Mass excuses

[system]

Fullsizesedan:

I would consider someone in the pews during communion to be a non-catholic. …] But for a Catholic to sit in the pews is almost scandalous, as he or she is basically disregarding Catholic teaching, and neglecting this act of faith in the Catholic faith.

You are quite misinformed. Not receiving implies nothing.

 

[Panis_Angelicas]

Receiving Holy Communion is not an obligation in the Catholic Church. Attending Mass is.
There is no sin in refraining from Holy Communion.
It is a mortal sin to deliberately skip the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

There are certain obligations prior to receiving Holy Communion, one being that the communicant should be in the state of grace.
A second is that the communicant is to fast for an hour prior to receiving.
If I’ve felt a little weak, hungry, and think my blood sugar is low, I might nibble on some toast as I’m heading out the door to Mass.
If I eat within an hour of Holy Communion, I stay in my pew.

I don’t worry a bit about what others are thinking. If they’re assuming anything, shame on them! Their eyes should be fixed on Jesus, not on li’l ol’ me.

(While in my pew, I make a Spiritual Communion. That means, asking Christ to come to me spiritually, since I’m unable to receive Him physically.)

If you are a non Catholic, then it’s great to have you at Mass! And you are doing the right thing by refraining from receiving the Sacrament of Unity.

Pax Christi. <><

 

[ojmom]

#20 - “I don’t ‘do’ church”. My sister-in-law actually said this to my children when she was visiting recently and they asked her to go to Mass with us (she was raised Catholic). My 11 year old daughter replied, “Well then maybe you won’t ‘do’ heaven!”.

 

[DJJG]

“17. I have too many sins. I’ll wait till I get to confession first.”

A pretty valid excuse, if true. Theologically, Catholics are not supposed to attend if not in a state of grace.

They still have an obligation to go to mass; if they miss mass for this reason they just added another mortal sin to the tally.

 

[JCPhoenix]

#20 - “I don’t ‘do’ church”. My sister-in-law actually said this to my children when she was visiting recently and they asked her to go to Mass with us (she was raised Catholic). My 11 year old daughter replied, “Well then maybe you won’t ‘do’ heaven!”.

LOL! That’s a GREAT response!
:clapping:

 

[OraProNobis]

Panis Angelicas:

If you are a non Catholic, then it’s great to have you at Mass! And you are doing the right thing by refraining from receiving the Sacrament of Unity.

This reminds me of something.

As a child, I went to a Catholic grade and high school even though I was a Protestant. As many of you know, on certain feast days they haul the kids out of class to go to mass. At my first mass I had no idea what I was or was not supposed to do… nobody told me that as a Protestant I could not receive communion!!! So, when everybody else got up to get in line, so did I. You know what happened. I became dizzy. :whacky: A Sister came up behind me and asked, “Are you all right?” Then wham. I passed out! Luckily the Sister caught me before my head cracked on the hard floor.

Well, the school and parish were VERY apologetic about not explaining to me the do’s and don’ts of Protestants at a Catholic Mass. But to this day I’ve always wondered? Did the Holy Spirit make me faint so that I would not unknowingly commit a sacrilege?

 

[Fidelis]

20. "I don’t have to go to a church building to worship God–I can do it by myself in my own way. It is more spiritual that way."

 

[Fullsizesedan]

“I don’t have to go to a church building to worship God–I can do it by myself in my own way. It is more spiritual that way.”

Depending on the person’s circumstances, there is something to this one. President Reagan, when he was in office, almost never attended services, as he didn’t wish to cause such a huge commotion a president and the entourage accompanying him would cause and disturb the other worshippers. He is reported to have prayed at his ranch.

But for most individuals out there, of course, its a pretty weak excuse. And Catholics of such high status can just arrange to have a priest to say a private mass to avoid such a public commotion.

 

[EENS]

“I don’t have to go to a church building to worship God–I can do it by myself in my own way. It is more spiritual that way.”

Depending on the person’s circumstances, there is something to this one. President Reagan, when he was in office, almost never attended services, as he didn’t wish to cause such a huge commotion a president and the entourage accompanying him would cause and disturb the other worshippers. He is reported to have prayed at his ranch.

That is ridiculous… that just fosters more separation between Church and state… sounds more like a ploy to get votes from those who are not protestant. In any event, Reagan was not Catholic; therefore, he could not inherit eternal salvation. If anyone brings up some “no fault of his own” garbage… his dad was an ex-Catholic and he knew many Catholics. I think his wife is Catholic, even(?). That is never a valid reason to miss Mass. There is no valid reason. When we die, the only reasoning that will be given will be this: God will say the REASON we are going to hell is for skipping Mass. God bless.

 

[JCPhoenix]

I’m glad that our presidents can at least declare a religious belief, even if they don’t publicly attend any services.

In Mexico, presidents aren’t even allowed to suggest they may believe in God. If they practice their faiths, they must do so very privately.

What we need is a good un-apologetic-for-his-beliefs president who is willing to stand up for Jesus! But in today’s society, could someone like that ever be elected?

Now…we are WAY off the track of mass excuses.

 

[Fullsizesedan]

“That is never a valid reason to miss Mass. There is no valid reason.”

