Missing Sunday Mass - Mortal Sin, Venial Sin, or no sin at all?

[Abigail]

Mary loves God, prays daily, obeys the Church, and has been going to Mass regularly for 50 years. She has studied the catechism and believes she has an informed conscience. She lives in a rural area, and the closest parish is over 30 minutes away. It is a struggle for her to go because the Mass is early, and she dislikes the music, but she tries to do it with a good will.

Sunday morning, Mary is tired and irritable, but not “sick” enough that she wouldn’t go to work. She just can’t face the early rising, the long drive on bad roads, and the chaotic atmosphere at the Church. She loves God, and doesn’t intend to stop going to Mass. She just needs a day off, and doesn’t have the mental strength to make the necessary sacrifice. She decides to skip Mass, and to confess before receiving Holy Communion.

Has Mary sinned mortally? She knew she was obligated to go to Mass, she could have gone, and decided not to go. That seems to fit the formula of grave matter + sufficient knowledge and reflection + full consent of the will.
Is succumbing to human weakness the equivalent of intentionally rejecting God, or does the desire not to sin (although overcome by weakness) vitiate full consent?
Does her decision completely cut her off from God and his grace?

Has Mary sinned venially? What if Mary concluded, based on what she had studied, that her sin was venial because she wasn’t refusing to go to Mass because she was defying Church authority or because she didn’t want to worship God. She continues to go to Mass and receive Holy Communion for the rest of her life.
Does Mary’s belief that her sin is venial make it so?
If not, is her continued practice of the faith void of all grace?

Or, has Mary not sinned at all? What if Mary considered the above and couldn’t come to a conclusion? She just wasn’t sure whether skipping Mass under the circumstances is a mortal or venial sin, or a sin at all. Perhaps she was so tired she really was “sick.” Maybe driving while “tired” is something she shouldn’t do. It was early in the morning when she was trying to make her decision, and she wasn’t completely awake. She thought she might be making excuses for herself, but her priest had told her, “Mary, you tend to be scrupulous. If you aren’t sure something is a mortal in, it isn’t.” She isn’t sure.

There’s something disturbing to me about having to go through these mental gymnastics to answer a basic question, and coming up with answers that range from serious mortal sin to no sin at all. PLEASE help me get a better understanding of the underlying principles here. If sin is not determined by intent, it would be possible to sin by mistake, which I understand is not possible. But if the only element is intent, how can there be sin in the objective sense?

PLEASE provide citations in support of your arguments.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bilop]

From the Catechism.

The Sunday obligation

2180 The precept of the Church specifies the law of the Lord more precisely: "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass."117 "The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day."118

2181 The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor.119 Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.

So, to deliberately skip Mass for no serious reason is a grave sin. If Mary knows that it is sinful, and still does it anyway, it is a mortal sin. I don’t think any “mental gymnastics” are needed to reach this conclusion.

God Bless

 

[ChristHealsAll]

is going on a remote trip, i.e. a cruise, and missing Sunday mass a mortal sin (there is no mass on board the ship?) and is it wrong to take a fellow catholic with you, indirectly (or perhaps directly) causing them to miss mass as well?

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Are there still churches with only ONE Mass? I suppose there could be?

I usually go to the Vigil, was too sick this weekend, recovered later Saturday night, and felt really odd, despite knowing I’d have at least three more Masses I could attend.

 

[LilyM]

From the Catechism.

So, to deliberately skip Mass for no serious reason is a grave sin. If Mary knows that it is sinful, and still does it anyway, it is a mortal sin. I don’t think any “mental gymnastics” are needed to reach this conclusion.

God Bless

Amen! A Catholic who has studied their catechism and having a well-formed conscience will accept what it teaches about missing Sunday Mass. Ie that it is grave matter, and therefore if committed with full knowledge (which she has) and intent not to go (which she also has) - a mortal sin.

As for rest - there is one place of true rest, and that is in Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist! Jesus said ‘come to me all you that are weary’ - not ‘stay home, watch football or what have you’.

