Would this be a mortal sin?

[flamez3]

Hi, my friend at school (Year 12) says that sometimes he doesn’t go to mass (because of school work and stuff like that) and says he says a special prayer. Is this a mortal sin?

 

[Carolus_Martell]

Growing up the sisters of St Joseph taught us it was…

…to miss a Sunday mass you had to be sick, working, something beyond your control. You should counsel your friend to ‘keep holy the Lord’s day’ and pray that it will become so.

 

[smichhertz]

Hi, my friend at school (Year 12) says that sometimes he doesn’t go to mass (because of school work and stuff like that) and says he says a special prayer. Is this a mortal sin?

Hey flamez3!

He has to have a serious reason. I don’t think schoolwork would really count because mass only takes an hour out of his day. Besides, if he honestly needed to be canceling weekend stuff for schoolwork, mass should be the absolute last thing on his list. He should be canceling social plans, etc before he decides to skip mass.

Better reasons for skipping mass would be because your sick, or traveling and unable to find a church, etc.

Hope that helps!

 

[flamez3]

Hey flamez3!

He has to have a serious reason. I don’t think schoolwork would really count because mass only takes an hour out of his day. Besides, if he honestly needed to be canceling weekend stuff for schoolwork, mass should be the absolute last thing on his list. He should be canceling social plans, etc before he decides to skip mass.

Better reasons for skipping mass would be because your sick, or traveling and unable to find a church, etc.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the quick reply! To be frank, he doesn’t do any social plans, from monday to thursday after school he does school work,he does major subjects like science, physics and chemistry and stuff like that for his job as a pilot. I told him he shouldn’t do it but i guess he’s just being ignorant?

 

[smichhertz]

Thanks for the quick reply! To be frank, he doesn’t do any social plans, from monday to thursday after school he does school work,he does major subjects like science, physics and chemistry and stuff like that for his job as a pilot. I told him he shouldn’t do it but i guess he’s just being ignorant?

Sounds like it. Try and encourage him to attend mass. I think he’ll find it will be helpful for his schoolwork if he goes to mass!

 

[Soldier_Of_God]

To be a Catholic (Christian) is to be part of a community of worship directed at God. This is a basic precept of the Church. Consequently, we are obligated to attend Mass. A grave cause is needed to excuse one from a Mass oligation (e.g. illness, debilitation, essential work, etc…), hence, it could be a mortal sin to willfully eschew Mass.

 

[Joe_5859]

Sounds like it. Try and encourage him to attend mass. I think he’ll find it will be helpful for his schoolwork if he goes to mass!

I agree. If you organize your day around the Lord, you’ll be amazed at how he blesses that effort and makes the rest of your time much more focused.

In situations like these, the best approach probably isn’t to tell him: “I’m worried for your immortal soul because you are committing mortal sin! Repent!!!” But rather, keep inviting him to Mass and stress the importance of going. Lead by example. Perhaps you could even challenge him to make a commitment to give God that time every Sunday for at least 6 weeks (or 4 or 8 or whatever) and see if he notices a difference.

 

[OchsFam]

Hi, my friend at school (Year 12) says that sometimes he doesn’t go to mass (because of school work and stuff like that) and says he says a special prayer. Is this a mortal sin?

I think it is important to recognize what sin is, a separation from God. The degree of separation is what we refer to as venial (partial separation) and mortal (complete separation) sin. Without God, we cannot live which is why it is refereed to as mortal sin as dying in this state will result in loss of eternal life.

Now, with that working definition of sin, you ask someone if missing Mass is a mortal sin. Well, not only have they rejected the teaching of Christ through His Church (one of the precepts is to attend Sunday Mass and holy days of obligation) but they have rejected the Eucharist which is Jesus’ substantial presence on Earth. Saying a prayer is not sufficient for a Catholic who believes in the real presence and rejection of the real presence so you don’t need to attend Mass is even worse. They have separated themselves from God but the question is how much. It certainly seem from your post that it is a complete separation. Their only hope regarding the sins mortality is if they were ignorant.

We must remember that in order for a sin to be mortal, it must be of a grave matter (missing Mass certainly is), it must be understood to be a sin (this is where your friend may have an out), and it must be freely chosen. Just telling him it is a mortal sin is not necessarily grounds for removing his ignorance. In the end, what we know is that from the outside perspective, it certainly seems to be a mortal sin and that is all we can go on. We cannot judge his soul and say it is guaranteed to be mortal because we just do not have enough knowledge and won’t in this life.

I guess the point of my thread is that no one here can tell you if HIS sin is mortal. YOU can tell if the sin is mortal to YOU, but not for someone else. What you probably meant to ask is “is missing Mass a grave matter for this person.” The answer to that is yes. The only time missing Mass isn’t a grave matter is if you are those mentioned in previous threads. Work is not really a valid reason in most cases so you really shouldn’t count it unless you happen to be in one of the very few fields that require work on Saturday through Sunday (doctor’s, etc.) as Mass is typically available from Saturday evening until Sunday afternoon. Homework is definitely not grounds to remove the grave nature of the sin of missing Mass though doing homework on a Sunday is not necessarily a grave matter in and of itself.

I think it is your obligation to continue to remind him that he needs to attend Mass through example and conversations. We can’t just let our brother fall away because it makes us uncomfortable when it could save him. That is not to say you need to pester him, but you do have an obligation to remind him every once in a while. Sinning isn’t just acting in sin, but failure to act can be a sin as well as can participating in or approving of someone’s sin. It should be made clear to your friend that what he is doing is wrong and that you don’t approve of it. Obviously this should be done in a charitable way, but just ask yourself, what if he died tomorrow? Did you do everything you could to bring him back? God has placed him in your life for a reason, what do you think God is calling you to do?

“First, prayer; then, atonement; in the third place, very much ‘in the third place’, action.” (Escriva, “The Way” number 82).

God Bless.