Missing Mass?

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SpiritFire

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Hi! I am fifteen years old and my father is a music minister at a Catholic church. My family is split between Catholic and Evangelical/Nondenominational/Baptist (i.e. Protestant:))
I have come back to the Catholic faith (Thanks be to God!) and desperately want to live the
Catholic life. So…
  1. I can go with my father to all three Sunday Masses.
  2. With my mother and brothers to the Protestant church. (which I have no interest for anymore).
    I have a confession on the 12th of march. Since it is a sin to miss Mass, it is better for me to go to Mass even if I can’t receive Communion until after the 12th, right?
    Also, If there is Mass going on in the church, and I am in the church, am I obligated to attend if I have already attended a Mass that day?
    My Dad says I should just relax a bit. I don’t really have control of my attendance at Mass, though because he works, I feel I have an opportunity I should not miss (which I do).
    I could just miss a couple more weeks and then confess, but that would be kinda like the sin of presumption, wouldn’t it?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

P.S. This is a rather painful process. I hate to 'Split" the family, but I believe God has called me to the Catholic Church and that is where I need to be. I also feel I have benefitted somewhat for my years attending a Protestant church. So it’s hard to call my family and the church they attend “heretical”. Not EVERYTHING is heretical!
But God has shown me the full truth belongs to the Church.
 
Good for you, Spiritfire! You should definitely wait to receive Holy Communion until after you have made your Confession. But you should take every opportunity to meet your Sunday Mass obligation, even if you are not yet able to receive Communion. Once you have been to Confession, you may attend Mass one, two, or all three times on Sunday. There is no obligation to go to Mass all three times unless you really want to; once is sufficient. One last thing to know - you may receive Communion twice in a day, provided the second time is at a Mass which one attends. So, when you go to the Catholic parish with your Dad and are in the building during three Masses, you need only attend one Mass and you may receive Communion only twice, even if you attend all three Masses.
 
SpiritFire said:
I have a confession on the 12th of march. Since it is a sin to miss Mass, it is better for me to go to Mass even if I can’t receive Communion until after the 12th, right?
Also, If there is Mass going on in the church, and I am in the church, am I obligated to attend if I have already attended a Mass that day?
My Dad says I should just relax a bit. I don’t really have control of my attendance at Mass, though because he works, I feel I have an opportunity I should not miss (which I do).
I could just miss a couple more weeks and then confess, but that would be kinda like the sin of presumption, wouldn’t it?
Click to expand...
God bless you!
Yes, it is better to attend Mass even if you can’t receive Communion. You are not obligated to attend more than one Mass on Sunday. What else could you do during the other 2 Masses? Is there a babysitting ministry going on that you might like to join? Children’s liturgy?
Peace
 
SpiritFire said:
Hi! I am fifteen years old and my father is a music minister at a Catholic church. My family is split between Catholic and Evangelical/Nondenominational/Baptist (i.e. Protestant:))
I have come back to the Catholic faith (Thanks be to God!) and desperately want to live the
Catholic life. So…
  1. I can go with my father to all three Sunday Masses.
  2. With my mother and brothers to the Protestant church. (which I have no interest for anymore).
    I have a confession on the 12th of march. Since it is a sin to miss Mass, it is better for me to go to Mass even if I can’t receive Communion until after the 12th, right?
    Also, If there is Mass going on in the church, and I am in the church, am I obligated to attend if I have already attended a Mass that day?
    My Dad says I should just relax a bit. I don’t really have control of my attendance at Mass, though because he works, I feel I have an opportunity I should not miss (which I do).
    I could just miss a couple more weeks and then confess, but that would be kinda like the sin of presumption, wouldn’t it?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

P.S. This is a rather painful process. I hate to 'Split" the family, but I believe God has called me to the Catholic Church and that is where I need to be. I also feel I have benefitted somewhat for my years attending a Protestant church. So it’s hard to call my family and the church they attend “heretical”. Not EVERYTHING is heretical!
But God has shown me the full truth belongs to the Church.
Click to expand...
I’m happy that you’ve embracing your faith so enthusiastically!

Keep in mind that, as you are likely unable to drive yourself to Mass (if a church is not close by), your obligation to Mass isn’t binding if you have no reasonable or safe means to get there, or if you have an illness, particularly one that’s contagious or leaves you bedridden. Our Church asks much of us, but not for us to do the impossible!

Going to Mass is always beneficial, even if you cannot receive the Eucharist.

Should you miss Mass because you can’t get there safely, you needn’t go to confession for this reason alone, as you haven’t committed a sin because of a just inability to get to the church.

Since your dad is the music director, you have a great opportunity to get to Mass anytime you want. If you cannot attend otherwise through no fault of your own, don’t feel bad about it.
 
15! Great!

( I started becoming Catholic when I was around 14…I was a Baptist…but am completely Catholic for I was never really a good Baptist…did not take to church as a child)

( Goto Mass if you can…Your Pastor can dispense you from Mass attendance as well if need be …remember that)

Oh make sure you read these:

vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/youth/index_en.htm

Keep following Christ!
 
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