The Obligation to Attend Mass is Back - Praise God

Dec 3

December 5th, 2021

Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever~

Most of you reading this have heard by now that Archbishop Etienne is ending the dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass. The dispensation meant that attending Mass wasn’t an obligation as long as it was in effect. The dispensation ends this Wednesday, December 8th, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Mass times that day are 7am, 11am, and 7pm. If you know of other Catholics in Western Washington that have stopped going to Mass since the pandemic began, please pass this column onto them, either in paper or send them a link to this page on the website.

I include in this pastor’s column two things. The next couple pages are from a previous pastor’s column on the precepts of the Church, specifically the first one about the obligation to attend Mass. The final page has a letter from Archbishop Etienne about ending the dispensation from attending Mass.

May God Bless You,

We know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide; we know how to drive a car with all its myriad rules; we know about photosynthesis; we know what it takes to do our taxes annually; but when it comes to knowledge of our faith, we can be woefully uninformed. Almost four years ago I ran a multiple part series on the precepts of the Catholic faith. I run them again now because they are critically important to know and live, and most of you don’t have them memorized and should. Finally, we should be able to teach them to others.

The Precepts of the Catholic Church: “pre” meaning “before”, and “cept” meaning “life” – before there can be full life in God, these seven laws must be observed. Failure to live them out would constitute a mortal sin: when one has knowledge of them and acts without undue coercion to disregard them. “The obligatory character of these positive laws decreed by pastoral authorities is meant to guarantee to the faithful the very necessary minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor.” – Catechism #2041. This week we begin working our way through them by exploring the first precept. Here are the seven precepts:

The Precepts of the Catholic Church

To attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation and resting from servile works.
To observe the days of abstinence and fasting.
To confess our sins to a priest, at least once a year.
To receive Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist at least once a year during Easter Season.
To contribute to the support of the Church (tithing & volunteering).
To obey the laws of the Church concerning Matrimony.
To participate in the Church's mission of Evangelization of Souls.

The first of the precepts comes straight from #3 of The Ten Commandments: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath. “The Sabbath or seventh day, on which God rested after the work of the ‘six days’ of creation was completed, as recounted in the opening narrative of the Bible. Creation is thus ordered to the Sabbath, the day to be kept holy to the praise and worship of God. Just as the seventh day or Sabbath completes the first creation, so the ‘eighth day’, Sunday, the day of the week on which Jesus rose from the dead [The Lord’s Day], is celebrated as the ‘holy day’ by Christians – the day on which the ‘new creation’ began. Thus the Christian observance of Sunday fulfills the commandment to remember and keep holy the Sabbath day” – Glossary, Catechism of the Catholic Church.

“The first precept, “You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor”, requires the faithful to sanctify the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord as well as the principle liturgical feasts honoring the mysteries of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the saints; in the first place, by participating in the Eucharistic celebration [Mass], in which the Christian community is gathered, and by resting from those works and activities which could impede such a sanctification of these days.” – Catechism #2042.

Sundays are always holy days of obligation as well as in the Archdiocese of Seattle: January 1st (Mary, Mother of God), August 15th (Assumption of Mary), November 1st (All Saints), December 8th (Immaculate Conception), and December 25th (Nativity of Our Lord). What constitutes a good reason for missing Mass on a holy day of obligation? Three good reasons come to mind: infirmity, lack of transportation, and work.

If someone is too ill or weak to attend Mass, then they are not responsible for violating this precept; this is a prudential call whether we truly are or aren’t, God knows all.

