Was I too late?

[kayla]

I attended another parish last Sunday, I thought it started at 4:30pm…thinking I was a little late, but realized after a few minutes of being in the pew… Mass was half over:blush: and the priest was just at the start of the consecration. Of course I stayed for the rest of Mass and went to communion. Now I’m wondering…
was it wrong to receive communion?

 

[Pong]

No. It was an honest mistake on your part.

 

[thistle]

I attended another parish last Sunday, I thought it started at 4:30pm…thinking I was a little late, but realized after a few minutes of being in the pew… Mass was half over:blush: and the priest was just at the start of the consecration. Of course I stayed for the rest of Mass and went to communion. Now I’m wondering…
was it wrong to receive communion?

You might be confusing two issues when asking about being late.

Although not recommended you could actually come into church straight into the Communion line (assuming in a state of grace) and receive Communion.

As to whether you have to be in church by a certain time to fulfill your Sunday obligation is debated in many threads in these forums. The bottom line is that Mass should be taken seriously and every effort should be made to be there before the priest, but there is actually no documentation which states you must be there by a specific time to fulfill your obligation.

 

[puzzleannie]

you can receive communion even if you come in just before communion, but if you missed most of the Mass, you really should have stayed for the next Mass, if there was one (btw you could have received at that Mass as well, since it was in the context of a complete Mass). if that was not possible, there or at another parish, no sin, just mixed signals. I don’t know why churches in our area don’t stick to a holy day schedule, they are continually changing, and so we constantly miss, esp. the evening Masses.