Mass attendance on a day of travel

[ChristopherY]

Can anyone provide me with documentation on the Church's requirements to attend mass. Specifically in regards to whether one must attend Mass on a day of travel. And yes, I know that one always should attend Mass and that masstimes.org is great, I just want to know the rules. Thanks and God Bless.

[Keikiolu]

Originally Posted by ChristopherY

Can anyone provide me with documentation on the Church's requirements to attend mass. Specifically in regards to whether one must attend Mass on a day of travel. And yes, I know that one always should attend Mass and that masstimes.org is great, I just want to know the rules. Thanks and God Bless.

Can you make it without HUGE hardship?

If yes, or if your feeling particularly "mortally sinful" that day, find a freakin' Church...!

Otherwise,.. do whatcha gotta do.


http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c1a3.htm#2176



Mahalo ke Akua..!
E pili mau na pomaika`i ia `oe. Aloha nui.

[1ke]

Originally Posted by ChristopherY

Can anyone provide me with documentation on the Church's requirements to attend mass. Specifically in regards to whether one must attend Mass on a day of travel. And yes, I know that one always should attend Mass and that masstimes.org is great, I just want to know the rules. Thanks and God Bless.

2180 The precept of the Church specifies the law of the Lord more precisely: "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass."117 "The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day."118

2181 The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor.119 Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.


The reason must be (a) serious and (b) dispensed by your pastor

You should arrange your travel around Mass, you have Saturday vigil, Sunday morning, and Sunday evening as options.

[Br. Rich SFO]

Originally Posted by ChristopherY

Can anyone provide me with documentation on the Church's requirements to attend mass. Specifically in regards to whether one must attend Mass on a day of travel. And yes, I know that one always should attend Mass and that masstimes.org is great, I just want to know the rules. Thanks and God Bless.

If you are unable to attend you would be excused. As an example, I traveled from Seattle to Chicago on the Empire Builder. The train left late morning Saturday and ran non-stop, (except for brief station stops) until arriving in Chicago on Monday morning. It was not possible for me to attend Mass.

[Morning_Star15]

Originally Posted by Br. Rich SFO

If you are unable to attend you would be excused. As an example, I traveled from Seattle to Chicago on the Empire Builder. The train left late morning Saturday and ran non-stop, (except for brief station stops) until arriving in Chicago on Monday morning. It was not possible for me to attend Mass.

Would someone need a pastoral dispensation beforehand if they knew that travel would keep them from attending Mass?

[OutinChgoburbs]

As a side note, many airports offer Mass in their chapels. http://www.usccb.org/mrs/pcmr/onmove/airport.shtml
http://www.ohare.com/doa/avi_news/MDWVisitorsGuide2005.pdf

[G&S]

The final answer should be received from a confessor. One must also look at the reason for the travel. If one's parent had a sudden heart attack and a son or daughter had to suddenly travel to a far off city and was unable to attend Mass, it would be a far different situation than a planned trip to Cancún.

[Andreas Hofer]

Originally Posted by 1ke

2180 The precept of the Church specifies the law of the Lord more precisely: "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass."117 "The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day."118

2181 The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor.119 Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.


The reason must be (a) serious and (b) dispensed by your pastor

You should arrange your travel around Mass, you have Saturday vigil, Sunday morning, and Sunday evening as options.

Note that you just changed the "or" of the citation into an "and" in your explanation. That's a pretty big change. One does not need dispensation if one has serious reasons - the obligation simply does not exist in the face of them. If my child is horribly ill I don't need to call Father X. and ask if I can miss Mass that day; it's a given.

I'm always one to err on the side of caution, presuming human attempts to make reasons seem more grave than outside observers might judge, so I always counsel that it would be best to submit the situation to a confessor, especially if you're trying to decide whether something like travel would make Mass impossible/overly burdensome or simply highly inconvenient.