 

[Abigail]

Dear bilop and LilyM,

Thanks for responding.

But, I think if you will re-read my post, you will find that the question I am exploring is whether Mary HAS the full knowledge and intent required for mortal sin.

Imagine two people. One is Mary, a devout Catholic who loves God and succumbs once to human weakness. The other is Tom, who denies the existence of God and vows never to set foot in a church or attend Mass because God doesn’t exist, and if He does exist, Tom hates him with all his heart. Is there a difference between these two decisions not to attend Mass. If so, what is it? If not, why is there no difference?

 

[JamesE24]

Dear bilop and LilyM,

Thanks for responding.

But, I think if you will re-read my post, you will find that the question I am exploring is whether Mary HAS the full knowledge and intent required for mortal sin.

Imagine two people. One is Mary, a devout Catholic who loves God and succumbs once to human weakness. The other is Tom, who denies the existence of God and vows never to set foot in a church or attend Mass because God doesn’t exist, and if He does exist, Tom hates him with all his heart. Is there a difference between these two decisions not to attend Mass. If so, what is it? If not, why is there no difference?

Look at it this way. Mary loves God, but decides that she to inconvieniced to bother enountering him Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist on Sunday. We are hurt more when those who love us hurt us, than when those who don’t love us hurt us. Mary said that her own comfort was more important to her than recieving Christ. She had the incomprehensible gift of meeting Jesus Christ face to face and she was too “tired and irritable” to bother?

We can commit mortal sins through weakness. Pilate sinned mortally by condeming Christ, not because he held any malice towards Christ, but because he was afraid of the Pharasees and too weak to oppose them.

Sin is when we choose our will over God’s. We decide that we have a better plan than He does. From what you say, it sounds like Mary had decided that her plan made her more happy than God’s. You shouldn’t compare her to someone who hates God. That’s like asking, “Which is worse, if your mortal enemy doesn’t come to your wedding because he hates you, or your best friend because he is too tired?”

 

[guanophore]

Dear bilop and LilyM,

Thanks for responding.

But, I think if you will re-read my post, you will find that the question I am exploring is whether Mary HAS the full knowledge and intent required for mortal sin.

Imagine two people. One is Mary, a devout Catholic who loves God and succumbs once to human weakness. The other is Tom, who denies the existence of God and vows never to set foot in a church or attend Mass because God doesn’t exist, and if He does exist, Tom hates him with all his heart. Is there a difference between these two decisions not to attend Mass. If so, what is it? If not, why is there no difference?

I think it would be helpful here to apply the elements of what defines mortal sin. In the examples that you give, it does not seem that the elements are present, as they would be for Mary.

The seriousness of a sin upon a person is based at least in part, upon his knowledge of the grave matter. If Tom is a baptized Catholic, it is a grave matter that he is not partaking of the sacraments. However, if he has been improperly catechized, and doesn to understand the nature of the Mass or the reason it is grave matter, as Mary does, then his culpability of sin is not as great as hers. To those whom much will be required. The more one knows about their faith, the more responsibility one has for living in it.

 

[Nick_in_MB]

Are there still churches with only ONE Mass? I suppose there could be?

I usually go to the Vigil, was too sick this weekend, recovered later Saturday night, and felt really odd, despite knowing I’d have at least three more Masses I could attend.

Yeah, there are. There’s a mission parish in my town that only has Mass at 11:00am Sunday. No other times, not even for Holy Days of Obligation. For those, and things like Confession, you’re directed to go 30 minutes away to another parish.

 

[LilyM]

Dear bilop and LilyM,

Thanks for responding.

But, I think if you will re-read my post, you will find that the question I am exploring is whether Mary HAS the full knowledge and intent required for mortal sin.

Imagine two people. One is Mary, a devout Catholic who loves God and succumbs once to human weakness. The other is Tom, who denies the existence of God and vows never to set foot in a church or attend Mass because God doesn’t exist, and if He does exist, Tom hates him with all his heart. Is there a difference between these two decisions not to attend Mass. If so, what is it? If not, why is there no difference?

