Sunda Mass obligation

Meemee · #1 May 6, '12, 7:36 am

How do I respond to my grandson that it is necessary to attend Mass. He states a man-made rule

**Tantum ergo** · #2 May 6, '12, 8:39 am

It's in the Catechism. It is one of the six precepts of the Church.

And try explaining to him that the Church's teachings on faith and morals are not 'made up rules' by men, but rules given to us by God through the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Worshipping at Sunday Mass is found in the Scriptures (St Paul remarks on it) so it was a practice of the apostles. "Keeping the Sabbath holy" (and Sunday is the fulfulment of the Sabbath) is part of the 10 commandments given to God's people, written on the tablets by God Himself and presented by Moses.

At Mass we are mystically present at Christ's sacrifice on the cross and we are permitted the glorious privilege of receiving Him, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. The Eucharist food keeps us spiritually alive; without it our faith can weaken and indeed die.

Christ in Scripture and through Tradition tells us how important it is that we pray together, that He has created a Church, that the Church is the pillar and foundation of Truth, that He offers Himself as food, and that Church is where we receive that food and that it is a Christian's duty to listen to these and all teachings which God gives us.

That should do to start him on the right track.

englishredrose · #3 May 6, '12, 9:01 am

That he loves God, which isn't a man made rule

KateKimmer · #4 May 6, '12, 9:02 am

Tantum ergo,,,I liked your reply! I liked what you said about the Eucharist.
thanks for your wisdom today.

**JRKH** · #5 May 6, '12, 9:44 am

Agree - Tantum Ergo makes good points.

Something that I note is how under the old covenant (the Law) the day of worship was the last day of the week. Under the New covenant (Love) the day of worship is the first day of the week.
How appropriate...I think...That if we Love God as we should then we should desire even crave to go to mass on Sunday...The first thing on Sunday!!!
This then is what the true Christian - he who seeks to Love God and follow Christ - should strive for.

As for the "rule" about Sunday mass attendance...I see two very logical aspects to this.
Discipline: The Sunday mass obligation is a discipline useful for the training of the saints. Which is what we are called to be. For the spiritually young it is a touchstone, a commitment, something tangible to focus on and commit to as part of maturing int he faith.

Check on commitment: If one feels that the Sunday mass obligation is onerous - that is one prefers to "sleep in" or "play golf" or whatever instead of going to receive their Lord in the Eucharist - then one needs to carefully evaluate how much they love God. Can one chose to stay away from Church and still claim to Love God with their whole heart mind and strength??

Yes I would say that the Church established this rule - and she did so for very good reason. For the health and benefit of the faithful.

So I would ask the grandson if he loves God with all his heart mind and strength.(Mt 22:36-40)
If he answers in the affirmative then ask him...Doesn't he want to receive the one he loves as often as possible? Doesn't he wish to hasten to mass on Sunday morning to profess his love and to receive Christ in the Eucharist?
If he hedges on this answer...Talk to him about what it means to Love someone with all your heart mind and strength...

Just some thoughts.

Peace
James

Jussayn · #6 May 6, '12, 10:33 am

hi, I already responded, but don't see my response-I'm new, this is my first post reply, so hope it doesn't show up twice. My teens ask me this same question. I believe when folks ask this they are looking for more than a "because I said so" answer regardless of who the "I" is unless it is God, the Pope, or directly traceable back to the Pope. I tried to use the its one of the 10 commandments answer, to which I heard "where was it determined that Mass attendance is the only way to keep holy the sabbath?" I like the if you love God answer then you would want to go, but I am a 50+ year old, and the younger texting generation say that the corollary to that is not true, that just because I don't go to Mass on Sunday doesn't mean I don't love God. They even go farther and ask, if you go to Mass on Sunday because you love God, then do you only love God one/seventh of the amount you could love God?-You could go everyday. Going round and round w/my kids this way, eventually culminates in me saying that your faith is a gift from God, and that I enjoy Mass for my own reasons and believe it provides me a grounding and opportunity to center my life spiritually and practically for the week to come. To which they say " that is good, I love God and I believe I have a strong relationship with God too, but I believe I don't have to go to Mass each Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation to have that gift."
So this is an area that I find hard to feel confident in when dealing w/my kids, I wonder what Jesus would do in this situation? I found it easy to be a faithful Catholic till I had kids, and after years of parochial school, I wonder why these issues are hard for me to be confident in? Any other parents in this situation? What do you do?

bmullins · #7 May 6, '12, 10:49 am

The Sunday obligation is not a man-made rule, it's a revealed reality. You see it's not about having to be there, it's about what is going on. It's about the first and greatest commandment, love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. If Jesus is there at the church, truly present in the form of the Eucharist, then where is your heart when you don't go to see him every Sunday? You see man didn't just arbitrarily write down a rule, they studied and listened to the Holy Spirit. Through that study and guidance from God himself, they realized that if we don't attend at least on the Lord's Day.. then our heart is indeed in the wrong place. That's why it's a rule, it's a guideline. It isn't saying you shouldn't attend even more, for instance, Monday-Saturday. It's saying that at the very least, a person who loves God will show up on every Sunday out of that love, and when we purposely miss for our own selfish reasons... well then we don't love God.. and by not loving God, we definitely have committed a mortal sin.

KateKimmer · #8 May 6, '12, 11:09 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmullins

a person who loves God will show up on every Sunday out of that love, and when we purposely miss for our own selfish reasons... well then we don't love God.. and by not loving God, we definitely have committed a mortal sin.

Sorry , but I have to disagree. Just because a person misses mass on sunday does not mean they don't "love God".
Missing mass because they want to sleep later...selfish reason.
Missing mass because they are hung over...selfish reason.
Missing mass to go play golf....selfish reason.

But saying that by missing mass one does not Love God is not accurate. A person can love God without going into a building or attending a mass.

bmullins · #9 May 6, '12, 6:41 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by KateKimmer

Sorry , but I have to disagree. Just because a person misses mass on sunday does not mean they don't "love God".
Missing mass because they want to sleep later...selfish reason.
Missing mass because they are hung over...selfish reason.
Missing mass to go play golf....selfish reason.

But saying that by missing mass one does not Love God is not accurate. A person can love God without going into a building or attending a mass.

As you quoted me:

and when we purposely miss for our own selfish reasons.

I agree that if you have a valid reason, and can't get to mass.. then yes.. you are not sinning, but if it's a selfish reason, as I said above.. and as you said.. then yes it is a Sin.

Vico · #10 May 6, '12, 7:10 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meemee

How do I respond to my grandson that it is necessary to attend Mass. He states a man-made rule

The Jewish practice from Moses continued with Christianity.

Mosaic law requires God's people to gather together for corporate worship and the hearing of scripture (see, Deut. 12:5-12; 31:11-12) and that weekly Sabbath in particular be a "holy convocation" (Lev. 23:3).

Vico · #11 May 6, '12, 7:12 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meemee

How do I respond to my grandson that it is necessary to attend Mass. He states a man-made rule

The Jewish practice from Moses continued with Christianity.

Mosaic law requires God's people to gather together for corporate worship and the hearing of scripture (see, Deut. 12:5-12; 31:11-12) and that weekly Sabbath in particular be a "holy convocation" (Lev. 23:3).
And the early Christian Church gathered together for corporate worship, daily at first (Acts 2:46) and eventually weekly on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7, I Cor. 16:2).

And we should not skip this assembling together (Heb. 10:24-25).