Missing Mass Q

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NewEnglandPries said:
LOL! I think coffee just came out of my nose…
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I think that the majority of those who advocate for a more ‘respectful’ mode of dressing on the part of people at Sunday Mass have been very clear that this is a norm.

By definition, norm refers to what is normal. Obviously there are exceptions to the norm.

Exceptions can be either valid or not valid.

Valid exceptions to the norm: A person who is poor or homeless and has no ‘better clothing.’
A person who situationally is in a position where he or she can attend Mass but had no chance to ‘dress’ for Mass. These would include people such as those who work in uniforms, those engaged in manual labor, and travelers or others who have no opportunity to ‘change’ clothing before attending Holy Mass.

Not valid exceptions to the norm would be more like those people who know that Mass is sacred and who would, in any other ‘special circumstance’ ranging from going out to a weekly dinner at a nice restaurant to meeting the Queen, wear ‘dressy’ clothing, yet who deliberately wear either shoddy or inappropriate clothing to Mass, because they want to send the deliberate message that they can do as they please.

Very few people today are guilty of this kind of ‘not valid exception’ because it presupposes both deliberate, full knowledge that Mass is sacred, AND that the person cares nothing for that but ONLY for doing what the person chooses.

MOST people today who dress ‘inappropriately’ or, at the least, in ‘less than their best’ for Mass do not do so because they don’t care about God, or because they know it’s important but just don’t want to do so.

That’s why many of us who are advocates for a return to more appropriate dressing are not criticizing the majority of people at Mass today for what they wear.

What we try to do is to educate them about the importance of Mass as a sacred experience, and the importance of ‘acknowledging’ this in INWARD AND IN OUTWARD manifestations.

Because if people truly are brought to the understanding of how sacred Mass is, and how great God is, and how priviledged they are to attend and receive Him. . . they themselves will, of their own free will, come to WISH to dispose themselves, inwardly and outwardly, in the best possible ways. . . in thought, word, deed. . and dress.

**Until then, we wait, and we speak, and we LISTEN, and we pray. . and above all, we do not in any way judge the souls or the INTENT of those whom we might ‘see’ at Mass. **
 
Tantum_ergo said:
I think that the majority of those who advocate for a more ‘respectful’ mode of dressing on the part of people at Sunday Mass have been very clear that this is a norm.

By definition, norm refers to what is normal. Obviously there are exceptions to the norm.

Exceptions can be either valid or not valid.

Valid exceptions to the norm: A person who is poor or homeless and has no ‘better clothing.’
A person who situationally is in a position where he or she can attend Mass but had no chance to ‘dress’ for Mass. These would include people such as those who work in uniforms, those engaged in manual labor, and travelers or others who have no opportunity to ‘change’ clothing before attending Holy Mass.
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I was just trying to lighten up a thread that I think is taking about situations outside the norm.

Most people take vacations to places where there are Catholic Churches within an hour or so’s drive. This includes most car-camping vacations. But there are people who desire to visit places where they are not in charge of their own schedule, where there is no transportation available to the nearest Mass, and/or where they are likely to experience “unforeseen” circumstances which will prevent attendance at Mass.

If I understand the OP’s question correctly he specifically was asking about the kind of vacation where one’s only mode of transportation is one’s feet. There are plenty of places, whether one is hiking the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevadas or is hiking to Everest Base Camp in the Himalayas, that one can expect that the trip will take more than seven days on foot. Unless one is fortunate enough to have a priest as a hiking companion (as was the case with at least one Catholic Answers sponsored backpacking trip) then it is going to take some extraordinary planning to arrange to arrive at a location on Sunday where Mass will be celebrated. (It can be hard enough to find such a Mass if one has a car.)

(My guess is that backpackers who are lucky enough to attend Mass do their best to dress as nicely as is possible.)

It seems to me that anyone who cares enough to take the time to bother asking his pastor for a dispensation from attending Mass is not the kind of person who is in danger of taking the commandment to honor the Lord’s Day for granted. Such a person is not your **normal **Catholic who doesn’t care if he sometimes misses Mass on Sunday.
 
Aramis said:
Considering some priests think women should be ordained, others think young boys are there to be molested, and more than one thinks the pope needs to be replaced…

Priests are, first and foremost, men. They have, by Grace, been granted the power to confect the Eucharist… they have not been granted personal infallibility, nor even perfect sinlessness.

And some fall prey to Satan. Sad, but it happens. Even so, if the unknowing-yet-devout attend a mass by a priest who is a sinner, schismatic, and/or heretic, the liturgy is valid… for the benefit of the faithful, even as it further condemns the priest.
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Thanks, Aramis, you’ve explained it very well. I think the fact that some people think EVERY word that comes out of a priest’s mouth is gospel is one of the reasons we’ve had some of the scandals in the Church.
 
mmsiciliana said:
Thanks, Aramis, you’ve explained it very well. I think the fact that some people think EVERY word that comes out of a priest’s mouth is gospel is one of the reasons we’ve had some of the scandals in the Church.
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On the other hand, the priest does have the power to forgive sins of others.
 
Aramis said:
Considering some priests think women should be ordained, others think young boys are there to be molested, and more than one thinks the pope needs to be replaced…

Priests are, first and foremost, men. They have, by Grace, been granted the power to confect the Eucharist… they have not been granted personal infallibility, nor even perfect sinlessness.

And some fall prey to Satan. Sad, but it happens. Even so, if the unknowing-yet-devout attend a mass by a priest who is a sinner, schismatic, and/or heretic, the liturgy is valid… for the benefit of the faithful, even as it further condemns the priest.
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Wow…you all have managed to judge the OP’s heart…and his priest…and the priest posting here…all in swoop…😦

For what…your authority? Wow…who died and made you the Pope?:eek:
 
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