Missing Mass. No sin, venial sin, mortal sin

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7_Sorrows said:
I missed Mass today. I was depressed and didn’t feel like being around people. I felt like I needed solitude and rest.
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I missed mass. I wanted to go to the vigil and was about to but the storm was out there and I didn’t fancy cycling in 50 mph winds so decided to go Sunday morning. On Sunday my wife went somewhere and said the children had to be somewhere and I missed mass. I wanted to go but circumstances prevented it. I suppose I could have had a massive row with my wife?
 
The title is correct. Missing Mass is no sin, a venial sin, or a mortal sin. The catechism explains it. Further specific clarification is best done with one’s local priest.
 
It was your intention to go and you couldn’t. Just mention it in your next confession.
 
If it is the Saturday evening mass that is the fulfillment for Sunday. (A vigil mass.)
 
Grave sin is mortal if three conditions are met.

I missed Mass two weeks in a row. Was it a mortal sin? No, it wasn’t even venial. I had the flu.

Missing mass was actually a kindness.

So, no just because it can be a mortal sin, doesn’t mean it IS a mortal sin.
 
If one misses mass through no fault of your own, ie illness (physical or mental) yours or dependents or other situations, like storms etc it is helpful to say the mass prayers so that the community aspect of mass is not lost. When we go to mass, it’s not just for you its for the whole body of Christ. These days that’s quite easy as you can find a mass online pretty much any time of day or night to watch or read it in your prayer book. Fair enough if you are too ill for that but most of the time we can manage that.
 
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No, a grave sin becomes a mortal sin if the other two conditions are met.

It must be done with knowledge of the gravity and with intention.
 
If you’re looking for a reason to miss Mass, then your in mortal sin territory.

If you’re on your way/getting ready to go to Mass and something comes up, then you’re likely not.
 
There is no such thing as grave sin if given as an alternative or addition to mortal and venial sin. There are simply mortal and venial sins. A venial sin is a sin that does not kill one’s relation with God. Usually these are things like white lies, or saying a curse word when stubbing one’s toe. IOW they are not ‘grave’ in MATTER, or are not done with full knowledge or full consent. A mortal sin involves grave MATTER, full knowledge, and full consent. A sin which is grave in matter but does not meet full knowledge and or full consent is NOT a ‘grave sin’. It is a sin of grave matter but not, perhaps, mortal. Which makes it venial, not grave.’
I may sound pedantic but in the last several decades our language has become so blunted and ambiguous that I believe we must make the distinction clear, it is mortal and venial alone.

IMO the real sin of the 21st century is how Christians have made the exception into the rule, and made the norm unacceptable. One dare not speak of objective mortal sin because the default position of so many (and especially here where people’s little learning has become a dangerous thing) is that there are so many exceptions that one cannot deem anything mortal as ‘it might NOT be due to all these excuses blah blah blah”.
 
stpurl said:
One dare not speak of objective mortal sin
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I thought what happened was they decided to start calling objective mortal sin “grave matter” so as to reduce the confusion many experienced by calling everything mortal sin?
 
I wouldn’t have thought this is a sin either but In case OP is worried
 
If I we’re never taught that adultery is wrong, and I commit adultery, it is a grave sin however not mortal because I did not know.
 
No, it is objectively mortal. Plus it is nearly impossible for a person of age to commit adultery who is not aware that this is not looked upon as morally good or even neutral. One need not be sat down in school and told “Adultery is wrong’ in order to KNOW adultery is wrong. It is possibly, thinly and remotely, that a person might have diminished culpability, but it doesn’t change the sin down from mortal’ to grave. I don’t know why it’s so hard for people to say, “Adultery is a mortal sin, objectively, due to its mortal/grave nature, but if a person is not aware, does not fully ‘know’, or does not fully consent, they may just possibly be guilty of venial —not GRAVE, but venial sin PERSONALLY while the sin is mortal OBJECTIVELY.
 
stpurl said:
No, it is objectively mortal.
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🤦‍♂️

“Mortal” is a subjective determination. (That’s why it belongs to God, not to humans. We don’t have the proper perspective to make the determination.)

Essentially, you’re saying “it is objectively subjective.” So… no: it’s objectively grave. Whether it’s subjectively mortal or subjectively venial is a different question.
 
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Interesting topic. I’ve always found Romans 1:18-32 fascinating because it suggests responsibility even when their minds grow darkened. And I know that the catechism says that imputability and responsibility can be diminished… yet it also follows in the next section that every act directly willed is imputable to its author.

Edit: I don’t mean that it is mortal, however… just that the responsibility remains.
 
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