Full knowledge - means you need to know that the Church has declared it grave matter. As we know that Jesus has declared thinking lustful thoughts to be equal in gravity to the act of adultery.

Do we know all the whys and wherefores behind that equivalence? Not necessarily, we need only know that He said it was so for it to be binding on us. The Church speaks in His name and with His authority, so similarly we don’t need to know all the whys and wherefores, we need to know that the Magisterium has said it was so in regard to missing Sunday Mass.

Intent? Intent isn’t necessarily required - intent isn’t really one of the elements of the mortal sin if you look at the Catechism, although it can go to consent and thus free will (ie you certainly can’t sin by accident). All that is required is CONsent - in other words to freely choose to do the gravely sinful act knowing that it is grave matter. Whether you really INTEND to offend God by it or not doesn’t matter, as long as you know that the Church teaches that it DOES offend God.

As for the difference between your two examples - the only relevant difference might be knowledge. Assuming that Tom doesn’t know that the Church teaches that missing Mass is grave matter, he isn’t sinning mortally. If he does know he isn’t saved from being bound by his rejection of Church teaching. He would only, possibly, be saved by invincible ignorance which isn’t an issue for him if he was taught Catholic teaching.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Yeah, there are. There’s a mission parish in my town that only has Mass at 11:00am Sunday. No other times, not even for Holy Days of Obligation. For those, and things like Confession, you’re directed to go 30 minutes away to another parish.

Interesting. I guess that we’re really fortunate around here. There are also three or four churches within a 20-minute drive or so.

 

[Abigail]

WOW! The responses to this question really surprise me!

My father was a pretty serous guy. He hosted a weekly Sunday dinner, and he expected everyone to be there. BUT, if every once in a while someone couldn’t make it, he never would have thrown them out of the family. He understood that sometimes, things happen. He loved his children enough to sympathize with them rather than blame them (the sabbath is made for man, rather than man being made for the sabbath).

HOWEVER, if someone didn’t show up and told him the reason was that they were sick and tired of feeling obligated, and that they weren’t going to ever come again because they didn’t like him and didn’t believe he had any right to insist that he attend, my father probably would have thrown him out (for a while, until he came to his senses).

Am I really reading this correctly - that people think that someone who doesn’t go to Mass because they hate God is less culpable than someone who succumbs to human weakness?

That doesn’t sound like a loving father. A loving father wouldn’t say, “come, enjoy my company and my hospitality. It is open to you, every week. But woe unto you if you can’t make it. You will then be cast into the outer darkness, regardless of whether you love me or not.”

 

[slyboots]

Gotta say this is one convicting thread.
I missed mass last Sunday. I was sleepy and just flat didn’t get up and out of bed. Foolish of me. I forget that I should be working out my salvation in fear and trembling. Mea culpa. I have been wrong. :imsorry:

 

[Abigail]

Slyboots – yes, indeed, you were wrong!

The question is whether you were so wrong that you are now COMPLETELY cut off from God’s grace, have been expelled from God’s family, have chosen to align yourself with God’s enemies, and have declared yourself an enemy of God.

My guess is, no. I think mortal sin is a whole lot more serious. And that’s what I had hoped to explore in this post.

I am reminded of the story in scripture, where Jesus declares that the sabbath was created for man, not man for the sabbath. Attending Mass every single Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation is not an easy task. It cannot be compared to attending the Wedding Feast described in scripture. It must be compared to attending a wedding feast every week, and other times as well. Surely, God must understand that even well-intended human beings who make every effort are going to sometimes fall short of this goal.

To me, there is a GREAT deal of difference between refusing to go to Mass because one does not love God and will not obey his Church, and a regular church-goer giving in to human weakness now and then. But, that’s just me.

 

[LilyM]

Slyboots – yes, indeed, you were wrong!