There are plenty of valid reasons, some more valid than others.

If someone is not Catholic, if someone is ill, if someone is in the Russian countryside, on a Greek isle, or somewhere else where there are no priests available to say a mass, if someone doesn’t have transportation.

 

[steve_n_theresa]

Well, if give the choice between committing a faux pax or a mortal sin…I’d chose the faux pax!

That’s a moral theology question here, is it a worse sin for a Catholic to not attend and miss the obligation? Or is it worse to attend, publicly not receive and by doing so silently proclaim their disbelief. That’s sounds like a serious sin as well, akin to heresy or apostasy.

It is nobody’s business to judge why a person does not, or cannot, receive Holy Communion.

When I was on some medications for cancer, at times anything that passed my lips came right back up, too. Sometimes I didn’t even dare swallow my own saliva!!! So, if I felt at all queasy, I avoided taking Holy Communion. For anybody to assume I was silently proclaiming disbelief is an absolute cruelty.

I found a comfort at Mass that I couldn’t find anywhere else.

To me, a person who would assume I was “proclaiming disbelief” has a huge problem with judging situations they have no right to judge, at a time in Mass when they should be so absorbed with their own reception of Jesus they shouldn’t notice somebody still in the pew.
**
There have been many times when I have been travelling on business, and on an extremely short schedule, and find out at the last minute that there is a Mass I can attend, but I had eaten breakfast.

So, I go to Mass and ask Jesus to come to me in a Spiritual Communion. Being unable to receive Him does not ever mean that I am unwilling.
**
My husband is non-Catholic and routinely let’s me out of the pew, and then kneels to sing with the choir during distribution. I have known other ladies whose non-Catholic husbands attended for years then surprised their wives by applying to become a Catholic. I pray for this, too. He isn’t “proclaiming disbelief”, but he is fully aware that he does not yet understand what Catholics do beleive, and he’s attending the right Church to find out, while dispelling the false things he’s been told about Catholics and learning to believe. He finds a comfort in our Church he hadn’t had anywhere else.

 

[ATexasCatholic]

*By your words, you have been judging others as dissenters and disbelievers at Mass…I would never consider someone sitting in a pew at Communion as a dissenter…that is for God to discern. *

Neither would I, sorry if you misunderstood. I would consider someone in the pews during communion to be a non-catholic. Communion is an auto da fe, act of faith among Catholics, and non-catholics should definitely not recieve Catholic communion unless invited to by the priest and then only if their own church and their loyalty to their church permits it

But for a Catholic to sit in the pews is almost scandalous, as he or she is basically disregarding Catholic teaching, and neglecting this act of faith in the Catholic faith.

The last mass I attended, being a cradle Protestant, the priest did not invite non-catholics, I did not receive, but I was affirming by own religious heritage, it wasn’t a problem, I certainly wasn’t going to disobey the wishes of the priest and disrespect his rule on communion.

a non-catholic should never be allowed to receive the communion since they do not beleive that it is the body and blood of Jesus. It is better for a catholic is in grave sin and not scandalous to go to mass and refrain from communion. It is far graver for a catholic in grave sin to no go that would be scandalous. I have had to refain from communion due to proper church teaching (not due to grave sin) because I arrived to late on a holy day due to work and traffic not all that good a reason but at least I went and tryed to make it on time.

 

[ATexasCatholic]

steve_n_theresa:

It is nobody’s business to judge why a person does not, or cannot, receive Holy Communion.

When I was on some medications for cancer, at times anything that passed my lips came right back up, too. Sometimes I didn’t even dare swallow my own saliva!!! So, if I felt at all queasy, I avoided taking Holy Communion. For anybody to assume I was silently proclaiming disbelief is an absolute cruelty.

I found a comfort at Mass that I couldn’t find anywhere else.

To me, a person who would assume I was “proclaiming disbelief” has a huge problem with judging situations they have no right to judge, at a time in Mass when they should be so absorbed with their own reception of Jesus they shouldn’t notice somebody still in the pew.

There have been many times when I have been travelling on business, and on an extremely short schedule, and find out at the last minute that there is a Mass I can attend, but I had eaten breakfast.

So, I go to Mass and ask Jesus to come to me in a Spiritual Communion. Being unable to receive Him does not ever mean that I am unwilling.

My husband is non-Catholic and routinely let’s me out of the pew, and then kneels to sing with the choir during distribution. I have known other ladies whose non-Catholic husbands attended for years then surprised their wives by applying to become a Catholic. I pray for this, too. He isn’t “proclaiming disbelief”, but he is fully aware that he does not yet understand what Catholics do beleive, and he’s attending the right Church to find out, while dispelling the false things he’s been told about Catholics and learning to believe. He finds a comfort in our Church he hadn’t had anywhere else.

I also agree with everything else you said and I also had to travel for my job and was in the same position you mentioned a few times. My Grandfather and Uncle were like your husband. My grandfather came home just before he passed away and my uncle came home to the church about 10 years ago. I hope the cancer has gone into remission and will pray that it never comes back. God Bless

 

[onelife1]

1. I have nothing to wear

**2. I feel terrible…of course due to a hangover (not me **
by the way)

3. I got up too late…I can’t walk in church late!