typical penances

[Caedmon]

It is a mortal sin to just opt to hang out at home and not go to Mass. You can obey the priest all you want... but not when you know he is teaching you to sin or that a sin is not really a sin. he does not have the authority to teach ppl to sin.

That is not --at all-- what his authority is. His authority is to teach us the faith. And the faith is not what ever it is he thinks. He is to teach us the faith of the apostles, not his personal beliefs.

It is a sin to miss Mass on Sunday or any other Holy day for no good reason and a priest is out of his mind to tell penitents that is not a sin anymore in the Church. Of course it is.

Well the answers from the priests I've asked range from "It's not a mortal sin to miss mass" to "God will still love you." But my situation doesn't involve just sitting at home because I feel like it. My situation involves spending holidays with 100% Protestant relatives, with no transportation of my own. Anyway, it's enough excuse for my priests not to criticize me over it.

 

[benedictaoo]

Well the answers from the priests I've asked range from "It's not a mortal sin to miss mass" to "God will still love you." But my situation doesn't involve just sitting at home because I feel like it. My situation involves spending holidays with 100% Protestant relatives, with no transportation of my own. Anyway, it's enough excuse for my priests not to criticize me over it.

How this got to be about you?? I do not know. Missing Mass is a grave sin and if it is not a mortal sin in your case, fine. But objectively, it is a grave sin and no priest anywhere has the right to teach it's no longer a mortal sin. If a person meets the criteria which is grave matter, full knowledge and full consent-- yea, it's still a mortal sin.

 

[Caedmon]

How this got to be about you?? I do not know. Missing Mass is a grave sin and if it is not a mortal sin in your case, fine. But objectively, it is a grave sin and no priest anywhere has the right to teach it's no longer a mortal sin. If a person meets the criteria which is grave matter, full knowledge and full consent-- yea, it's still a mortal sin.

Because it is about me, and you, and everybody else in the Catholic Church. I never said missing mass wasn't a grave sin. And I think that every priest everywhere certainly has the right to teach that it's no longer necessarily a mortal sin. In the pre-VII days, it was always considered a mortal sin, with no regard to personal situations, and that's not just something I made up, that's something I've heard from several people from that generation. As far as the majority of Catholics were concerned, that was the teaching. Whether it was fact or folklore, that was the reality of the issue, and if it was wrong, then the bloodguilt of it all lies squarely on the shoulders of the bishops and priests who failed to teach correctly, not the faithful.

So priests telling me that it's "not a mortal sin" to miss mass is, perhaps, an over-correction for the obtuse understanding of the true Church teaching before VII, but it's a lot better than telling someone they automatically go to Hell for missing one Sunday mass, with no regard to their personal situation. I think it's pastorally irresponsible to, say, announce from the pulpit that people are automatically going to Hell for missing a mass, or for any other potentially grave sin, for that matter. Such rhetoric is sensationalist and disordered, and any priest preaching in that way needs to be disciplined by the bishop, in my opinion.

 

[AMDG]

In the pre-VII days, it was always considered a mortal sin, with no regard to personal situations, and that's not just something I made up, that's something I've heard from several people from that generation.

You may have not "made it up", but your sources weren't telling you the whole truth. Prior to Vatican II (when Confession lines were long because if one wanted to receive Communion, one normally went to go to Confession first--Communion was taken very seriously), if one of the things confessed was missing Mass, one would tell why. God never ever expects the impossible, so the priest would then say that it isn't a sin if you were sick, taking care of the sick (or other charitable reasons) or even if the distance was to far to walk--and there was no transportation! (I remember be excused in New York state in the dead of winter when there a public transportation strike and the the priest considered the Church too far to walk to in the bitter cold--of course he suggested that I try to find a ride next time.)

 

[benedictaoo]

Because it is about me, and you, and everybody else in the Catholic Church. I never said missing mass wasn't a grave sin. And I think that every priest everywhere certainly has the right to teach that it's no longer necessarily a mortal sin. In the pre-VII days, it was always considered a mortal sin, with no regard to personal situations, and that's not just something I made up, that's something I've heard from several people from that generation. As far as the majority of Catholics were concerned, that was the teaching. Whether it was fact or folklore, that was the reality of the issue, and if it was wrong, then the bloodguilt of it all lies squarely on the shoulders of the bishops and priests who failed to teach correctly, not the faithful.

So priests telling me that it's "not a mortal sin" to miss mass is, perhaps, an over-correction for the obtuse understanding of the true Church teaching before VII, but it's a lot better than telling someone they automatically go to Hell for missing one Sunday mass, with no regard to their personal situation. I think it's pastorally irresponsible to, say, announce from the pulpit that people are automatically going to Hell for missing a mass, or for any other potentially grave sin, for that matter. Such rhetoric is sensationalist and disordered, and any priest preaching in that way needs to be disciplined by the bishop, in my opinion.

that is pretty much the context and for a good reason, it's not a mortal sin but it's not correct to water this down these days. Ppl have to watch it and not get into thinking it's no big deal if I stay home this Sunday... yes it is a big deal and it's just wrong that we no longer believe that anymore and it's doubly wrong priest are encouraging this lackadaisical attitude pertaining to Mass.