I thought of asking this in general questions, but my wife said maybe I should put this in the Great Debates forum, so here goes.
Where does the Catholic church get off saying that missing Sunday mass is a mortal sin? I understand the importance of going, but I don’t like having to go under the threat of hell, and going to hell is a possibility if you have a mortal sin on your hands. Personally I’m not as good a Catholic as I should be. In fact, I have to force myself to go to church because when I go, I have to really force myself to concentrate on the service. Mostly I’m thinking about that I’ll do once church is over, or studying the people around me, stuff like that. I’m sorry to say this, but church is boring for me. But even saying that, I feel I have a valid point in saying I don’t like feeling that I have to go to church or else I committed some sort of sin. Where’s the logic in that kind of thinking? If anybody could give a rational explanation, I’d love to hear it. I’m not trying to bash the church, this is the only teaching that I have a real problem with. But anyway, like I said, I want to hear a logical, rational explanation of this teaching. Thank you.
They get off on telling you that missing Sunday Mass is a mortal sin the same way they get off telling you that masturbation, adultery, stealing, and artificial birth control are mortal sins.
They’re the Church. They define their own sins, their own religion. If you don’t like it, you aren’t required to be Catholic.
And incidentally, as long as you don’t really consider missing Sunday Mass a sin, don’t try to confess it as one…part of an efficacious act of Penance is true sorrow and regret for committing the sin. Rattling off a list of things you’ve done but aren’t really sorry for won’t get you that little seal of approval on your soul.
Can I ask you a question, btw? Are you a cradle Catholic or a marriage convert?
jayjay (Lapsed Catholic, according to the Church. Non-Catholic, according to me.)
To use your words, I’m a “cradle Catholic”. But, I have studied the beleifs for myself and stay Catholic by my own choosing, and not just because I was raised Catholic. I don’t agree with 100% of the churches teachings, but I do agree with most.
I was pretty sure that skipping Mass on Sunday was not a mortal sin, so I headed on over to http://www.catholic.org to check it out.
Turns out that it IS a mortal sin. So is piercing your nipples. And illegally copying software. (Yes, that is specifically mentioned.) And masturbating.
I’m screwed. Good thing I’m not a Catholic anymore. (Although I do sometimes feel guilty about illegally copying software.)
Here’s the link to the page listing all the mortal sins:
I rarely play “Happy Catholic Advocate” 
, but have you ever considered getting involved in a lay ministry that would give you something to actually do during the liturgy other than the usual congregational spectator role? Maybe become a Eucharistic minister, a reader, join the choir, become an usher, volunteer to bring the Eucharist to shut-ins, volunteer to help train the altar boys (if you were one yourself), Holy Name Society, Altar Society, any of the myriad of alphabet-soup service organizations that meet before, after, and during liturgies, hospital ministry, etc?
Having something to do during liturgy helps to focus your attention immensely…and the usual lay role has nothing to do that hasn’t become automatic reflex by the age of 7 (I could go to Mass and follow the responses, movements, and everything in my sleep even now, a good 12 years after I stopped attending regularly and a good 10 since I’ve been in a Catholic church for anything more than a wedding. If someone says to me, out of the blue, “The Lord be with you.” My automatic response is “And also with you.” Especially if I’m not thinking.)
jayjay
Hey, that’s not a bad idea. I’m kind of a lazy person so I probably won’t do it 
, but it is worth thinking about.
OK, I wandered around on http://www.catholic.org for a while. It is clearly a Catholic site. However, it strives very hard (and rather successfully) to be a very conservative Catholic site. I found it more than a bit interesting that its Mission Statement included a quotation from the old Catholic Encyclopedia that refers to matters discussed at Trent and Vatican I. I don’t actually remember seeing anything on the site that made reference to Vatican II. In fact, aside from that rather risible list of “mortal sins” there is very little on the site regarding actual Catholic teaching. It seems to be more of a clearing house for information about activities in which Catholics may be engaged rather than a site devoted to the Faith.
I think its an interesting site, but I would not put much credence in their list of mortal sins (particularly since the most recent Catechism of the Catholic Church tends to downplay the whole notion of identifying specific acts as “mortal” or “venial,” concentrating, instead, on the nature of one’s relationship with God and how different kinds of sins interfere with that relationship).
