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WhiteOnyx · May 12, '13, 9:43 am

I know that not attending Mass on Sundays is a mortal sin but...Is this biblical, church tradition?

Anthony V · #2 May 12, '13, 11:06 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteOnyx

I know that not attending Mass on Sundays is a mortal sin but...Is this biblical, church tradition?

It firstly stems from honoring the Sabbath. Alongside this, the Church, and sometimes even the bishops, has/have the administrative/pastoral power to bind Catholics to certain practices. For example, abstaining from meat during Lent on Fridays. But the most important of such practices that we are bound to is adoring and worshiping our Lord in his most holy self-giving sacrifice, and reverently giving ourselves to him as he did to us. Receiving the Eucharist, while not essential to "participating in Mass" (since certain qualifications must be met to receive reverently), is the "source and summit of Christian life." Receive reverently, lovingly, and often.

The Jewish Sabbath took place on Friday evenings and Saturday up until sundown. The Church, however, moved the Sabbath to Saturday evening and Sunday till sundown. The reason is this: Because participation in the Mass is a foretaste of our own resurrection with him as his Body, and Christ rose from the dead on a Sunday, it is fitting that we worship him and participate in his love in this manner at the very least every Sunday.

I hope this answers your question.

tafan · #3 May 12, '13, 11:06 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteOnyx

I know that not attending Mass on Sundays is a mortal sin but...Is this biblical, church tradition?

Strange question. There is no dichotomy between church and biblical teachings. It is a precept of the church, as a minimal means of following the 4th commandment.

bzkoss236 · #4 May 12, '13, 2:46 pm

And keeping the Sabbath holy, stems from Natural Law in which all humans have an innate desire to honor and worship God.

WhiteOnyx · #5 May 14, '13, 6:52 pm

I am very confused at the responses. Not all Catholic teachings are grounded in the bible. And the commandment in regards to keeping the Sabbath holy was before any Sunday Mass. So where does mortal sin and attendance at Sunday Mass come from?

bzkoss236 · #6 May 14, '13, 7:39 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteOnyx

I am very confused at the responses. Not all Catholic teachings are grounded in the bible. And the commandment in regards to keeping the Sabbath holy was before any Sunday Mass. So where does mortal sin and attendance at Sunday Mass come from?

I think you misunderstood my answer. I was saying the reason we should go to Mass is the same as why the Jews needed to keep the Sabbath day holy. It stems from Natural Law, with a desire of every human to worship God, because that is how we are designed. We are designed to have a desire for God. Now, many people fulfill that desire with things that will ultimately leave them unfulfilled, but the desire is still there. The desire for God comes with the desire to worship God. By not going to Mass on Sunday, we are not fulfilling our obligation to God to worship Him as we are created to do, and thereby, sinning.

And also, while not all Catholic teaching may be explicitly found in scripture, most of our teachings are (at least implicitly) found in scripture.

MarcoPolo · #7 May 14, '13, 7:46 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteOnyx

I am very confused at the responses. Not all Catholic teachings are grounded in the bible. And the commandment in regards to keeping the Sabbath holy was before any Sunday Mass. So where does mortal sin and attendance at Sunday Mass come from?

There are Biblical roots to the 3rd commandment. In Catholic theology, typology is very important. Thus Jesus is the 2nd Adam, but superior to the 1st Adam (cf. Rom. 5:14), as an example of typology. The Church recognizes Sunday as that which supplants the Sabbath: Catechism #2174 Jesus rose from the dead "on the first day of the week." Because it is the "first day," the day of Christ's Resurrection recalls the first creation. Because it is the "eighth day" following the sabbath, it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ's Resurrection. For Christians it has become the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord's Day (he kuriake hemera, dies dominica) Sunday:

We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the first day [after the Jewish sabbath, but also the first day] when God, separating matter from darkness, made the world; and on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead.
You can see a few paragraphs later that the Church acknowledges that missing this occasion of worship: CCC#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.Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.
And further still: CCC#2190 The sabbath, which represented the completion of the first creation, has been replaced by Sunday which recalls the new creation inaugurated by the Resurrection of Christ.
If you read other of the paragraphs in between, you will see that this practice of celebrating on Sunday is a form of communion and solidarity with that Church which is Christ's body.

