Missing Mass in the Wilderness

[MSNAV]

Sometime ago I planned a hiking trip with my wife that goes from Thursday to Sunday.
When we planned it I honestly had no purposeful intention of missing mass, I knew it was a possibility but missing mass was not the intention. Originally, I thought as we would be deep in the woods the obligation would be dispensed (though I don’t like the word obligation), however I still felt bad so the new plan was to high tail it Sunday Morning out of the backcountry to make the nearest 5:00pm Mass which is two hours away from where we will exit. Since the time of the original booking, my father and law has joined our trip excited to spend some time with us in recreation. Now again I am worried because I doubt he can keep the pace we need to keep to exit on time to make Mass on Sunday.

I honestly don’t know what to do, I really am starting to feel horrible about missing mass but thought in this situation it was allowed. I went to confession recently and expressed my worry to the priest and was basically told there was never a dispensation for missing mass if it was known ahead of time I would miss (for reasons like this not things like illness weather etc).
I was kind of floored, my understanding was different. Now, this was a unique church one I usually don’t goto. I went to confession there as my schedule is crazy and they offer confession once if not twice a day allowing me to go more often since I can’t usually make the normal Saturday times. I’m wondering if that may have something to do with it, it’s a mission parish that only says mass in the Extraordinary form (latin) part of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. (stbenedictsparish.org).

I know if I went to my normal priest he would probably tell me its ok, make sure and observe the Lord’s day and make special effort to pray more and thank God (we have had this discussion before regarding another matter) but now I feel like going to him might be “priest shopping” to get the answer I want.

Any comments and support appreciated

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Sometime ago I planned a hiking trip with my wife that goes from Thursday to Sunday.
When we planned it I honestly had no purposeful intention of missing mass, I knew it was a possibility but missing mass was not the intention. Originally, I thought as we would be deep in the woods the obligation would be dispensed (though I don’t like the word obligation), however I still felt bad so the new plan was to high tail it Sunday Morning out of the backcountry to make the nearest 5:00pm Mass which is two hours away from where we will exit. Since the time of the original booking, my father and law has joined our trip excited to spend some time with us in recreation. Now again I am worried because I doubt he can keep the pace we need to keep to exit on time to make Mass on Sunday.

I honestly don’t know what to do, I really am starting to feel horrible about missing mass but thought in this situation it was allowed. I went to confession recently and expressed my worry to the priest and was basically told there was never a dispensation for missing mass if it was known ahead of time I would miss (for reasons like this not things like illness weather etc).
I was kind of floored, my understanding was different. Now, this was a unique church one I usually don’t goto. I went to confession there as my schedule is crazy and they offer confession once if not twice a day allowing me to go more often since I can’t usually make the normal Saturday times. I’m wondering if that may have something to do with it, it’s a mission parish that only says mass in the Extraordinary form (latin) part of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. (stbenedictsparish.org).

I know if I went to my normal priest he would probably tell me its ok, make sure and observe the Lord’s day and make special effort to pray more and thank God (we have had this discussion before regarding another matter) but now I feel like going to him might be “priest shopping” to get the answer I want.

Any comments and support appreciated

No worries about shopping. Just ask your priest for a dispensation. He will most likely grant it and then be at peace and enjoy your hike

 

[ffg]

Mass times.org is your friend.

If you are not planning to be in the woods late Sunday and live / will be near even a medium sized town with a few parishes, might get lucky with a Sunday evening mass.

You could seek a dispensation, but I don’t know all the rules there.

You mentioned something that goes back a ways for me - that a priest told you not to worry about another thing. I’ve had a priest tell me in confession that a grave matter sin is not a sin. He was wrong.

I just don’t want others being tricked like I almost was at the time. I knew he was wrong, but that confession kept me away from confession for a long time. Sometimes we have to doublecheck what we hear, if it seems odd.

Why does ‘obligation’ bother you? I’m just curious.

Take care,

 

[Gilly_flower]

You are never required to do the impossible. I suggest that you make every effort on your hike to make good time, but if you are slowed down by your father in law and cannot make it, that is not something you deliberately intended…and taking him with you is a charitable act.

 

[tafan]

Only your pastor can give you a dispensation. That does not mean the pastor of the parish you attend, but the pastor of the parish you belong to. I am not saying a dispensation is the solution to your problem, but talk to your pastor.

 

[1ke]

was basically told there was never a dispensation for missing mass if it was known ahead of time I would miss (for reasons like this not things like illness weather etc).

Wow. I don’t know what to say, because that isn’t true and it is terrible advice from the confessional.

There is no obligation when it is not possible to get to mass (that isn’t the same as the obligation being dispensed). Furthermore, your pastor (not just any priest, but your pastor) has the authority to grant a dispensation ahead of time.

So, I don’t know why a priest would say that to you.

I know if I went to my normal priest he would probably tell me its ok, make sure and observe the Lord’s day and make special effort to pray more and thank God (we have had this discussion before regarding another matter) but now I feel like going to him might be “priest shopping” to get the answer I want.

Any comments and support appreciated

Your pastor would (a) be correct and (b) also have the authority to dispense you. It is not priest shopping. Talk to your pastor.

 

[Usige]

Without getting too far into your particulars it’s important to keep in mind that attending mass should be the default and not something that you’ll make if you can. Not saying that is the case here, but rather that making time to worship is to take precedence over things like recreation.

My pastor was just talking about this last week. He said one of the most often confessed things in our area this time of year is missing mass because people were camping, hiking, fishing, et cetera. As others have said, you are not required to do the impossible, but at the same time you do need to make an effort to attend mass if possible. As he was saying, we need to adjust our plans to accommodate mass and not simply say we didn’t have time for mass with everything else we planned to do.

I know I’ll catch flak here, but your discomfort about potentially missing mass is a good thing. We should be concerned about missing mass and not just say “enjoy the day and don’t worry if we make it or not.” Talk to your pastor, but also look at your plans to see if you can adjust things to give yourself more time to make a later mass. Also check mass times to see what the latest mass is in the area. Sometimes the closest parish is not the latest option. That will depend on how remote you are, but my point is to make sure you really have exhausted your options. It may be that you need to seek a dispensation, but always approach it as something you really have no option on.