Weekly Mass vs Career Opportunity

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Tietjen

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I’m feeling very torn at the moment. I have been offered a position doing something that I truly love for a decent salary, and benefits that far exceed what I currently have. The only negative is that the position would require that I work Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays from 6:00am to 6:30pm. These hours would make it impossible to attend mass on either Saturday or Sunday. I would however, be able to attend mass Tuesdays thru Fridays as the position is only 3 days a week.

I have a choice to make and because there is a choice, and I can turn down the position, I feel that I would be sinning by missing my weekly obligation if I were to choose to accept the new position. There are no masses offered in my area after I would get out of work on either Saturday or Sunday. I can stay where I am (a very low paying position which is unchallenging and unfulfilling) or accept the new position. I am almost 50 years old and my kids are grown and on their own. I moved my mother back in with me as she isn’t in the best of health and I’m worried about her being by herself. This new position would allow me to be home 4 days a week as opposed to being home just 1 day now; which means that taking her to doctors appointments, grocery shopping, etc would be much easier.

I realize that those who work specific shift work (IE. Medical personnel, law enforcement, etc) and are unable to attend mass due to these work schedules are not in mortal sin. However, because I can choose to turn this down, would I be in the same boat? Am I being selfish by wanting something “good” for myself when the price of that something would make me violate the Sunday obligation of attending mass? I wouldn’t be accepting the position for the purpose of avoiding mass but it would be an unintended consequence. Thoughts, opinions, suggestions?
 
Firstly talk to your priest.

Secondly, talk to the potential employer. There may be a way to work around the issue. Maybe you can start earlier or finish later and so take a break during the shift to get to Mass or something.
 
Maybe your “lunch hour” on Sunday can be arranged so it coincides with Sunday Mass?
 
Is it within the priest’s authority to allow one or possibly two weekday masses to count for the weekly obligation?
 
mek42 said:
Is it within the priest’s authority to allow one or possibly two weekday masses to count for the weekly obligation?
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No. A weekday Mass cannot “count” for the Sunday obligation.

The pastor can dispense the obligation, if necessary. Also, working or caring for the infants, the ill, or elderly can excuse one from Mass.
 
I would suggest that you talk to your pastor. Also, talk to the employer to see if you might, over time, be able to move to a more desirable shift. In many jobs with nights/weekends and other odd shifts, the low man on the totem pole gets those shifts, but as you build seniority can get a different shift.

It is not wrong to take this job to provide for youself and your mother.
 
You may want to check churches that are close to universities and are around you. They often have late Sunday Mass. Ours has one at 8pm.

I have no idea if you are near a university, but I thought that Vanderbilt had a late Mass.

Just a thought.

Edit to add:

You might want to call those parishes that are near colleges. I just checked Masstimes.org and it doesn’t show that we have a late Mass. 🤷
 
Tietjen said:
would require that I work Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays from 6:00am to 6:30pm. These hours would make it impossible to attend mass on either Saturday or Sunday.
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Please speak with your priest. This is a matter to be decided with his guidance.

Next, look for every Mass in the area. See if there is Mass at a hospital, a university, a convent or monastery. See how you can adjust your schedule to make one of these Masses.

You can also ask your employer about adjusting a break or lunch/dinner break to include Mass. You might be a bit late for Mass and have to leave right after praying once you receive Holy Communion… but it may be a way to make Mass.

Pray… God helps us think outside the box to solve our problems.

Peace.
 
Just looked up your Diocese on masstime.org. There is a Spanish Mass at 7:30pm Saturday nights at St. Luke’s. Don’t know if that parish is close to you are not, but it might be an option.
 
Tietjen said:
I’m feeling very torn at the moment. I have been offered a position doing something that I truly love for a decent salary, and benefits that far exceed what I currently have. The only negative is that the position would require that I work Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays from 6:00am to 6:30pm. These hours would make it impossible to attend mass on either Saturday or Sunday. I would however, be able to attend mass Tuesdays thru Fridays as the position is only 3 days a week.

I have a choice to make and because there is a choice, and I can turn down the position, I feel that I would be sinning by missing my weekly obligation if I were to choose to accept the new position. There are no masses offered in my area after I would get out of work on either Saturday or Sunday. I can stay where I am (a very low paying position which is unchallenging and unfulfilling) or accept the new position. I am almost 50 years old and my kids are grown and on their own. I moved my mother back in with me as she isn’t in the best of health and I’m worried about her being by herself. This new position would allow me to be home 4 days a week as opposed to being home just 1 day now; which means that taking her to doctors appointments, grocery shopping, etc would be much easier.

I realize that those who work specific shift work (IE. Medical personnel, law enforcement, etc) and are unable to attend mass due to these work schedules are not in mortal sin. However, because I can choose to turn this down, would I be in the same boat? Am I being selfish by wanting something “good” for myself when the price of that something would make me violate the Sunday obligation of attending mass? I wouldn’t be accepting the position for the purpose of avoiding mass but it would be an unintended consequence. Thoughts, opinions, suggestions?
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Have you checked MassTimes.org? The catholci college my daughter attended has a 9:00pm mass on Sunday. I don’t know how large the diocese of Nashville is but I see that in Nashville, TN University Catholic has a 9:00 pm mass according to MassTimes.org. Are there any catholic universities near you?

Peace of Christ,
Mark
 
MarkInOregon said:
Have you checked MassTimes.org? The catholci college my daughter attended has a 9:00pm mass on Sunday. I don’t know how large the diocese of Nashville is but I see that in Nashville, TN University Catholic has a 9:00 pm mass according to MassTimes.org. Are there any catholic universities near you?

