Not praying publically

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Kyrieeleison123

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Today I celebrated my birthday with aprox. 30 friends.

My plan was to stand before we started eating, say a few words of gratitude and then proceed to pray the: “Bless us oh Lord…”

But the food wasn’t there on time. And once it was, some people got up, served themselves and started eating. Some just stayed at the table talking. Others were dispersed all around the backyard.

So because of this, I hesitantly decided to say my prayers alone and in silence, and not summon this little speech/public prayer I had planned.

Honestly, I also didn’t do it because I didn’t want to bother people who were either already eating, talking at the table, or elsewhere doing other things. Among my friends there are atheists, agnostics, protestants, etc. And I also didn’t want them to feel uncomfortable if I very forcibly started doing this out of nowhere and with so much stuff going on.

Do you think this was a sinful or immoral act?

Please let me know because it has got me thinking a lot!

God love you!
 
I’ve faced this problem before in my life. My family’s Lutheran and the last time they asked me to say grace before a meal, I invoked the saints and they never asked me to say grace again yet.

Generally, I just pray in private as Our Lord instructed us to pray in our closets.

That being said: What you said got me to thinking why I shouldn’t pray like a Catholic in public? We have the religious freedom, in theory; to pray as we choose and I’m wondering why shouldn’t I pray like a Catholic in public?

As in: When I bless the meal or wherever else I may be.

As for your question: If it’s just because of embarrassment or being self conscious; I don’t think it’s a mortal sin to not pray in public.
 
Kyrieeleison123 said:
I hesitantly decided to say my prayers alone and in silence,
Click to expand...
Grace before meals said ✅

Thoughtfulness towards your friends who had already begun to eat their meals etc. ✅
Kyrieeleison123 said:
My plan was to stand before we started eating, say a few words…pray the: "Bless us oh Lord…
But the food wasn’t there on time.
Click to expand...
Can’t say bless us oh Lord and these thy gifts which we are about to receive, when as you say the food wasn’t there.

So, where was the sin for failing to say grace out loud as you planned??? Especially as things did not go according to your plans.

If the food was there, and out of embarrassment for being Catholic, you decided to not say your grace before meals prayer, that would be a venial sin according to this examination of conscience by Fr Altier - It’s the first examination of conscience listed - click More and a pdf file will download/open for you to read - otherwise as it is copyrighted you will have to buy a copy as per the websites note.
 
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I think you are being way too hard on yourself. It isn’t a sin to pray by yourself.
 
It wasn’t sinful. You just didn’t plan properly given the way the food was served and the size of the gathering.

Next time if you want to say a pre-meal blessing, do it before the food appears and just yell out, “Hey everybody! I want to make a speech! Everybody be quiet!” and then if people continue to chat or wander around just talk over them.
 
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