You can only do what you can do, and since you are only 16, you are pretty much at the mercy and good will of the adults in your life. And you don’t drive. If you can’t make it, you can’t make it, and it sounds as if you can’t. You sound as if you are trying to work out a solution, but don’t stress too much about it. God is not waiting up there to punish you if you haven’t gone to extraordinary lengths to get to Mass. Some things are just beyond your control. Try not to be overly scruplous and just use common sense.Wow, you guys are great!! Thanks.
I would try to get to mass once I’m in DC, but I’m going for a week-long seminar and the program staff are meeting me at the airport and transporting me to my hotel. Then there are welcoming speeches, dinner, and activities all evening. If there is any possibility of catching an afternoon mass, I wouldn’t know until I got there. I did check out the mass times for nearby parishes – there are quite a few – but the masses are pretty much all either at 1 or else later in the afternoon. I’m not sure if I could make it in time for a 1 o’clock mass, even if I did have a way to get there.
Also, the wedding on Saturday is about an hour from my house and I’m sure my parents will want to stay to hang out with family in between the wedding and reception. Pretty much the only possibility I see is Sunday at 7:30. I remember before, though, at my other cousin’s wedding, everyone was trying to convince my grandma that it was ok to miss mass on Sunday since we had gone on Saturday during the wedding mass and needed to get on the road home. I’m guessing my parents will have the same reaction if I ask to go at 7:30 on Sunday morning.
I probably won’t be able to talk to my priest this weekend after mass. Would it be appropriate to send him an email about this? Sometimes I get a little self-conscious since, no offense to anyone and I’m not trying to make a generalization, but a lot of 16 year olds aren’t overly concerned about missing mass once in a while.
Thanks so much for all your help! I so appreciate it.
~lefty22
Actually, a sophomore in high school with a little experience in public transportation could do it, provided he or she had permission from someone who knew the area. Having said that, you are very right that it is unlikely any private forays are allowed during a convocation that includes high schoolers, even high schoolers who claim that “I have to go to Mass.”
All I can say is that my high schooler wasn’t allowed away from a trip to attend Mass - even though the Mass she would have gone to was at Notre Dame (the Notre Dame)!
As it turned out, her group went to Versilles Sunday morning.Spot on…exactly. I was thinking of someone travelling alone, maybe for a meeting that started Monday morning, without taking the OPs age into account. While a local 16 year old might be fully competent to take the Metro out to CUA, it makes sense that it would be a rare case for a 16 year old to be set loose on Washington DC without a chaperone or a relative to help him or her navigate past the confines of the airport.All I can say is that my high schooler wasn’t allowed away from a trip to attend Mass - even though the Mass she would have gone to was at Notre Dame (the Notre Dame)!
Our priest told her what I told the OP - as a minor, she had to follow the rules of the adults in the group. And since she had no way of getting to Mass, she had no obligation.
As this thread seems to have been merged I’m not sure if that was directed at me or not…
but I wasn’t flying I was driving, and I’m in the UK