Unnecessary vacation and mass obligation

[theoda]

Hi all

Would it be a sin to knowingly go to a place on vacation where there would be no chance of going to Mass(since there would be none around), so basically I would skip it?

Or can I be excused?

Thanks

 

[Arizona_Fat_Gir]

Rent a car, boat, or plane.

 

[1ke]

Hi all

Would it be a sin to knowingly go to a place on vacation where there would be no chance of going to Mass(since there would be none around), so basically I would skip it?

Or can I be excused?

Thanks

If you are in a location where you do not have access to mass, you do not have an obligation.

You are not required to stay within X miles of a Catholic parish. Traveling may take you to a place, or create a circumstance, where you cannot attend Mass on a particular Sunday.

If you are concerned, talk to your pastor who can give you a dispensation ahead of time.

 

[GEddie]

If you are in a location where you do not have access to mass, you do not have an obligation.

You are not required to stay within X miles of a Catholic parish. Traveling may take you to a place, or create a circumstance, where you cannot attend Mass on a particular Sunday.

If you are concerned, talk to your pastor who can give you a dispensation ahead of time.

And if you are still concerned, go to additional Masses before or after the journey!

There is no canonical requirement to eschew travel that makes Mass impractical. Bon voyage!

ICXC NIKA

 

[Tarpeian_Rock]

Rent a car, boat, or plane.

This is neither a Church teaching nor requirement. There’s a difference between making a reasonable effort to attend Mass when there is a church available, and being somewhere - on a ship in the middle of the Pacific, or on mountainside in Alaska, where no church is available. If one is vacationing in Ireland, it would be hard to argue that getting to Mass would be a problem. If one is mainland China, or on a cruise ship without a priest on board, different story.

 

[powerofk]

Right. God does not expect the impossible. But if you know you’ll be going on vacation somewhere that doesn’t have a Catholic Mass available, it might be a good idea to get a dispensation from your pastor. This would be especially true if it’s a voluntary vacation, and not a military (or other job) assignment.

 

[mlz]

It is always good to talk to your priest and get a dispensation. This should not be used when it IS within your ability to get to a Mass albiet some rearrangements in schedule some…but if impossilbe, that’s when a dispensation is permitted. As a fairly new Catholic I find it a delight to find a Mass location to fit our trip! (After all we plan for everything else…even where we want to eat etc. so much more our need of the TRUE BREAD from Heaven)
mlz

 

[1ke]

This should not be used when it IS within your ability to get to a Mass albiet some rearrangements in schedule some…but if impossilbe, that’s when a dispensation is permitted.

This is not correct.

No dispensation is needed if it is not possible to attend Mass.

A dispensation is for times when it is possible, but you are requesting the obligation be dispensed for a just reason.

 

[Phemie]

This is not correct.

No dispensation is needed if it is not possible to attend Mass.

A dispensation is for times when it is possible, but you are requesting the obligation be dispensed for a just reason.

I considered asking for a dispensation last week when I had to fly to a work-related workshop.

The Saturday workshop ended before the Saturday evening Mass but the networking that goes on after those workshops is just as important so forgoing dinner with the group was not something I wanted to do. Then my flight was on Sunday morning. It would bring me back home after the only Mass on Sunday morning.

After thinking it over I decided, instead, to take my luggage (made sure to pack light) with me to the 8:30 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral and then got a cab to the airport directly from the Cathedral.

 

[adamhovey1988]

Hi all

Would it be a sin to knowingly go to a place on vacation where there would be no chance of going to Mass(since there would be none around), so basically I would skip it?

Or can I be excused?

Thanks

Okay so if you are going to somewhere with a large Eastern Orthodox or a large Church of the east or Oriental Orthodox population going to one of their services as long as it is like a Divine Liturgy or the Mass would be fulfill your Sunday obligation. But this has to be in absolute case of necessity. I remember hearing on EWTN Father Pacwa was talking about someone who lives in Russia and he lives 1200 miles away from the closest Catholic Church. My advice is that if you can’t do that plan a vacation somewhere else or at a different time

 

[1ke]

I considered asking for a dispensation last week when I had to fly to a work-related workshop.

