As long as one of those days isn’t Sunday, you’re golden.
Doesn’t God (priests notwithstanding) ALWAYS welcome us back??
It depends how you look at it. I think my priest’s point was the church is not a revolving door. Either you’re in or you’re out. Choose your priorities wisely. Yes, God will always be there, but there will not always be an opportunity to come back to Him. So, in a sense, He cannot welcome us back if there is no ability for us to return, i.e. after death.
I certainly don’t disagree with that. However, to put it in terms of “Don’t come back” is not only stark and harsh, but seems to go against God’s willingness to forgive repentant sinners, those who have fallen away but choose to come back. The door that slams shut in -]their /-] our faces should be, I think, death and death only, not a priest’s pronouncement this side of it.
Agreed!I certainly don’t disagree with that. However, to put it in terms of “Don’t come back” is not only stark and harsh, but seems to go against God’s willingness to forgive repentant sinners, those who have fallen away but choose to come back. The door that slams shut in -]their /-] our faces should be, I think, death and death only, not a priest’s pronouncement this side of it.
And, you know, as I think about it, the Church IS (or can be seen as) a “revolving door” in the sense that every time we sin and fall away from it (well, from God, really), we are welcomed back through repentance and confession–over and over and over and over again.
I don’t think we are essentially disagreeing with one another here, just looking at it a little differently.
Perhaps he no longer says that.
Yes, I think you’re bumping into some of the differences here between “east” and “west”. In the east, akaik, there is no formalized distinction between “mortal sin” and other sin. All sin is considered to be “missing the mark” resulting in a separation from God. So, in this instance you might say that not attending Mass or the Divine Liturgy, simply because you don’t feel like going, misses the mark of offering to God the glory, worship, thanksgiving, and praise that is His due and results in “sin”. But, each instance would need to be considered, I think, on its own merits so I really hesitate to make a blanket, over-generalized statement about it.
)Yet we are taught to live as an image of Christ* living in charity, which will not be achieved when uncharitable towards God outwardly or inwardly (which also means towards others, in giving a bad example). So if we do not attend yet remain charitable, then there is no sin. In the western terms both mortal and venial sin is harmful. (CCC 1855) “Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it.”
Keep in mind that even in the Catholic Church there are legitimate reasons to miss Sunday mass. If work, family, or other serious personal obligations or health reasons keep you from mass, there is no sin. That being said, to deliberately miss mass without a good reason is a mortal sin not only because you are failing to observe the divine commandment to honor the Sabbath, but also because you are wilfully disobeying the bishops to whom Christ promised “whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven…”. Obedience is a very important virtue for us as Christians. We must obey our bishops as a child must obey his parents - and the bishops bind us to attend mass every Sunday as they know how vital it is for our spiritual health. Of course, we should go out of love for the Lord and not out of obligation, but some of our weaker brothers may need the “nudge” of an obligation to get them on the right track. The Holy Spirit will then do the rest.
