Mortal sin? Forgot Saturday mass, can’t go tomorrow

[Megansmith43]

I haven’t missed Sunday Mass in years. I’m a teenage girl and my entire family is away, and I’ve had the day (and the house) to myself. Unfortunately, I just realized I completely forgot to go to Saturday mass, and I feel terrible. I can’t go tomorrow because I’m getting picked up by another family to go to a mandatory music training camp for the next week, at 6am. I have already checked all of the mass times in my city, but I’ve missed all the Saturday ones and there’s none on Sunday sooner than 6. I hesitate to tell my parents, because I know they’ll be angry and they may not let me go to camp, which would result in me getting kicked out of the orchestra. What do I do??? Could I watch it on television? I have no drives anywhere, I was supposed to walk, so it’s not like my parents could come with me to the camp and then take me out for an hour to go to mass. What should I do?

 

[Roseeurekacross]

@edward_george1

@edward_george

 

[Gertabelle]

Tell your parent the truth and then discuss your options.

Yeah, they may be mad – I’m a mom, I get that. But if missing camp means being kicked out of orchestra, they may be eager to find a way to help you.

Have you checked the mass times for tomorrow evening?

And completely forgetting your obligation to go to mass is kind of a big deal, from this mom’s point of view. I mean seriously, if you were required to meet with your friends for dinner this evening, would you have forgotten?

Hang in there. Trust your parents, and tell them the truth. It’ll all work out in the end – promise.

 

[DarkLight]

I mean seriously, if you were required to meet with your friends for dinner this evening, would you have forgotten?

To be fair, I have forgotten things like that on several occasions.

Do tell your parents. There are options.

 

[Gertabelle]

Gertabelle:

I mean seriously, if you were required to meet with your friends for dinner this evening, would you have forgotten?

To be fair, I have forgotten things like that on several occasions.

Do tell your parents. There are options.

Yeah, I know, me too. But as a mom, if my son told me he’d just forgotten, I’d be upset with him. And then we’d move on to finding solutions, 'cause that’s what ya do.

 

[Megansmith43]

Thanks for responding, but I would like to add that the camp is a week long, and because it’s 2 hours out of town, and my parents are about 15 hours out of town, I don’t see how it would be possible to do both. Would watching mass online suffice? My parents will be upset when I tell them I forgot, but I really did forget, I’m used to going Sunday morning.

 

[Gertabelle]

No, watching mass does not replace one’s obligation to go to mass. On the upside, you can trust that God knows the heart, and He does not require us to do the impossible. Many of us old folks have stories about missing mass due to travelling, for example. Sometimes getting to mass just isn’t possible.

It’s a pity you missed mass this evening.

But do contact your parents and let them know, so that you don’t feel like you have to hide something from them – secrets like that are the worst. If you have a good relationship with them, they’ll understand an honest mistake and will get over it quick enough. You might be surprised what it’s like being on this side of the parent-child relationship.

Have courage. As a parent I can also tell you that I’m not gonna waste years of paying for lessons and instruments by letting my child miss a required camp. So you have that on your side.

See if you can find this Sunday’s mass online just so you can participate in the prayers. And text/talk with your parents. Apologize, promise to do better, and accept their disappointment. And be sure to get some sleep if you’re gonna be leaving so early in the morning!

 

[TheLittleLady]

You are a minor, you can only do what your parents permit. Offer up your suffering of missing Mass and have fun at camp. The world needs more great Catholic musicians!

 

[DarkLight]

Actually, come to think of it, I did in fact forget about our last holy day of obligation. I had some job stuff to do that morning (when I intended to go to Mass) and forgot to set my alarm early enough to make it. And of course with how late I work there was no time to get to an evening Mass.