[edited][edited] To a Catholic, the Eucharist (and by extension, Holy Mass) is the source and summit of our whole life of faith.
No. A doctor who knows that worshiping God in the Holy Mass is the most important thing he can do, also knows that when he has the chance to save a person’s life, he does what he can to save that life.Okay, so a doctor can choose between saving a rapidly dying patient and attending Mass. If attending Mass is more important than anything else, it follows that he should let his patient die so that he can go, right?
What’s the rationale for sacrificing something of greater importance for something of lesser importance? There is none. You can’t have it both ways; if one has priority over the other, it is the more important goal. If saving the life is preferable to attending Mass, in a case where you can accomplish only one, then saving lives is more important than Mass, which is in direct contradiction with the post you were defending.No. A doctor who knows that worshiping God in the Holy Mass is the most important thing he can do, also knows that when he has the chance to save a person’s life, he does what he can to save that life.
If attending Mass is the most important thing that one can do, there is no reason for missing it that has merit (if you could have made it). Those who created that prayer obviously did not believe that it is the most important thing.**In the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil, there is a prayer for those “absent for a reason worthy of a blessing.”
Wouldn’t tending the sick and trying to save a life come under this heading?**
What would you say, Oreoracle, is the “most important thing that one can do”?If attending Mass is the most important thing that one can do, there is no reason for missing it that has merit (if you could have made it). Those who created that prayer obviously did not believe that it is the most important thing.
The most important thing depends on the situation. I feel that the standard that will guide us to the most important thing(s) is the “greatest happiness principle” of utilitarianism. In short, I should seek to make others as happy as possible. This isn’t as suicidal as it sounds, because if one practices self-preservation, they can live longer (or just be in more powerful positions) and thus generate more happiness.What would you say, Oreoracle, is the “most important thing that one can do”?