Missing mass - when exactly is it a mortal sin?

[birdie74]

Hi!

I have been Catholic for 6 years now, and over that time I have gotten immensely better at telling the difference between mortal/venial sins, what is appropriate to confess, what actions are wrong, what omissions are wrong, etc. One are that still stumps me though is missing mass - where is the line as far as sufficient reason for missing? When does it become a mortal sin?

Some examples which have happened to me or people I know - please if you wouldn’t mind, tell me whether you would consider these mortal sins or venial sins or no sins at all:

1. You plan to visit some family out of state for a long while. Your family is not Catholic, and you know you will be there without a car. So, you intentionally plan your month-long trip so that you leave on a Monday and come back on a Saturday - that will minimize the number of Sundays you have to deal with the Mass situation. But, that leaves two Sundays where it will be difficult to get to Mass. While on the trip, Sunday morning approaches. You know that some other family members go out to the park or their Protestant services. You stay in bed. When you get up, you start to think that maybe you could have asked to borrow a car. That would have made you uncomfortable, but you realize that if you had tried a little harder you could have made Mass.
2. It is a Holy Day of Obligation. You are again, visiting family. This time you have a car, but your family has scheduled a big birthday dinner during the time of mass (for the sake of the argument assume that it is the only mass time offered). You decide to go to the birthday dinner and say a rosary expressing your sorrow that you did not attend mass.
3. You just got a job. You request either Saturday nights or Sunday mornings off of work, but see that you are scheduled anyway. It crosses you mind that you could ask to switch shifts with someone, but this early in the employment you don’t want to rattle any feathers. You go to work.
4. You are out partying Saturday night and get drunk (unintentionally). You get home late and crash. You oversleep and miss Mass.

What do you think? I guess what bothers me is that based on what I’ve been taught, #4 is the only one that is definitely not a mortal sin? That doesn’t seem right to me…but I’m interested to hear all of your opinions!!!

Thanks

 

[lil_flower_luv]

1.) Mass should not be missed simply because your family believes otherwise. Borrow a car.
2.) Mass should be more important to you, therefore it should not be missed. Besides, it is one hour a week to give to Jesus; you will be home in time for the rest of the party.
3.) Tell your employer of the situation; your soul is on the line, and whether or not you rattle someones feathers is their problem. Find a time to get to Mass when you are not working, but it should be the Vigil Mass or a Sunday Mass.
4.) Missing Mass because of being drunk is inexcusable in any case.

Hope this helped!
God Bless!

 

[budgie2]

I would not say that missing mass is ever a mortal sin on it’s own as Christ is forgiving. But I believe not going to mass regularly can lead a person to commit mortal sin. I have lots of friends who left the Church who committed mortal sin as they didn’t have the Church’s guidance or the grace of the sacraments. So I try to get to mass twice a week.

 

[lil_flower_luv]

I would not say that missing mass is ever a mortal sin on it’s own as Christ is forgiving. But I believe not going to mass regularly can lead a person to commit mortal sin. I have lots of friends who left the Church who committed mortal sin as they didn’t have the Church’s guidance or the grace of the sacraments. So I try to get to mass twice a week.

Missing Mass is a mortal sin under three conditions: it is a grave matter (breaking one of the Ten Commandments), you have full consent of the will, and knowledge of both (that you know it is a grave matter and you have full consent of the will.) Otherwise, there are many conditions where you have no control over missing Mass and therefore, it is not a mortal sin (you are ill, you are in a region where no Priests are available, you have no means of transportation, etc.) God is forgiving, yes, and if you commit a mortal sin, you must go to confession. If you do not know if something is a mortal sin or even a venial sin, you can ask the Priest.
Like you said, Budgie2, getting to Mass any day of the week is great!!
In Him,

 

[wcknight]

I hate to miss mass under any circumstances. The lasttime I missed mass, I was on a cruise ship out on the ocean, and even then I thought there was a mass on board. It turned out to be a non-denom prayer service. IF I had known there would be no mass available, I may have cancelled this trip. My prior cruise had a mass available. This one had one scheduled but it was not held. (I should have sued the cruise line - they lied)

Whenever I travel I try to find the nearest Catholic church within walking distance. IF I don’t have a vehicle I have no problem talking a cab or asking a friend or relative to drive me. I love going to mass in other countries. I love going to mass period, so it would take very unusal circumstances to keep me away. I need all the graces and blessings that I can get. The Eucharist is my lifeline to God, I never want to be without it.

IF I will be traveling on a Sunday I will attend Saturday evening or very early Sunday morning. Catholic chuches are everywhere, I see no excuse for missing unless you are incapacitated or isolated. A little bit of planning and a bit of determination makes it a lot easier.

 

[Sr_Sally]

Hi!

