Must a seven year old attend Mass on a holy day of obligation?

[Listener]

I know that an adult is excused from attending Mass on a holy day if they can’t go because they have to work. What about a child who is over the age of seven? Let’s say the child attends a public school, making it impossible for him to get to a morning mass.

If he attends the evening Mass, he won’t have time to complete his homework, and he will get to bed much later than necessary to be alert at school the next day. Are the parents obligated to make the child attend the evening mass?

Assume that they don’t live in the city and the church is more than ten miles away.

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Dear Listener,

If a seven year old child attends public school and cannot get to Mass in the morning, then he is obliged to attend Mass in the evening. The homework excuse doesn’t fly. A note to the teaching will suffice. Jewish children have no problem being excused for religious observances. The parents are obliged to teach their child that there is always time for putting God first—where He belongs! They don’t “make the child attend,” they demonstrate to the child the privilege of attending Mass which is the greatest thing that happens on the face of the earth! It is more than worth traveling severl miles to attend.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.