If someone can’t make it to Mass because they lack the means to get there, then they are not responsible for violating the first precept. In the past 21 years I have a missed a Sunday Mass thrice because I was infirm. During that same period of time I have been to multiple American states, Mexico, Peru, Italy, Israel, and camping, and have never missed a Mass on a holy day of obligation. The internet makes finding a Mass anywhere in the world relatively easy. When we travel we make all kinds of arrangements: what to pack, where I’m going to stay, who I’m going to travel with, car, boat, or plane, how much money it’s going to cost, what I am going to do, etc. One of the things we need to figure out while planning a trip is: “where am I going to attend Mass on the holy days of obligation?” Once we’ve figured that out, then we need to inform in advance the people that we are going to be traveling or staying with (people don’t like surprises), that we will be attending Mass on such and such a day in such and such a place. If we fail to do this out of laziness or cowardice, then we inadvertently communicate to others that our relationship with God and His Church is not as important as the people or events on this trip. By simply attending Mass, we participate in the Church’s mission to evangelize (precept #7). Imagine the statement it makes to others about how important Christ and His Church are when we make going to Mass away from home, perhaps far away from home, a reality. Now imagine what we communicate to others when we don’t attempt this: Christ and His Church are not as important as the company and other plans that I am keeping. FYI, sporting events at home or on the road apply to everything I’ve just said.

Now to missing Mass due to work. Sometimes people will not be able to attend Mass on a holy day of obligation because of a job and there is no Mass offering that they can get to on time. If this is truly the case, then we are not responsible for violating the first precept. However, when I worked in the market place, I asked my employers if they could make an allowance for me to attend Mass either on a Sunday morning or Saturday evening and they always did. I might have had to work the rest of that day but they were accommodating. I think most employers will try to make an accommodation if we ask. Of course this is again a great opportunity to evangelize our faith (precept #7) simply by our deeds.

Finally to the second part of the first precept: God doesn’t want us to work on the holy days of obligation or to make someone else work on those days, unless we have to. Now some jobs require us to work on Sundays or the handful of other holy days or we’ll lose our job. If this is the case, then we’re not responsible for violating the first precept. Just remember that when we frequent places of businesses on holy days of obligation (stores, restaurants, etc.,) then we force others to work on that day. What if I have to run my business on the holy days of obligation to remain competitive? Because civil laws in America don’t enforce rest from labor on the holy days of obligation, then Christian business owners sometimes find themselves in the unenviable position of having to work on those days or losing business to competitors. This may ultimately result in the business going out of business, or being adversely effected by losing ‘market share’ to the point of having to lay people off. If this is the dynamic for a Catholic business owner and it may not be, but if it is, then the coercion of the free market system may negate their freedom to choose to stay closed on the holy days of obligation: thus they are not responsible for violating the first precept.

This has been a lot of very important information, thank you for bearing with me and memorizing it. I hope it will be helpful for you and for others through you, to grow in love of God and neighbor. Next week the second precept.

Fr. Thomas Nathe

+ November 10, 2021

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Blessings and joy of our Lord be with each of you! Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard keeping our parishes and schools running so that we can continue our mission. Despite the challenges and darkness of this pandemic, we continue to bring the light of Christ to others as seen in our outreach ministries, food banks, visits to the homebound, prayer groups, faith formation, adoration, and much more. Thank you to all the volunteers, staff, students and others who have creatively nurtured our parish communities! You are His light in our world today.

Our Coronavirus Taskforce has been tracking the latest science to inform the guidance we are issuing. As you know, this data has led to temporary changes to how we do things. These changes are warranted to keep people safe while not compromising the sanctity of the Mass. I remain firm in my resolve to keep our people safe — including the most vulnerable among us — so that we can continue safely celebrating the Eucharist.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have celebrated tens of thousands of Masses with only a handful of cases of coronavirus spread, which have been traced to people not following our safety guidance. In general, this indicates that our protocols are effectively protecting people and providing a safe environment for worship. This is something for which we can be very grateful!

As such, the general obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation (including the Saturday/vigil Mass) is to be reinstated (CIC, can. 1247) during Advent on December 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Advent is a wonderful time to draw near to Christ. It is time to renew our faith through personal reception of the sacraments and rebuild the relationships and community life of our parishes.

As has always been the case, those who have a serious reason are excused from attending Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2181). This includes those who are ill, have significant health risk factors or care for someone who is ill or immunocompromised, as well as those who have significant fear or anxiety about contracting COVID in a large group.

I invite you to come back to church. Be a part of our family of faith. Make the Lord’s Day a true celebration of the Resurrection, and a great celebration of being renewed in his life, mercy and love. I continue to pray for you, and I ask for your prayers as well.

As always, I remain, In the Heart of Christ,