The question is whether you were so wrong that you are now COMPLETELY cut off from God’s grace, have been expelled from God’s family, have chosen to align yourself with God’s enemies, and have declared yourself an enemy of God.

My guess is, no. I think mortal sin is a whole lot more serious. And that’s what I had hoped to explore in this post.

I am reminded of the story in scripture, where Jesus declares that the sabbath was created for man, not man for the sabbath. Attending Mass every single Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation is not an easy task. It cannot be compared to attending the Wedding Feast described in scripture. It must be compared to attending a wedding feast every week, and other times as well. Surely, God must understand that even well-intended human beings who make every effort are going to sometimes fall short of this goal.

To me, there is a GREAT deal of difference between refusing to go to Mass because one does not love God and will not obey his Church, and a regular church-goer giving in to human weakness now and then. But, that’s just me.

Not saying there’s no difference, hun. But it’s like the difference between death by a hundred stab wounds and death by some nice painless sweet-tasting poison. They’re very different but both will kill you, no?

Point is EVERYONE who, being able to go to Mass and knowing the Church teaches that we must, doesn’t, is someone who does not love God and will not obey His church, no? Maybe to a different degree in some cases as opposed to others, but in terms of disobeying the commandments they’ll tend to be different degrees of mortal sin.

Yes God recognises that we will fall short of the goal - that’s why He instituted the sacrament of confession for when we fail. But He nonetheless commanded us to be perfect, and He never commands the impossible. And our weakness is no excuse for sinning - otherwise why were Adam and Eve condemned? I’m sure if pressed they could come up with all sorts of plausible excuses - such as natural human weakness.

The moral of the story is that ‘human weakness’ of the kind that would cause us to neglect* any* of God’s commands isn’t *natural *human weakness at all, but is sinful weakness and of the Devil. Who would love nothing better than for us to be convinced that our sinful neglects are somehow natural and impossible to overcome. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Mary was sinless - Christ was sinless - we’re not expected to be sinless all our lives, but with God’s help it is certainly possible to reach a point where we at the very least are able to avoid such obvious sins as deliberately missing Mass when it is possible to go.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Slyboots – yes, indeed, you were wrong!

The question is whether you were so wrong that you are now COMPLETELY cut off from God’s grace, have been expelled from God’s family, have chosen to align yourself with God’s enemies, and have declared yourself an enemy of God.

My guess is, no. I think mortal sin is a whole lot more serious. And that’s what I had hoped to explore in this post.

I am reminded of the story in scripture, where Jesus declares that the sabbath was created for man, not man for the sabbath. Attending Mass every single Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation is not an easy task. It cannot be compared to attending the Wedding Feast described in scripture. It must be compared to attending a wedding feast every week, and other times as well. Surely, God must understand that even well-intended human beings who make every effort are going to sometimes fall short of this goal.

To me, there is a GREAT deal of difference between refusing to go to Mass because one does not love God and will not obey his Church, and a regular church-goer giving in to human weakness now and then. But, that’s just me.

I think I agree with you. I’m recalling Frs. Levis and Trigilio saying that if you’re sick, caring for someone sick, or the weather is so inclement that going out in it would risk lives, it is not a mortal sin to miss Mass. As for those other reasons, isn’t that what Confession is for?

 

[richsmith]

Missing Sunday Mass unless one is sick or cannot get to Mass for good reason, is a mortal sin. Unfortunately, many Caholics have taken the position that attending Sunday Mass is no longer an obligation if it is inconvenient. Worse yet, in our little rural church folks show up ocassionally, usually late for Mass, and then receive Communion without the benefit of Confession which is available only immediately beforre Mass. I know many of them know better, I prepared them for Confirmation.

 

[Abigail]

Some good observations, LilyM. Every time we fall short of the perfection God demands of us and don’t do what He commands through his Church, we sin.

But there are two kinds of sin. Mortal sin and venial sin.

For example, stealing is a sin against God’s commandment not to covet. That is a principle as important as the worship of God, because Jesus told us that the sum of the law is to love God, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. It is one of the Ten Commandments.

