If you can't go to weekend Mass, what is the next best thing?

[skyrain30]

I am not baptized into the Catholic faith yet but want to attend Mass. My son is severely handicapped and I do not think he will sit through Mass. My husband works all day Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, so I don't see how I can go to Sunday Mass. What should I do? Will it be okay to just pick a day or two out of the week to go?

[Michelle Arnold]

As a non-Catholic, you are not currently bound by the Sunday/holy day obligation, so you are free to miss Mass on the weekend. You can go to Mass any day you like. Should you choose to become Catholic, you will then be bound by the Sunday/holy day obligation, but the need to care for a sick child is just cause to miss Mass. In that situation, I recommend asking your parish to send an extraordinary minister of holy Communion for the homebound to bring you Communion on Sunday and then going to Mass yourself sometime during the week. And, although a televised Mass does not fulfill the Sunday/holy day obligation, watching a TV Mass on a Sunday or holy day you are not able to attend church because of caring for your son would be a means of participating in the holiness of the day in some way.