Regarding Scripture, about which you asked, you can see this practice established already . For example: Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread...
Refusal to participate in this act of "Communion" without a valid reason, thus goes back to the 3rd commandment about keeping the Sabbath holy, and because refusal to join the Church's occasion of communion is to be detached from his body, the Church. It is also a sin of disobedience against those in authority who are successors to the Apostles, appointed by God (cf. 1 Thes. 5:12-13) and thus, in turn, an affront to Christ.

MarcoPolo · #8 May 14, '13, 7:55 pm

p.s. Further reading on Church teaching and the Sabbath can be read in the Catechism 2168-2195 with Scriptural footnotes.

maryjk · #9 May 15, '13, 6:58 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteOnyx

I am very confused at the responses. Not all Catholic teachings are grounded in the bible. And the commandment in regards to keeping the Sabbath holy was before any Sunday Mass. So where does mortal sin and attendance at Sunday Mass come from?

Such as???

COPLAND 3 · #10 May 15, '13, 9:22 am

Protestantism has really done a job at placing in many peoples minds a divide between the Bible and the Church, as if the Church came from the Bible rather the correct order of the Bible came from the Church. Another proper way to ask a question is what is the Christian (Catholic) teaching, rather than what does the Bible say vs. what does the Church say.

WhiteOnyx · #11 May 15, '13, 10:28 pm

Thanks for all the responses. I will settle for a conformed faith as opposed to an informed faith But honestly that will put me in confession for a fear of hell as opposed to something far greater. This is either biblical....for example ...fornicators...or it is not.

Oxford Cleric · #12 May 16, '13, 9:03 am

As other posters have noted, the Church does not derive her authority to teach, rule and guide from the Bible; she has that authority from Christ Himself. The Bible is one of the tools developed by the Church to carry out her mission, but it would be a poor workman indeed who had only one tool in his box and relied on it for everything! Or look at it this way: you don't need proof of the teachings of the Church; what you need is faith in the teachings of the Church, for she is sent into the world even as Christ was sent into the world.

Nevertheless, some scriptural warrant for the teaching regarding the Mass obligation:
Matt. 10:40 - "He who receives you receives me..."
Luke 12:42 - "And the Lord said, 'Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?"
John 16:12-13 - "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth"
2 Thessalonians 3:4 - "And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things which we command."
2 Timothy 2:2 - "...and what you have heard from me...entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."
Hebrews 10:25 - (do) not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some..."
Hebrews 13:10 - "We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat."

Does any of that help?

LoveMercyGrace · #13 May 16, '13, 2:43 pm

I am following this thread and my question is- a priest recently said

"it is ok to miss Mass if for work, just make it up" - meaning by daily Mass.

I then thought , this must be- because of this:

Luke 13:13-15
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
13 And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God. 14 But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him?

Could someone please comment?

Mike SoCal · #14 May 16, '13, 3:03 pm

Moral sin is a Catholic doctrine not a Biblical Doctrine
The Bible says that if we were to die in our sins we would be condemned to Hell.
That is any of our sins.

Salvation is a reprieve from our sins and a promise that God will not remember our sins if we profess the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom 10:9, John 3:!6)and are Baptized (Mark 16:15,16).
For those who profess the Gospel of Christ we are "Born Again", "a New Creature". We certainly should not continue in sinful habits and we should adopt the Christian narrow path.

Mark 16:15,16 Rom 10:9 2 Corinthians 5:17 1 Peter 3:18 Ephesians 2:8 Hebrews 10:17

Christian Soul · #15 May 16, '13, 3:18 pm

If it is believed Catholic Church teaching authority is derived from Christ's words in the Bible as others have pointed out they believe it is and what is bound on earth is bound in heaven, then wouldn't it be both Church teaching and Biblical since the Church's teaching authority is believed to be derived from what was written in the Bible?

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