I have heard that stealing $10,000 is “grave matter” and mortal sin, but stealing a penny isn’t. Why? Both are knowing, voluntary and intentional disregard for God’s commands. One could even argue that stealing the penny is worse, because a person who steals a penny is showing he is willing to transgress God’s laws for a very small amount. Is stealing a penny venial sin because it doesn’t involve a large sum? Is stealing a penny venial sin because someone might not know it’s a sin? Not likely – even a child knows that taking ANYTHING that belongs to another is stealing. Is stealing a penny venial sin because the person didn’t fully consent? Nope. They knew God commands us not to sin. They knew taking the penny was wrong. And they did it anyway. Why is this venial rather than mortal sin?

The Church makes a distinction between mortal and venial sin, so that distinction must be important and there must be a reason for it. There must be ways to transgress that do not cut us off from God’s grace…otherwise known as venial sin. As we know, we are not obliged to confess venial sin. So, it appears that not ALL disobedience to God’s law requires confession. What I am exploring here is the distinction between mortal and venial sin.

 

[Ginkgo100]

Dear bilop and LilyM,

Thanks for responding.

But, I think if you will re-read my post, you will find that the question I am exploring is whether Mary HAS the full knowledge and intent required for mortal sin.

Imagine two people. One is Mary, a devout Catholic who loves God and succumbs once to human weakness. The other is Tom, who denies the existence of God and vows never to set foot in a church or attend Mass because God doesn’t exist, and if He does exist, Tom hates him with all his heart. Is there a difference between these two decisions not to attend Mass. If so, what is it? If not, why is there no difference?

When I approach this question, I don’t find I need to do any “mental gymnastics.” It’s simple: I ask myself, “Can I go to Mass?” If yes, then I must go. If no, then I am excused.

I’ll make a confession (maybe the confessional would be a better place than this forum, but then again I feel my conscience is clear and I want to share an example.) In the past six weeks, I’ve missed Sunday Mass twice because I “didn’t feel like it.” That may sound bad, but here are some additional facts: I am suffering from some condition, still not diagnosed (I’m on my 5th different doctor right now), that often leaves me so fatigued as to be debilitated. On bad days, I can barely move, am afraid to drive (lest I doze off), and am overwhelmed by any task requiring more effort than getting dressed (and even that is hard). Two of those bad days happened to fall on Sundays. I feel I was sick enough, even though the illness is undefined, to be justified. I just didn’t have the strength. It happened again this past Sunday, and I missed 9:00 Mass, the one I usually attend. But by about 9:30, it was clear that the exhaustion was becoming manageable, so I figured I still had to fill my obligation, and I went to the 11:00 Mass. I had to take a nap afterward, but I made it!

Unlike Mary, I am lucky enough to have many Masses available all day Sunday, even in the evening. I think if you miss your “usual” Mass, you are still obligated to go to a later one if possible, even if it’s inconvenient.

You said Mary didn’t have the “mental strength” to go to Mass. If this means she suffers from an illness like depression, she might be excused—although, as a depression survivor, I have to say that the Eucharist is invaluable to recovery. If Mary just failed to wake up in time through no fault of her own (and that includes being partially awake and not in full command of her decisions), she would be excused.

Remember that even devout Catholics can fall into mortal sin. You’re never “holy enough” to be immune. If Mary had full knowledge of the gravity of her obligation, had no illness or other circumstance to keep her away, and freely chose to just skip it today because she preferred to do her own thing, it appears she committed a mortal sin. She should go to confession ASAP, and not receive Communion until she does. Perhaps God, in His mercy, would judge her leniently were she to die; but, with the criteria for a mortal sin being fulfilled, we can never make such a presumption.

 

[itsjim]

Just a bystander on this thread, but could someone expand on the quote by LilyM. “they’ll tend to be different degrees of mortal sin”

AS for the thread, I find it very interesting, and hope this discussion continues.

TIA,
jim