My dad is a Eucharistic minister and an usher. Go figure.
Let’s see, I’ve committed the following “mortal” sins
-
I used a Ouija board
-
I’ve used God’s name in vain
-
I didn’t ask Opal for forgiveness
-
I’ve worked on Sundays-not wanting to, and I never go to Mass anymore
-
Disobeyed my parents
-
I’m pro-choice
-
Lust and impure thoughts…
(I think the site is a more Mother Angelica type Catholics-the OLD Catholics-Latin Mass and all).
Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it’s off to Hell I go…!
Don’t worry fellow Catholics! Go to confession. All will be forgiven if you so wish!
I’d better soon incase I die unexpectedly. I’d be goin’ to hell fer sure.
Save me a seat…
[sub]I’ve been waiting sooo long to use that joke…[/sub]
Indeed. It freaked me out, though, before I did enough research and critical thinking to know otherwise. I’m better now. 
Incidentally, they have one on venial sins, too. It’s rather inconsistent: why do they have bigotry as a mortal sin and prejudice as a venial sin? 
(Oh, and as far as the OP goes – jayjay has a point. I always sang in the choir at high school Masses, and it helped a lot. I didn’t join the choir at my regular parish, though, because I didn’t want to be the only person there who was under 30…no, wait, under 50. :D)
[sub]Does it still count if the Ouija board doesn’t work? ;)[/sub]
OK, phew. I guess because of the domain name, I figured it was an official Catholic site and was fully endorsed by the Church, or whatever. It didn’t really bear much relation to what I was taught when I was a kid. (They definitely never mentioned anything about body piercings in Sunday school.) While I am an ex-Catholic, I am not bitter about Catholicism at all, and it actually upset me to see that site listing all of these things that are supposedly mortal sins. I thought, “Wow, that’s certainly not the church I remember.” So thanks for setting me straight.
Hey! I’m going to Hell too!
Wow, this conversation had drifted far far away from the origioinal topic. Oh well, no big deal, I guess I’m done here. So long.
Oh yes you are. Apostasy is pretty high up on that list of mortal sins.
Sorry your thread got hijacked, Joel. The only thing I would say in response to your OP is that there IS no logical, rational explanation. That is what makes it a religion.
Your Apostate, Hell-bound, brain-in-a-jar,
Myron
Erk, sorry for the major hijack. Joel, to address your original question, I’d say you can look at it from one of two standpoints:
- Because God said so, in the Ten Commandments. End of discussion.
Or:
- The church elders decided that it was easier for people to keep in touch with their religion, and hence God, if they attended Mass every week, at which they can not only hear readings from the Bible, but participate in Holy Communion with the Lord, and join together in a community of faith. They presumably felt that it was so important that to do otherwise would be to commit a massive (or mortal) sin. Yes, I suppose it would be nicer and much easier if it weren’t a sin to skip Mass and you could just go whenever you wanted, but then what’s the point of being a member of the religion? A big part of Catholicism is attending Mass every week. If it really bugs you on a fundamental level (and it sounds from your OP that it doesn’t), try investigating some different religions that don’t require mandatory attendance.
The 10 commandments ? What, keeping the lords day holy?
Oh, and I do beleive enough in the other teachings of the church to remain Catholic.
The Catholic church can tell you whatever it wants. And, should you go against it, that would make you a bad CATHOLIC…but not nessessarly a bad CHRISTIAN.
The Cathlolic church…or any Christian denomination, come up with all kinds of tennants and beliefs, sometimes directly contradicting the bible. Or something that has little to no biblical basis.
So, if you are worried about being a good Catholic, best go to mass son! But if you are worried about what God says and not the church (very different) Read the Bible, use your mind, and you heart and you will come to the answer
Yes. As with many requirements, the requirement to attend Mass is not about avoiding hell. It’s about a set of practices that is pleasing to God and enriching (essentially so) to our lives. It’s about the love of Christ, not the threat of hell, impelling us. We may praise God by ourselves but is essential to the community that we witness in each other’s company. I once heard a Christian preacher say that the congregation should not be chaste because he tells them it is correct, but because their love for Christ would drive them to do the right thing.
It is repetitious from week to week, but if you concentrate on what you are saying, the prayers are beautiful. And the Eucharist is a miracle taking place every time–that’s great stuff.