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fakename
Guest
Considering that I may’ve been wrongly late (but by only a 3-5 min), should I go to another mass?
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B
beth40n2
Guest
As a general rule, if you are there in time for the reading of the gospel, you may recieve communion and going to another mass is not needed.
T
thistle
Guest
For your information being able to receive Communion has nothing to do with when you arrive at Mass.
If you are in a state of grace and fasted for at least one hour you could arrive at Mass and walk straight into the Communion line to receive.
C
Corki
Guest
What do you mean by “wrongly late”? Were you careless or did you deliberately plan to arrive after the greeting and Confetior? If the latter, then you might have something to deal with. However, I doubt you could resolve it in time for another Mass on the same day.
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fakename
Guest
more like careless.
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Catholic1954
Guest
If you were there in time for the Gospel reading, then you should not have to attend another Mass. You should not leave before Communion.
E
E_7
Guest
My Opus Dei spiritual director said that you are not late if you made it before the Apostles Creed. 
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fakename
Guest
Interesting, I was told that the one should intend to be at the whole mass though…My Opus Dei spiritual director said that you are not late if you made it before the Apostles Creed.
And yet, if it was a sin to not attend the whole mass, then why the pre-Vatican II rules that one would not be vicious to not come early or even at the beginning?
T
thistle
Guest
The Church states you must participate (attend) in the Mass but there are no documents to state that you must arrive by a certain time. Even pre-Vatican II there were no such documents.
Obviously it is disrespectful (but not a sin of grave matter) if you deliberately turn up after it has begun or are careless about time and regularly turn up after Mass has started…
The golden rule (unwritten) is that the priest should be last into Church and first out.
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fakename
Guest
I don’t quite understand your wording here. If it is a golden rule then it is obligatory but since it is not obligatory to arrive before the Apostle’s Creed then why is it called a golden rule.
It’s very confusing. And if there are no standards for too late, then how can someone know when they are indeed too late? What about the standards posted above?
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bmonk
Guest
The old rule was arrive by the Gospel, leave not before communion. This could (and did) lead to minimalism: what’s the least I can do to satisfy the rules. It’s not a very Christian attitude.
The modern rule is that the Mass is a complete liturgy, and you should make the effort to be there for the whole thing. Otherwise, we’d only need to have the minimum. However, being human, this will not always happen.
I think more important is to consider why you might be late, and whether you need to adjust your priorities.
Were you busy helping someone (act of charity) or unavoidably delayed–say, by a train stopped on the tracks? Did you wake up late? Did you intentionally miss the first few minutes? Is it a matter of habit, being late–and how do you handle it when it matters, such as being on time for work, for court, for meeting your boss? (Mass should matter more. Do what you need to do to be on time.) Is it a passive-aggressive protest?
As a priest, if I do not make it into the church in time to vest and join the full liturgy, I may not concelebrate–but I may take part in what I can.
So: should you attend another Mass? Well, why were you late? Does it matter enough to you that you feel you need to attend a full Mass? Is it a minor enough sin to ask God’s mercy and to learn from it in the future?
The modern rule is that the Mass is a complete liturgy, and you should make the effort to be there for the whole thing. Otherwise, we’d only need to have the minimum. However, being human, this will not always happen.
I think more important is to consider why you might be late, and whether you need to adjust your priorities.
Were you busy helping someone (act of charity) or unavoidably delayed–say, by a train stopped on the tracks? Did you wake up late? Did you intentionally miss the first few minutes? Is it a matter of habit, being late–and how do you handle it when it matters, such as being on time for work, for court, for meeting your boss? (Mass should matter more. Do what you need to do to be on time.) Is it a passive-aggressive protest?
As a priest, if I do not make it into the church in time to vest and join the full liturgy, I may not concelebrate–but I may take part in what I can.
So: should you attend another Mass? Well, why were you late? Does it matter enough to you that you feel you need to attend a full Mass? Is it a minor enough sin to ask God’s mercy and to learn from it in the future?
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1ke
Guest
Via conscience formation and guidance of one’s priest.
These may be guidelins given to individuals by well-meaning priests, or by parents, but the Church has no such standards.
Late is late. If one is late habitually, one should better prepare and talk to their priest about their tardiness in the confessional. Being late one time is not a mortal sin that needs confessing. And of course, being late through no fault of one’s own (flat tire, sick child, weather, etc) is never sinful.