The Saturday workshop ended before the Saturday evening Mass but the networking that goes on after those workshops is just as important so forgoing dinner with the group was not something I wanted to do. Then my flight was on Sunday morning. It would bring me back home after the only Mass on Sunday morning.

After thinking it over I decided, instead, to take my luggage (made sure to pack light) with me to the 8:30 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral and then got a cab to the airport directly from the Cathedral.

I’m considering asking for one in May for a similar reason. A work conference with pre-conference workshops that go Friday-Saturday and the conference starting on Sunday morning.

It’s at a downtown convention center and the area is a little sketchy so walking to a church in downtown by myself is not an option, and the Mass times of all the downtown churches are either when I’m in a session or just really stretching it for me to get to, especially in an unfamiliar city relying on public transport or cabs. And I am not a wimp by any stretch, I’ve gone to masses in many downtown cities or other work situations that required, bus, train, cab, and walking. I just know that I will have some real limitations and logistics to juggle.

So, I’ll be asking for a dispensation before I leave just in case it’s difficult to arrange getting to mass from the conference, since I won’t really get a sense of the logistics until I’m already there.

 

[1ke]

Okay so if you are going to somewhere with a large Eastern Orthodox or a large Church of the east or Oriental Orthodox population going to one of their services as long as it is like a Divine Liturgy or the Mass would be fulfill your Sunday obligation.
But this has to be in absolute case of necessity.

Attending an Orthodox liturgy is a nice thing to do, but it does NOT fulfill your obligation. The obligation is fulfilled in Catholic rites only.

Once again, if you cannot attend a Catholic Mass, you don’t have an obligation.

p.s.
Also, if one attends an Orthodox Divine Liturgy, one should not approach for communion as the Orthodox do not allow it.

 

[OraLabora]

A dispensation is for times when it is possible, but you are requesting the obligation be dispensed for a just reason.

To give a concrete example: 6 years ago I participated in a charity long-distance bike ride (Montreal to Quebec City in 2 days), to raise funds for cancer research (google “Ride to Conquer Cancer”), on behalf of the Montreal Jewish General Hospital which is a top-notch cancer research center in Canada.

The ride started bright and early on a Saturday morning. We camped in Trois-Rivières (small city half way). Obviously we had no transportation other than our bikes, and after riding over 145 km that day, were in no shape to find a Saturday evening Mass. Similarly, we hit the road bright and early Sunday morning for another 145 km.

I asked for a dispensation and since it was for a good cause, was granted it. Theoretically it was possible to find a Saturday evening Mass in Trois-Rivières, but feasibly, it would have been difficult to find a church, and ride and safely park our high-end road bikes with no facilities to lock them; moreover the ride rules required us to park our bikes in a secure compound upon arrival at the camp. As we were camped on the outskirts of town, it was not easy to find a church to walk to. Moreover after 145 km in the saddle we were more than just a little tired.

The ride was a great experience BTW, and I bumped into a couple of friends and former colleagues who also happened to be riding it. The toughest part was not the ride as we were well trained, it was coming up with the $2500 in sponsorships each ($2500 for me and the same for my wife).

 

[Edmundus1581]

This has been a useful thread to remind me of the option of a dispensation.

I will be traveling over a 1000 miles this weekend for a major birthday in my extended party. They are active Methodists. We have attended each others’ services from time to time, and it would be considerate of me, and good for family ties, to attend their church service on Sunday morning. I could probably attend a Catholic Mass at another time (or instead of their service), but with all the family business on the weekend it seems a difficult extra activity to squeeze in.

So, I’ll ask my pastor for a dispensation - and find out whether he agrees with my priorities.

As to the OP, I agree with 1KE’s response - no dispensation is needed in your situation. You are free to choose to travel for a just cause (including a vacation), and if you can’t attend Mass then there is no obligation. It only gets complicated if you can possibly attend Mass, say by driving for 2 hours on the Sunday - that’s where some confusion may arise, and possibly a need for a talk with your pastor if you are not confident to discern this for yourself.

 

[thecolorsblend]

If Mass isn’t available wherever you’re going, you shouldn’t even need a dispensation. I’m a worry wart though so I’d at least run it by my pastor anyway.

