When the Sunday Mass Obligation Binds and Ceases to Bind

I am delighted to see this topic, Dr. Kwasniewski. I go to daily mass (novus ordo, because that’s all we have at my parish) and get something out of it, in addition to the Eucharist of course, because the group of people at daily mass is generally reverent. However, Sunday novus ordo mass is a party atmosphere. I find it very difficult to force myself to go. My husband and I are both 70. We are planning to move soon to a city where there is the TLM. In the meanwhile, Sunday mass is tough for me.

This is the second speech I have heard from Dr. K. In both of them I am impressed by the perfect selection of words and phrases. Thank you, Dr. K, for composing these talks

Thank you, Dr. Kwasniewski. You have further strengthened what Bishop Schneider advised regarding the Sunday obligation. I live in a Pacific island and the nearest TLM is 3,000 miles one way over ocean. I have had it with the NOM with the lay women lectors, female acolytes, extraordinary ministers of the Holy Eucharist, the protestant hymns and music, the irreverence that people do before, during and after mass, and the priests "performing" especially in homilies (dad jokes, standup comedies and for instance there was no supernatural multiplication of the bread and fish but a "miracle of sharing"). I might be moving out soon and relocate to where there is a very accessible TLM. God bless.

Thanks for clarifying this issue. I am one stuck without a car at the moment and the 3+ mile walk is quite a dangerous one. My priest visits. I'm disabled so talk to God all day long most days anyway so He knows my situation.

This is so very timely for me to hear, especially after attending NO mass on Pentecost Sunday where the priest sang parts of Alicia Keys’ “Girl on Fire” during his homily to relate it to the Holy Spirit.

I was stingy about buying the book or paying for the substack because I wanted to know more only about this 1 topic. Thank you for your generosity Dr., I will put this knowledge to good use & share with friends!

Thank you Mr. Kwasniewski so much for this video. I really needed this clarity. God Bless 🙏

Going to Mass is both obligatory under normal circumstances and very important. However there is much more to being a Christian than just going to Mass. In a lot of ways we are way too hung up on it right now. A couple of generations of Catholics in the 20th century grew up thinking that all they had to do be a Catholic is just show up for an hour on Sunday morning so the Catholic identity got way too wrapped up in 'going to Mass'. That is probably one of the reasons why there was such a move on to make it supposedly more 'pleasing to the people'. I am going to make an educated guess that in centuries gone by there were probably monks in the deserts of Upper Egypt who did not hear the Divine Liturgy every Sunday, maybe only a few times a year, but who lived infinitely more Christian lives than people who just show up every week just to meet their obligation

Thank you. Ive been to NO Masses that made me actually question my fsith.

Dr Peter K is a saintly man. I will say it again, a saintly man.

Thank you thank you thank you for talking about particles of Our Lord being trampled on. I can't get anybody to listen to me about this. Not even tlm priests

It seems like all of those reasons that were enumerated at the beginning could apply to almost anything and cause people to rationalize not ever going to Mass 😢

Dr. K, I wish I could give this 1000 thumbs up. I’ve been praying and feel such anguish the Sundays my large family doesn’t drive a considerable distance to the TLM and just try to do our best to sanctify the day at home. Your talk was what I needed at just the right time. Dr. K, do we owe others an explanation of why we don’t attend the local NO on a Sunday we don’t attend the TLM? I don’t want to cause scandal, but it’s also none of their business either. Specifically with family members who see no way around the precept of the Church compelling us to go to Mass. Thoughts?

I was told by a SSPX TLM Priest that if we don’t have a TLM nearby that we can watch it online on Youtube, attend another valid rite, pray the whole entire Holy Rosary instead of attending the N.O. Also if it’s 2hrs away or more that we are not obliged to attend for travel reasons like you mentioned in this video.

I attended an Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy where, afterwards, a devotional 40 days prayer was sung in memory of the deceased. I had a dinner party I was hosting later that afternoon. I did not attend Mass that Sunday. Please advise.

I have a specific question. If I go camping in the middle of nowhere where there's no possibility of me getting to Mass on Sunday, and trust me most of the time I will drive 2 hours away from my campsite to get to a mass on Sunday while I'm camping, do I have to get a dispensation from my priest before I go on that camping trip?

I agree wholeheartedly. If your church does not permit infant communion or has separated the 3 initiation sacraments but up to 17 years, you have a duty to become Eastern Orthodox

It seems that the audio is only playing through the speaker (earphone) on the right.

The last Gospel is not part of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. it is an explanation to the pagans (facing North while reading) who we are worshiping for their understanding.

I grew up as a Catholic, attending Catholic schools from 1959 to 1971. Most of those years we had what you now call the TLM. I never, ever heard about these myriad reasons for missing Mass. if you were very ill, of course. If you were forced to work, yes. But you were expected to remedy any situation that interfered. Vacation? Nope. Inadequate clothing? Nope. Causing trouble with your husband? Nope— time to bring in the priest if that were the case. As an aside that’s not relevant, very few if any of us wore mantillas. Rather, we wore hats, and some women wore small round lacy things- “ chapel veils” which they pinned to their hair. We as Catholic School students were forbidden by the nuns to wear those. We had to have a proper hat.