I have been Catholic for 6 years now, and over that time I have gotten immensely better at telling the difference between mortal/venial sins, what is appropriate to confess, what actions are wrong, what omissions are wrong, etc. One are that still stumps me though is missing mass - where is the line as far as sufficient reason for missing? When does it become a mortal sin?

A mortal sin is something grave (missing Mass), that you know is grave (you do), and you do anyway through your own intention. In most situations, we can try harder to get to Mass than we sometimes do. Just saying, oh gosh I’m out of town what to do?! doesn’t count.

Some examples which have happened to me or people I know - please if you wouldn’t mind, tell me whether you would consider these mortal sins or venial sins or no sins at all:

1. You plan to visit some family out of state for a long while. Your family is not Catholic, and you know you will be there without a car. So, you intentionally plan your month-long trip so that you leave on a Monday and come back on a Saturday - that will minimize the number of Sundays you have to deal with the Mass situation. But, that leaves two Sundays where it will be difficult to get to Mass. While on the trip, Sunday morning approaches. You know that some other family members go out to the park or their Protestant services. You stay in bed. When you get up, you start to think that maybe you could have asked to borrow a car. That would have made you uncomfortable, but you realize that if you had tried a little harder you could have made Mass.

In this situation it pays to plan ahead. You have already planned to miss the fewest number of Sundays, so obviously the thought is on your mind. At this point you need to get to the web (masstimes.org is a great place to start) and find the closest parishes to your family. Get their Mass schedules and phone numbers. Then you can coordinate with other family members to borrow a car, get dropped off and picked up (they are going out to go to their church), or maybe take public transportation or a taxi. I would say that that would be the minimum requirement try and get to Mass. Obviously, if you can’t drive, can’t borrow a car, or other transportation is just to expensive/difficult then you can’t go, but it wouldn’t be through any lack of trying.

1. It is a Holy Day of Obligation. You are again, visiting family. This time you have a car, but your family has scheduled a big birthday dinner during the time of mass (for the sake of the argument assume that it is the only mass time offered). You decide to go to the birthday dinner and say a rosary expressing your sorrow that you did not attend mass.

This is trickier because there is a specific activity planned for the time of Mass. Ideally, you would try to get dinner changed to earlier or later so that you could get to Mass. In reality there is very rarely only one Mass available on a Holy Day.

1. You just got a job. You request either Saturday nights or Sunday mornings off of work, but see that you are scheduled anyway. It crosses you mind that you could ask to switch shifts with someone, but this early in the employment you don’t want to rattle any feathers. You go to work.

If you are truly scheduled for both Saturday evening and Sunday morning, than this is not a mortal sin. If you find that you are always scheduled for both times, than you should definately ask to switch with someone, or go to your manager again.

1. You are out partying Saturday night and get drunk (unintentionally). You get home late and crash. You oversleep and miss Mass.

This is a mortal sin, because getting drunk to the point that you can’t get up the next morning is also sinful.

What do you think? I guess what bothers me is that based on what I’ve been taught, #4 is the only one that is definitely not a mortal sin? That doesn’t seem right to me…but I’m interested to hear all of your opinions!!!

Thanks

One thing to also remember for the travelling situations is that if you know that it is going to be very difficult to near impossible to get to Mass, you can ask your priest for a dispensation before you go. The same is true for your new job situation. The drunken party situation is just out of control though!

 

[jmcrae]

Hi!

I have been Catholic for 6 years now, and over that time I have gotten immensely better at telling the difference between mortal/venial sins, what is appropriate to confess, what actions are wrong, what omissions are wrong, etc. One are that still stumps me though is missing mass - where is the line as far as sufficient reason for missing? When does it become a mortal sin?

Some examples which have happened to me or people I know - please if you wouldn’t mind, tell me whether you would consider these mortal sins or venial sins or no sins at all:

1. You plan to visit some family out of state for a long while. Your family is not Catholic, and you know you will be there without a car. So, you intentionally plan your month-long trip so that you leave on a Monday and come back on a Saturday - that will minimize the number of Sundays you have to deal with the Mass situation. But, that leaves two Sundays where it will be difficult to get to Mass. While on the trip, Sunday morning approaches. You know that some other family members go out to the park or their Protestant services. You stay in bed. When you get up, you start to think that maybe you could have asked to borrow a car. That would have made you uncomfortable, but you realize that if you had tried a little harder you could have made Mass.

Never be afraid to evangelize by means of your actions. The soul you save may be your own.

1. It is a Holy Day of Obligation. You are again, visiting family. This time you have a car, but your family has scheduled a big birthday dinner during the time of mass (for the sake of the argument assume that it is the only mass time offered). You decide to go to the birthday dinner and say a rosary expressing your sorrow that you did not attend mass.

You could just say, “I have a quick errand to run,” and pop out for the Mass. Or, just explain to them, “Today is a Holy Day of Obligation, and I need to go to Mass. I’ll be back very shortly.” Again, don’t be afraid to be upfront about your faith - the soul you save, once again, could be your own.