It’s interesting what criteria go into a dispensation though. I used to work a 7a-4p schedule on weekends. I’d do all in my power to attend Mass after work, though most of the accessible Masses started at 4:30 or 5p so the timing was inconvenient. Manageable but difficult because of how exhausted I was after work.

It was only after my schedule changed to four 10-hour days (with weekends off!) that my pastor mentioned he could’ve dispensed my Sunday obligation altogether as long as I made it to Mass on one of my days off. Needless to say, I kicked myself. I (wrongly) assumed getting off from work 30 or 60 minutes before Mass starts isn’t a good enough reason for a dispensation.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

If Mass isn’t available wherever you’re going, you shouldn’t even need a dispensation. I’m a worry wart though so I’d at least run it by my pastor anyway.

It’s interesting what criteria go into a dispensation though. I used to work a 7a-4p schedule on weekends. I’d do all in my power to attend Mass after work, though most of the accessible Masses started at 4:30 or 5p so the timing was inconvenient. Manageable but difficult because of how exhausted I was after work.

It was only after my schedule changed to four 10-hour days (with weekends off!) that my pastor mentioned he could’ve dispensed my Sunday obligation altogether as long as I made it to Mass on one of my days off. Needless to say, I kicked myself. I (wrongly) assumed getting off from work 30 or 60 minutes before Mass starts isn’t a good enough reason for a dispensation.

One should be not be hesitant to dialogue with a priest. In your case, you were not even needing a dispensation…it was a commutation and the criteria would be lighter. Provided the need is real and genuine, I was never hesitant to use the power to dispense or to commute, as the situation demanded. It is a power given to priests for the benefit of the People of God, after all.

 

[thecolorsblend]

One should be not be hesitant to dialogue with a priest. In your case, you were not even needing a dispensation…it was a commutation and the criteria would be lighter. Provided the need is real and genuine, I was never hesitant to use the power to dispense or to commute, as the situation demanded. It is a power given to priests for the benefit of the People of God, after all.

To be fair I was only welcomed into the Church on Easter of 2015 and didn’t know I could even ask about that stuff until relatively recently. Please go easy on us converts.

 

[chrisphx]

I booked a trip on a cruise ship with friends last summer. The ship leaves in two weeks, and I just happened to think about this yesterday. The person who booked everything indicated that the cruise line holds no religious services on board. I had not even thought about this when I booked it. Good to read this thread. I will follow up after Mass tomorrow.

 

[Tommy999]

Hello,
I am not Catholic but have a question about Catholics receiving a dispensation for missing Mass. Pardon my ignorance on the subject, but how is the dispensation administered?

For example, is it verbally done while talking to the priest? Must it done face-to-face or can it be done talking to a priest over the phone? Just curious. Thanks.

Another real life scenario:
I am on-call at my work 2 weeks out of a month. Sometimes I get a call on a Sunday morning before church and am not able to attend, even though I was planning on it. Once in a while (not often) I will get paged when I am at church and will have to leave immediately. I sometimes wondered what would happen if I were Catholic in those cases? I assume that is not considered a mortal sin. Is that correct?

 

[1ke]

Hello,
I am not Catholic but have a question about Catholics receiving a dispensation for missing Mass. Pardon my ignorance on the subject, but how is the dispensation administered?

For example, is it verbally done while talking to the priest? Must it done face-to-face or can it be done talking to a priest over the phone? Just curious. Thanks.

Another real life scenario:
I am on-call at my work 2 weeks out of a month. Sometimes I get a call on a Sunday morning before church and am not able to attend, even though I was planning on it. Once in a while (not often) I will get paged when I am at church and will have to leave immediately. I sometimes wondered what would happen if I were Catholic in those cases? I assume that is not considered a mortal sin. Is that correct?

Yes you simply ask the priest, by phone or in person. I suppose you could email.

If you have to miss mass because of a call out to work or page, correct you have not incurred any sort of sin. If there were another mass you could reasonably attend, for example later that day of if the call out happened on Saturday perhaps on Sunday, then you would have an obligation. But if there weren’t another mass, then no obligation.