Missing Mass due to illness

[Lost_Sheep]

OK. Here’s the set-up.

My wife and I are both early birds and always attend the 7:00am Mass every Sunday.

Suppose that one Sunday morning I wake up and I am not feeling well. Since a personal is usually excused from Mass due to illness, I elect to stay home and my wife goes to Mass by herself. (I should mention that there is a Catholic Church close to our house, but we belong to another parish about 10 miles away and always attend there.)

Then, say around 11:00am, I am feeling better but not 100%. There is a 12:00 noon mass at the nearby church. I really don’t feel like driving 10 miles out and back to our regular parish, and could go to the church closer to us, but I feel that if I go to the local church I don’t have the sense of community I do at our regular church and I’m just there to get my “ticket punched.”

Even if I go, I won’t feel as though I had attend Mass because I’m among strangers and my heart is not really in it.

Should I still try to go to Mass?

 

[Being_Brave]

I’m not expert, some people would even say I’m only half Catholic (in RCIA)…BUT:

When I go to church I’m ALWAYS around strangers. I’ve been attending two Churches alternating (they share the same Priest) because one is closer, and my sponsors go to the other. I only have my sponsors in one church, my family doesn’t go with me, and I don’t have any form of support for my being Catholic outside of my sponsors and RCIA teachers during class. I haven’t had a chance to really get to know any of the people at either Church, but I still go.

It’s tuff going when I feel like doodoo and when I have people telling me, “Just don’t go,” (I work midnight shifts so I’m always beat by the time I get to Mass, and have felt like napping in the pews a few times), but it’s more about my dedication to my faith than showing my dedication to people.

I’d go, but that’s just me (I haven’t had the deathly-ills since I started…luckily)

 

[puzzleannie]

OK. , but I feel that if I go to the local church I don’t have the sense of community I do at our regular church and I’m just there to get my “ticket punched.”

Even if I go, I won’t feel as though I had attend Mass because I’m among strangers and my heart is not really in it.

Should I still try to go to Mass?

there are valid reasons to miss Mass, such as real illness, caring for an infant, elderly or sick person, necessary work etc. There are also dumb reasons and this falls into the latter category. There is no requirement that Mass engender good feelings, the commandment just says “go”.

 

[JRKH]

OK. Here’s the set-up.

My wife and I are both early birds and always attend the 7:00am Mass every Sunday.

Suppose that one Sunday morning I wake up and I am not feeling well. Since a personal is usually excused from Mass due to illness, I elect to stay home and my wife goes to Mass by herself. (I should mention that there is a Catholic Church close to our house, but we belong to another parish about 10 miles away and always attend there.)

Then, say around 11:00am, I am feeling better but not 100%. There is a 12:00 noon mass at the nearby church. I really don’t feel like driving 10 miles out and back to our regular parish, and could go to the church closer to us, but I feel that if I go to the local church I don’t have the sense of community I do at our regular church and I’m just there to get my “ticket punched.”

Even if I go, I won’t feel as though I had attend Mass because I’m among strangers and my heart is not really in it.

Should I still try to go to Mass?

Short answer is yes you should go.
If the “feelings” you express (sense of community) are necessary for your heart to be in it, you need to do some more study and prayer for enlightenment.

Peace
James

 

[PatriceA]

OK. Here’s the set-up.

My wife and I are both early birds and always attend the 7:00am Mass every Sunday.

Suppose that one Sunday morning I wake up and I am not feeling well. Since a personal is usually excused from Mass due to illness, I elect to stay home and my wife goes to Mass by herself. (I should mention that there is a Catholic Church close to our house, but we belong to another parish about 10 miles away and always attend there.)

Then, say around 11:00am, I am feeling better but not 100%. There is a 12:00 noon mass at the nearby church. I really don’t feel like driving 10 miles out and back to our regular parish, and could go to the church closer to us, but I feel that if I go to the local church I don’t have the sense of community I do at our regular church and I’m just there to get my “ticket punched.”

Even if I go, I won’t feel as though I had attend Mass because I’m among strangers and my heart is not really in it.

Should I still try to go to Mass?

I think it would depend upon your symptoms of why you felt sick enough to miss the earlier mass. If one is sick and has been running a fever or vomiting, one should wait 24 hours until they are symptom free. One should keep in mind that sometimes its more prudent not to expose other parishoners to whatever one is suffering from and the illness could come back within a couple of hours of the sypmtoms disappearing.

I wish more people would actually stay at home when they are truly ill.

 

[1ke]

Even if I go, I won’t feel as though I had attend Mass because I’m among strangers and my heart is not really in it.

Should I still try to go to Mass?

It is a mortal sin to miss Mass when one is *able *to go. You have stated that you feel *able *to go. So what part of that isn’t clear?

 

[didymus]

One should also have a care for the rest of the congregation. If you are sick or have been recently sick stay home with your germs.

 

[Lost_Sheep]

Thank you everyone.

Which leads to a second question. How sick to you have to be to be “sick enough” to be excused from Mass? I suppose if you were recovering from open heart surgery it would reasonable to stay home but if you woke up with a mild case of the sniffles you are probably well enough to go to mass.

But then there is the middle ground. What would be a reasonable cut-off point between being healthy enough to go and too sick to go? Bear in mind that you must care for yourself and not risk infecting other parishioners.

 

[Matthew_Holford]

Thank you everyone.

Which leads to a second question. How sick to you have to be to be “sick enough” to be excused from Mass? I suppose if you were recovering from open heart surgery it would reasonable to stay home but if you woke up with a mild case of the sniffles you are probably well enough to go to mass.