1. You just got a job. You request either Saturday nights or Sunday mornings off of work, but see that you are scheduled anyway. It crosses you mind that you could ask to switch shifts with someone, but this early in the employment you don’t want to rattle any feathers. You go to work.

If you don’t make your needs known right from the beginning, they aren’t going to take you seriously later on. It’s harder to schedule time off later, if you have been working that shift already - they will say, “What, did you suddenly get religion? Who’s the girl?”

Simply mention to your supervisor on your first day at work, “I need the time off because I have to fulfill my religious obligations.” They can’t say no to you; you can sue them under Human Rights legislation, if they do - and they will be much more ready to accomodate you if you let them know right from the start.

 

[Chaldean_Rite]

I would not say that missing mass is ever a mortal sin on it’s own as Christ is forgiving.

The OP is not asking for your own flawed, sinful, personal opinion, but rather what the Church actually teaches.

 

[birdie74]

Thanks for all of your answers so far! Very helpful.

I guess what I’m really getting at is this - is it ever a venial sin to miss mass, if you know the matter is grave and you try somewhat to go but realize that you could have tried harder?

I see a difference between these two attitudes:
a) you being at home and mass being next door or on campus or a 5 minute drive away and you wake up and decide “I would rather stay in bed today and watch a movie, I don’t need the church in my life” - that I would definitely agree is a mortal sin

but in some of those other scenarios I mentioned, where you are in unusual circumstances and going to mass is more difficult and is causing you anxiety, and your concern genuinely is inconveniencing people, say you give in to cowardice or something and don’t ask for that ride - does that really add up to same thing, a mortal sin? Can you have full consent of the will when you wish it weren’t happening even while you are doing it?

I can see both sides. I agree with all of you who say that mass is the most important thing to do on Sunday and that if you let anything get in the way of that, your priorities are way out of whack and you should go to Confession. But I know I also have the tendency, when I see people going on a weird trip with non-Catholics and they are worried about mass, to want to tell them, don’t worry about this one Sunday, you always go to mass, this is an unusual circumstance, it is the general tendency that matters.

Any more thoughts?

 

[tbcrawford]

I think you have already been answered about venial/mortal sins in missing Mass.From reading your posts i feel you are looking for excuses to miss Mass!!! Also that you are embarrassed to tell people you are catholic and you want to attend Mass.Our basic “duty” as catholics is to keep the sabbath day Holy eg. go to Mass sundays.Actually though we should be striving to attend Mass daily if we are able.Work commitments prevent some people from doing this everyday-but thats what we are aiming for.I try to attend Mass daily.Benediction weekly confession monthly/as necessary.Confirmation classes teach this stuff im not sure if you have been through a confirmation programme.I dont want to sound like im telling you off…im not.Im hoping to guide you.
Be strong, be proud to be a catholic.If you are worried you might not be able to answer other peoples questions about your faith always ask on CAF people will help you out promptly. Thats the way im reading your posts anyway,perhaps i have it all wrong i dont know just trying to guide you along there.
Keep praying
God Bless

 

[jmcrae]

Thanks for all of your answers so far! Very helpful.

I guess what I’m really getting at is this - is it ever a venial sin to miss mass, if you know the matter is grave and you try somewhat to go but realize that you could have tried harder?

When we get to Heaven, we are going to be living in a heavenly city with people who were kidnapped and taken away to be eaten by lions, or burned at the stake, because they were caught going to Mass.

Do you really think they are going to want to keep company with someone who skipped Mass because he was afraid of being laughed at? Would you feel worthy of living on the same block with them?

 

[rafarose]

I have a question as well regarding mortal sin and missing mass.
Recently I was not able to go to mass. I was with my family in a relative’s house and it was time to go for mass. I asked my family to go but no one wanted to go, I tried to persuade them to go but they didn’t agree. I really wanted to go to mass as I already knew that it is a mortal sin to miss one. So I ended up not going because I couldn’t get a ride.
Would this be classified as mortal sin, it passes through two conditions 1)grave matter & 2) full knowledge but I am not sure about the third which is **consent. **

God bless!

 

[DexUK]

To the last poster: you did your best and were prevented from going to Mass because nobody would help you. That’s their fault, not yours.

If it therefore wasn’t possible for you to go on your own (ie. the church was simply too far to walk or you weren’t allowed out on your own) then you are not at fault.

Think about it this way: in many parts of the world there are people who only get to attend Mass once or twice a year because they live dozens or hundreds of miles from the nearest parish and the Priest only makes it to them rarely. Do they sin by not attending Mass every Sunday?

The answer is no, they don’t, because they are not wilfully refusing to go. They are prevented from going. Therefore the conditions or mortal sin are not met.

So relax, be at peace. If you feel like you want to top up your spiritual batteries, why not, if you can, attend a weekday Mass somewhere? But don’t feel like it’s obligatory.