Missing Mass (Mortal sin?)

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SenorSalsa

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I feel silly asking this, as I have answered others many times, but I just want some outside opinions (I feel like the self is a fairly bad judge of individual cases of culpability)

This past week I was away on vacation for my brother’s wedding, which was on Saturday, at 3. Sunday Mass readings were not read, and I am pretty sure this does not fulfill the Sunday Obligation, but thought I would list it anyways

I then planned to attend a Divine Liturgy at 4 PM on Sunday, the time and place I found through the diocese and parish websites.

However, upon arriving there was no such Liturgy being celebrated.

There was, known to me, a Spanish Mass celebrated at 6 PM, at another parish about 20 minutes from where I was staying. However, 6 PM put it in the middle of dinner with much of my extended family(20 or so people), on top of which I did not feel enthused about attending a Spanish Mass, as I know little of the language.

I therefore did not attend that Mass, and knew there would be no more oppurtunities later in the night.

Was I culpable for missing Mass? My instinct tells me no, that I tried to attend a Divine Liturgy, and through no fault of my own was not able to. However the fact that there was a Mass available that I missed still brings question to my mind.

As a PS, I was dissappointed that I could not participate in a Corpus Christi Mass, but disappointment doesn’t necessarily mean sin:shrug:
 
SenorSalsa said:
I feel silly asking this, as I have answered others many times, but I just want some outside opinions (I feel like the self is a fairly bad judge of individual cases of culpability)

This past week I was away on vacation for my brother’s wedding, which was on Saturday, at 3. Sunday Mass readings were not read, and I am pretty sure this does not fulfill the Sunday Obligation, but thought I would list it anyways

I then planned to attend a Divine Liturgy at 4 PM on Sunday, the time and place I found through the diocese and parish websites.

However, upon arriving there was no such Liturgy being celebrated.

There was, known to me, a Spanish Mass celebrated at 6 PM, at another parish about 20 minutes from where I was staying. However, 6 PM put it in the middle of dinner with much of my extended family(20 or so people), on top of which I did not feel enthused about attending a Spanish Mass, as I know little of the language.

I therefore did not attend that Mass, and knew there would be no more oppurtunities later in the night.

Was I culpable for missing Mass? My instinct tells me no, that I tried to attend a Divine Liturgy, and through no fault of my own was not able to. However the fact that there was a Mass available that I missed still brings question to my mind.

As a PS, I was dissappointed that I could not participate in a Corpus Christi Mass, but disappointment doesn’t necessarily mean sin:shrug:
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Go ask an orthodox priest. He can guide you far better than laity at a computer can.
 
OraProNobisIHM said:
Go ask an orthodox priest. He can guide you far better than laity at a computer can.
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Yeah I know, unfortunately I have yet to find a really good confessor around here. It is usually just a very basic and quick confession.

I really need to pick the search back up though, summer vacation is proving much harder than life at a Catholic university
 
It would probably be best to refrain from receiving Holy Communion until you have been to confession. You did try to attend Divine Liturgy, but you didn’t make any further efforts to attend Mass after that.

Travel can make attending Mass difficult, but with the Masstimes.org website and a phone, we have always been able to attend. There is another thread on the problems with parish websites that aren’t updated, so it always pays to call ahead. I usually try to make Mass plans and call parishes the week before we leave just so that we can be sure Mass will be available when we expect it.

PS–all the Catholic members of that wedding party should have been looking for a Sunday Mass also!
 
Per Canon Law, the Sunday Mass obligation is fulfilled by attending ANY Mass or DL, regardless of what the readings are, that occurs on Saturday evening or Sunday. So the nuptial mass is not excluded just because it has different reading.

Indeed the Divine Liturgy would’ve had different readings too, so I’m not sure where you got the idea that the content of the readings matters.

The time that counts as ‘evening’ is determined, I think, by the Bishops’ Conference of your country. Find out from them or from your priest whether the wedding Mass was at a time that would’ve made it a substitute.

As for choosing dinner with your family over Spanish Mass when you dont understand the language much … well, that’s a tough call. I tend to be strict with myself on such matters but lenient towards other people (I think St Teresa of Avila said something similar). It probably is best to ask a priest the question.
 
LilyM said:
The time that counts as ‘evening’ is determined, I think, by the Bishops’ Conference of your country. Find out from them or from your priest whether the wedding Mass was at a time that would’ve made it a substitute.
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I’m in the US. I seem to recall that 4 PM is the earliest that a Saturday Mass could be held for Sunday, but, I could be wrong
 
You call yourself SenorSalsa and don’t speak Spanish??:eek::D;)

Betsy
 
SenorSalsa said:
I speak some, not nearly enough to assist at a Spanish Mass, but Senor Salsa is the name of my beloved hedgehog…😃
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You don’t need to know the language.