Peace of Christ,
Mark
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I found that time too when I found the Mass at St. Luke’s. Problem being it doesn’t look like the University is having that Mass while school is out of session. Most colleges and universities drop their extended Mass schedules during the summer and over breaks.
 
I second the suggestion to talk to your priest. There are sometimes nursing homes or hospitals that also have Sunday night Masses that are not widely advertised.

I’d also want to think about how long this position is going to last. Never getting a weekend day off is very hard on one’s ability to keep connections with the rest of one’s social set. There is a real limit to how much social contact you can fit in on an evening when you have worked over 12 hours today and have to get up tomorrow morning and do it all over again. If you can’t get any days off, then you’re probably going to miss all the weddings and lots of other big events. There is a reason for that big financial incentive!
 
What would Mary do? What would Mother Teresa do? What would Padre Pio do? What would Jesus do?

What is God asking of you? Do the Father’s will no matter what it is.
 
Lady_Love said:
What would Mary do? What would Mother Teresa do? What would Padre Pio do? What would Jesus do?

What is God asking of you? Do the Father’s will no matter what it is.
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Being willing to work such a long day for every Lord’s day is an issue. It does matter, though, what the nature of the work is. Some artists feel as if their work is not servile work in the least, for instance, or that the work done in the 12 hours isn’t the hard part, but the fulfilling part they’d do if they weren’t paid. That makes it a bit different. Overseeing a project that has to happen in that unfortunate time frame in order to keep traffic from snarling people’s lives up is hard work that still needs to happen on Sundays, sometimes. It just depends on what the job is and how it fits the person taking it on.
 
EasterJoy said:
Being willing to work such a long day for every Lord’s day is an issue. It does matter, though, what the nature of the work is. Some artists feel as if their work is not servile work in the least, for instance, or that the work done in the 12 hours isn’t the hard part, but the fulfilling part they’d do if they weren’t paid. That makes it a bit different. Overseeing a project that has to happen in that unfortunate time frame in order to keep traffic from snarling people’s lives up is hard work that still needs to happen on Sundays, sometimes. It just depends on what the job is and how it fits the person taking it on.
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👍

It also depends on WHY someone is working on Sunday or missing Mass.

For the OP, she is looking at being the caregiver for her Mom. God Bless her. It is a tough job.

In fact, missing Mass on the weekend so she can take care of her mother during the week is exactly what I think Mary would do. Of course, I’m not a priest. And the OP should start there.
 
Lady_Love said:
What would Mary do? What would Mother Teresa do? What would Padre Pio do? What would Jesus do?

What is God asking of you? Do the Father’s will no matter what it is.
Click to expand...
I like these questions.

Mary would not have worked, as it would not have been something a wife in her day and place would do.

Mother Teresa and her sisters serve the poor even on Sunday - those living in their homes that they care for and visits such as to nursing homes - plus they have the ability to adjust their time schedule for Mass either at the convent or the parish.

Padre Pio would have offered Mass on Sunday and every day.

Jesus would have kept the Sabbath holy. However, even then, people didn’t like the “work” he did on the Sabbath.

Working with his priest, I think the OP will be able to discern how to schedule Mass into his work day or what other steps he should take to do God’s will.
 
maryjk said:
👍

It also depends on WHY someone is working on Sunday or missing Mass.

For the OP, she is looking at being the caregiver for her Mom. God Bless her. It is a tough job.

In fact, missing Mass on the weekend so she can take care of her mother during the week is exactly what I think Mary would do. Of course, I’m not a priest. And the OP should start there.
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Whew…but it is a pattern of being a caregiver for four days and then working three twelve plus days without a chance to go to Sunday Mass. That is very hard to do in the long term. The Sabbath is for man, meaning human beings do need to be able to have rest.

This would be a good thing to talk to her pastor about, yes. He’s the most likely to be able to help her find an available Sunday Mass, too…and perhaps, who knows, be able to bring Holy Communion home for her mom, too. It would be nice to be able to do that.
 
I wanted to thank everyone for their ideas and thoughts on the matter. I will most definitely be speaking with Father about the situation to see what options are available. To those that suggested attending mass at the local University/College… that is an excellent idea and one that I hadn’t thought of. One of my sons attended university at Vanderbilt and they did in fact have a 9pm mass on Sunday nights on Campus when he was attending. I will look into that, but as another poster had pointed out, during the summer and when classes are not in session, the masses are suspended until classes resume. On top of that, Vandy and the diocese aren’t getting along very well at the moment and I know the priest that used to celebrate the mass on campus has been re-assigned to a new parish; I am not sure whether or not a new priest has taken over at the university or not but it’s certainly worth investigating.

Also, I am afraid that I may have unintentionally misled some here. Yes, I have moved my mom in with me to ensure that she stays well, but I didn’t mean to suggest that she is an invalid or not able to attend mass. That is not the case for now at least. She needs to have an oxygen bottle with her whenever she leaves the house but she is still independent for the most part. She prefers not to drive, so I drive her most places, but she comes to mass with me each Sunday, I take her to her appointments and she insists on accompanying me to the grocery store (LOL - she doesn’t like my selections, choices of meats, or choice of veggies). She will always see me as her little boy despite my having been alive for almost a half a century. :o

Again, thank you all for your suggestions. I’ll see if Father has some time after mass to speak with me about the situation. Take care and God bless.
 
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