But then there is the middle ground. What would be a reasonable cut-off point between being healthy enough to go and too sick to go? Bear in mind that you must care for yourself and not risk infecting other parishioners.

There is no clear cut answer to this second question. It is quite subjective. First, you should follow medical advice. To use an example you gave you would obviously be able to not go to Mass for as long as medical advice was to rest at home. In most other cases it’s left to your own judgement. Many people would feel a cold might excuse them and the same people may ring in work ‘sick’. Whereas I see a cold as a minor nuisance and would go to Mass and work. As for your OP you are still in community, the community of your fellow Catholics; they’re not strangers but friends you haven’t met.

The bottom line is you have an obligation to go to Mass. Whether you illness is bad enough to excuse you is subjective and down to your conscience.

 

[OraLabora]

One should also have a care for the rest of the congregation. If you are sick or have been recently sick stay home with your germs.

Bingo. This is so obvious I wonder why you were the only one to pick up on it. If one knows one has a contagious illness, this means you are “ill” and exempt, even if you feel able to attend.

People need to remember that at Mass, there will be elderly folks and perhaps some folks with immune systems suppressed by disease, chemotherapy, etc. So the charitable thing to do is to stay at home until you’re no longer contagious. God will understand.

 

[laszlo]

but I feel that if I go to the local church I don’t have the sense of community I do at our regular church and I’m just there to get my “ticket punched.”

The Christian community is primarily with Jesus Christ and through Him to others. This is so for every Christians, not only for Catholics.

 

[JRKH]

Originally Posted by didymus
One should also have a care for the rest of the congregation. If you are sick or have been recently sick stay home with your germs.

While this is certainly good advise, the OP hardly is clear that this is the case. One can wake up, “not feeling well”, for any number of reasons. If later, one is, "feeling better but not 100%, the obligation might rest on what the earlier problem was…

One thing the obligation would NOT rest on is the particulars mentioned in the OP…the location of the mass and the comfort level of worshipping “among strangers”.

Peace
James

 

[JRKH]

Thank you everyone.

Which leads to a second question. How sick to you have to be to be “sick enough” to be excused from Mass? I suppose if you were recovering from open heart surgery it would reasonable to stay home but if you woke up with a mild case of the sniffles you are probably well enough to go to mass.

But then there is the middle ground. What would be a reasonable cut-off point between being healthy enough to go and too sick to go? Bear in mind that you must care for yourself and not risk infecting other parishioners.

As others have said this is somewhat subjective. Probably the best answer for this is given by PatriceA above where she talks about fever and vomitting and waiting 24 hours etc…
My suggestion would be to make the best decision you can and then go to confession, tell the priest that you missed mass and why, receive absolution and move on.

Peace
James

 

[Matthew_Holford]

My suggestion would be to make the best decision you can and then go to confession, tell the priest that you missed mass and why, receive absolution and move on.

Peace
James

I think we need to remember that if we have a valid reason for not fulfilling our Mass obligation, e.g. as in this thread due to illness, we don’t commit any sin. Of course, it would be good to discuss with your confessor your reasons so he may comment on whether you had just cause.

 

[OraLabora]

While this is certainly good advise, the OP hardly is clear that this is the case. One can wake up, “not feeling well”, for any number of reasons. If later, one is, "feeling better but not 100%, the obligation might rest on what the earlier problem was…

One thing the obligation would NOT rest on is the particulars mentioned in the OP…the location of the mass and the comfort level of worshipping “among strangers”.

Peace
James

I basically agree; if the illness is not contagious then one should attend unless truly too ill to do so. It’s really a case-by-case thing based on one’s individual conscience.

And I agree about the “worshipping among strangers” thing. I usually attend Mass at a local Benedictine abbey. It’s a 35 min. drive away on mountain roads. Needless to say sometimes the winter weather makes it imprudent to make the trek; those times, I will often attend at a local parish unless it is truly so bad that even the 10 km to that parish is too treacherous (I live in a very rural area, 10 km from the nearest church). I don’t particularly like doing so… bad music, indifferent parishioners, priests that abuse the liturgy, but do so anyway.

As a side rant, I dislike the word “worship” when attending a Catholic Mass. We do more than just worship (although we do that too). We enter into a Holy Communion with Him, made truly present in the Eucharist. It is the summit of our spiritual lives.

 

[JRKH]

I think we need to remember that if we have a valid reason for not fulfilling our Mass obligation, e.g. as in this thread due to illness, we don’t commit any sin. Of course, it would be good to discuss with your confessor your reasons so he may comment on whether you had just cause.

Precisely my point.
There can any number of occasions/situations etc where we have to make a decision not based firm, clear knowledge, but on our best assesment in the particular circumstance.
In such circumstance we are to be guided by our conscience, but then we have recourse to confession where we can check our decisions with our confessor.
In this way we can continue to grow in wisdom and holiness and make progressively better decisions.

Peace
james

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

But then there is the middle ground. What would be a reasonable cut-off point between being healthy enough to go and too sick to go? Bear in mind that you must care for yourself and not risk infecting other parishioners.

My rule of thumb is what would I do if I had plans to meet a friend for brunch after Mass?

If I’m sick enough that I would cancel the brunch date, then I’m sick. If I would cancel not so much because I feel ill but because my coughing or sneezing would not be welcome in a restaurant, then it’s not welcome at church either.

On the other hand, if it’s mainly a case of my bed feeling so warm and comfortable that I don’t want to get out of it…that’s when I need to shake myself and get moving.