H
Highwayhound
Guest
I will answer this as though the question were posed to me by one of my confirmation students. I would suggest to them not to worry about whether they were late so much as I would suggest they concentrate on the virtue of dilligence. By always arriving at a minimum of 15 minutes early then one has time to pray and settle in without any worry about rules or such.
Also, when at mass you and I are members of the Body of Christ and that is a good thing. In fact today during class I mentioned to one girl that when she does not attend mass that something important is missing from the Body of Christ.
God bless
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fakename
Guest
If you are late to mass, wouldn’t that mean you did not fulfill the mass obligation? And so there is the importance of knowing what is late and what is not.
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1ke
Guest
No, it does not necessarily maen that.
Late = Mass has started and you are not there
Late is any time after Mass begins, not at some point of arriving after the Mass has begun.
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bmonk
Guest
I’ve been thinking about this question, and it often does come down to our basic attitude.
The question is why am I attending Mass? What counts?
What if we looked at another festival soon to come (at least in the US): Thanksgiving.
How do I know if I properly celebrated Thanksgiving?
I might approach it by the minimum: what if I ate just the dinner feast? And what is the minimum there? One bite of turkey, and one cranberry? Do I need a forkful of mashed potatoes and gravy? What about a sip of wine–or is it a glass?
How much do I need to socialize? Must I talk to those on both sides, or is just one side enough? How many comments are needed? One joke?
How much of the game do I need to watch after to count? One minute? One play? One touchdown?
We can quickly see how absurd all that is. Unfortunately, many people do make this sort of thing of Thanksgiving–well, perhaps not that extreme, but close enough. Thanksgiving can become a burden rather than a joyful reflection and time to give thanks.
And true celebrating means being there, making the effort to be on time, taking part in a reasonable way: eating and drinking, talking and all the rest–unless there is a very good reason not to (you will have surgery the next day, and must fast for 24 hours. There was an accident, and you got caught in the traffic jam for too long to get there on time).
Now, look at the Mass that way: it is our prime time each week (or day) to be with God, and with the brothers and sisters in God’s family, to celebrate, to remember what we’ve done and prepare for the next few days, to be refreshed and nourished, and above all else to celebrate. If you did that, fine. If you find that you were more laboring under the burden, getting away with the minimum, perhaps you have greater problems than being late by a few minutes–problems that being late has perhaps allowed to come to light and be dealt with.
The question is why am I attending Mass? What counts?
What if we looked at another festival soon to come (at least in the US): Thanksgiving.
How do I know if I properly celebrated Thanksgiving?
I might approach it by the minimum: what if I ate just the dinner feast? And what is the minimum there? One bite of turkey, and one cranberry? Do I need a forkful of mashed potatoes and gravy? What about a sip of wine–or is it a glass?
How much do I need to socialize? Must I talk to those on both sides, or is just one side enough? How many comments are needed? One joke?
How much of the game do I need to watch after to count? One minute? One play? One touchdown?
We can quickly see how absurd all that is. Unfortunately, many people do make this sort of thing of Thanksgiving–well, perhaps not that extreme, but close enough. Thanksgiving can become a burden rather than a joyful reflection and time to give thanks.
And true celebrating means being there, making the effort to be on time, taking part in a reasonable way: eating and drinking, talking and all the rest–unless there is a very good reason not to (you will have surgery the next day, and must fast for 24 hours. There was an accident, and you got caught in the traffic jam for too long to get there on time).
Now, look at the Mass that way: it is our prime time each week (or day) to be with God, and with the brothers and sisters in God’s family, to celebrate, to remember what we’ve done and prepare for the next few days, to be refreshed and nourished, and above all else to celebrate. If you did that, fine. If you find that you were more laboring under the burden, getting away with the minimum, perhaps you have greater problems than being late by a few minutes–problems that being late has perhaps allowed to come to light and be dealt with.
K
Kathrin
Guest
It’s been years now that a priest told me that the new rule was that you missed mass if you miss ANY of the readings. But I think I have heard other things too. Best ask your priest if you are unsure whether or not you fulfilled your obligation by being late at a particular mass. He may also determine your situation bettrer, e.g. the reasons for being late etc. Plus sicne he is a priest you can trust thatwhen following his answer you are not sinning
H
Highwayhound
Guest
So, are you going to be early to mass this coming Sunday?
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1ke
Guest
There is no rule.
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