Thank you! And yes, I like your name too
The burdens of taking care of others or ones self in regards to medical conditions is definitely a hardship. I don’t know if your examples are just examples, or are things you are having to deal with in your life, but if you are having to deal with these things I will definitely pray for you as that is quite a lot for one person to juggle.
God and the church do indeed understand our struggles and grants exceptions for when we are obligated to take care of others. If someone has a mental health condition that makes attending mass a problem, speaking with a priest would surely help to come up with guidance and solutions to clarify ones personal obligations.
The examples above would definitely add a lot of things into ones life that could lead to it being “complicated” for someone.
I also believe that it is not the external stimulus, but the internal reaction that determines how simple or complicated ones life is. I have known many people that are frazzled and at their wits end dealing with way less than what you listed above, but I also know people that have dealt with more, yet they view their lives as a blessing and a joy and live them simply and humbly.
Our emotional responses to life can be seen as a byproduct of our spiritual fortitude. Life can throw us a lot of curve balls, but it is he we react to them that determines what kind of ball player we are
Embracing his grace and his will gives us the tools we need to succeed. Mary had quite a lot of hardships to weather, but being “full of grace” and completely submissive to God’s will led her through them.
As for the opening poster, I would categorize choosing a class over mass as choosing something worldly over God. Unlike taking care of someone with Alzheimer’s, college classes are something one chooses to do for oneself to better themselves in this world. They are not a burden or a hardship like the examples you gave above, but something that is actually a blessing to even have the option to attend. Much of the world is not so lucky to have this kind of dilemma, which I would definitely say is a “first world problem”.
So many people are struggling with much more critical dilemmas, like taking care of sick family members, dealing with serious illness, facing religious persecution, etc… So being in a position to chose between one class and a holy day of obligation is really a luxury.
While going to college is a noble and good thing to do, as we should make the most of our talents and skills and avoid laziness, it is still something that should not be placed above our obligations to God.
And yes I totally agree that we should not burden people more than they already are. In your above examples, I think the appropriate response would not be to just tell someone that they still need to go to mass, but instead offer to stay with their father so they could go to a mass, or tell them that their autistic granddaughter is a beautiful child of God and is welcome at mass just like anyone else. Instead of chastising someone for avoiding mass because of their anxiety, offer to keep them company if that would help comfort them, or try to find them somewhere to sit where they have some space, or find a less crowded mass option for them.
For those with true burdens like these, or response should be to help them, to take on some of their burdens, to let out Christ light shine and be champions for them.
For those with just hypothetical first world problems though, I will still try to guide them to see the beauty in deciding to chose God over anything that is of this world.
we must not only have faith in our Lord, but attempt to follow in his footsteps as best we can.