I get off on a Sunday morning and I try to get to 8am mass, chances of me falling asleep and getting in a wreck on my way home are extremely high so I believe the safety of me and others on the road is more important than me risking getting in a wreck on my way to and from church at 8am. There is no mass time in my area earlier than 8am on Sundays so the mass schedule is not friendly to 12 hour shift workers who go from 5 - 5. On weekends I don’t have to work, I make every effort to attend mass.

I understand where you are coming from–I used to work 12 hour shifts–7am to 7:30pm and occasionally 7pm to 7:30 am on the weekends, Sat. and Sun. every other weekend. I could not go to Mass some weekends. But it is legitimate to miss Mass for this reason, and I never thought I had to leave the Church, nor was I in mortal sin. I just went when I could. And finding another job to accomodate Mass times is probably unrealistic in the current economic conditions, where most people consider themselves lucky to still have a job. Rest assured, you do not have to leave the Church.

 

[Michael_Francis]

Question asked and answered.
Thread closed.