I was in Rome, and the Mass (Midnight Mass) was in Italian and such - it counted

I was in Kiev, assisting at a Greek Catholic Divine Liturgy - it counted.

😃

Think of all the deaf people that would be screwed if they had to understand the language. 😉

But yeah, when in doubt as to priests, find the local FSSP parish, and ask the FSSP priest (or ICKSP, or whatever).
 
SenorSalsa said:
I feel silly asking this, as I have answered others many times, but I just want some outside opinions (I feel like the self is a fairly bad judge of individual cases of culpability)

This past week I was away on vacation for my brother’s wedding, which was on Saturday, at 3. Sunday Mass readings were not read, and I am pretty sure this does not fulfill the Sunday Obligation, but thought I would list it anyways

I then planned to attend a Divine Liturgy at 4 PM on Sunday, the time and place I found through the diocese and parish websites.

However, upon arriving there was no such Liturgy being celebrated.

There was, known to me, a Spanish Mass celebrated at 6 PM, at another parish about 20 minutes from where I was staying. However, 6 PM put it in the middle of dinner with much of my extended family(20 or so people), on top of which I did not feel enthused about attending a Spanish Mass, as I know little of the language.

I therefore did not attend that Mass, and knew there would be no more oppurtunities later in the night.

Was I culpable for missing Mass? My instinct tells me no, that I tried to attend a Divine Liturgy, and through no fault of my own was not able to. However the fact that there was a Mass available that I missed still brings question to my mind.

As a PS, I was dissappointed that I could not participate in a Corpus Christi Mass, but disappointment doesn’t necessarily mean sin:shrug:
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It was probably not sinful because you did not INTEND to miss Mass, but you should confess it anyway- and, next time, ask for a dispensation from your pastor in advance whenever you find yourself in a similar situation.
 
LilyM said:
Per Canon Law, the Sunday Mass obligation is fulfilled by attending ANY Mass or DL, regardless of what the readings are, that occurs on Saturday evening or Sunday. So the nuptial mass is not excluded just because it has different reading.

Indeed the Divine Liturgy would’ve had different readings too, so I’m not sure where you got the idea that the content of the readings matters.

The time that counts as ‘evening’ is determined, I think, by the Bishops’ Conference of your country. Find out from them or from your priest whether the wedding Mass was at a time that would’ve made it a substitute.

As for choosing dinner with your family over Spanish Mass when you dont understand the language much … well, that’s a tough call. I tend to be strict with myself on such matters but lenient towards other people (I think St Teresa of Avila said something similar). It probably is best to ask a priest the question.
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As Senor Salsa indicated, the start time in order for the Mass to count for fulfilling your Sunday obligation is 4PM Saturday afternoon. Since the wedding Mass occurred an hour before, it did not count as a means to satisfy the Sunday obligation.

When I was growing up back in the 1970s-80s, we were taught that missing Sunday Mass was a mortal sin because it was a sin against the third commandment and against the precept of the Church. I would refrain from receiving Holy Communion until such time as I went to Confession.
 
I once did about the same thing. I tried to go to the mass that was supposed to have been scheduled and had made all my plans around that. When you are on vacation and have made plans with other people it is very difficult. You feel under some pressure. I did miss mass and would not make the same decision again. I hope it wasn’t a mortal sin; it’s hard to think back and evaluate your state of mind at the time. Objectively, it’s serious matter but was there sufficient reflection and full consent of the will?? But I didn’t receive communion until after I went to confession.

A priest told me you could miss mass once a year if you were on vacation but I haven’t heard this from anyone else. I assume it would be true only if there was no mass available, but then it wouldn’t be limited to once a year.
 
SenorSalsa said:
I feel silly asking this, as I have answered others many times, but I just want some outside opinions (I feel like the self is a fairly bad judge of individual cases of culpability)

This past week I was away on vacation for my brother’s wedding, which was on Saturday, at 3. Sunday Mass readings were not read, and I am pretty sure this does not fulfill the Sunday Obligation, but thought I would list it anyways

I then planned to attend a Divine Liturgy at 4 PM on Sunday, the time and place I found through the diocese and parish websites.

However, upon arriving there was no such Liturgy being celebrated.

There was, known to me, a Spanish Mass celebrated at 6 PM, at another parish about 20 minutes from where I was staying. However, 6 PM put it in the middle of dinner with much of my extended family(20 or so people), on top of which I did not feel enthused about attending a Spanish Mass, as I know little of the language.

I therefore did not attend that Mass, and knew there would be no more oppurtunities later in the night.

Was I culpable for missing Mass? My instinct tells me no, that I tried to attend a Divine Liturgy, and through no fault of my own was not able to. However the fact that there was a Mass available that I missed still brings question to my mind.

As a PS, I was dissappointed that I could not participate in a Corpus Christi Mass, but disappointment doesn’t necessarily mean sin:shrug:
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It’s probably a good question to bring up in Confession next Saturday!
 
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