Sep 13 2008
It Is A Mortal Sin To Miss Mass, It is That Important.
It Is A Mortal Sin To Miss Mass.
Dear Friends in Christ,
I was just re-reading some of the things that I wrote over our first week together. I had written a piece on the importance of going to mass. As most of you know, if you miss mass it is a mortal sin. That is how important to go to mass. If the Church thought it that important, and Christ thought it that important then it is important to attend. We get so much strength from mass and we expose our selves to such temptations if we do not. I thought it would be beneficial if I posted an article by Karl Keating, President of Catholic Answers, http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2003/0311fr.asp, he writes in this article that it is a mortal sin, but if you forget and it was a mistake, or you are a shut in and can not attend these are acceptable. Like all sins if you make an honest mistake or you truly tried to attend it would not be a mortal sin. Please read for further clarification.
I will go on the record to say that the problems I had with my marriages stem from not attending mass. All the problems I have had can be traced back to not being close to God. I shoved him away and in turn let the dark side creep into my life. The Mass gives us the strength to fight the temptations. It does not do it alone but it definitely is necessary. I remember during my first marriage I put God aside and temptation came into my life. I put my feelings and my self a head of God. It is something that I am still ashamed of. I let a friend of mine lead me down the road of sin. I committed adultery and that lead to the break up of a marriage. I rationalized this behavior by saying I was unhappy. I put my feelings before my wife and God. Most importantly I acted out of immaturity. I told God that my promise to him was no good. I broke my vow for some instant pleasure. I broke my vow just because “I” did not want to make it work. That is wrong. In today’s culture, you read many articles on the “I” culture or “the me” first generation. In this culture it is all how you feel at the moment. It never asks the hard hitting questions, like who you hurt besides yourself. I let down my family and I let down the Catholic Faith. Now that I attend mass and have tried to get closer to God I can see that it was wrong. If you were to ask me back then though, I told people she was a bad wife and that it was all her fault. The truth is completely opposite. It was me. I was unhappy so I blamed her. The truth is simple, I was wrong. End of story. It is hard to talk about it.
The other day I was looking through my fathers old computer and found a recent picture of my family with my ex wife. My family never left her. I did but they continue to see her long after I abandoned her. Am I mad at my family, no, of course not. I am proud of them. I am even more proud to be a member of my family.
Temptation is around us all the time. It feeds on sin. It is real. It is dark and has no boundaries. It comes after us when we let our guard down. You need other people to help you when the devil comes to you and demons enter your life. It took years of mistakes and false hopes for me to recover. I truly let the demons in after that first sin. My life was not right until one day I woke up without a Job and said hey, I have to correct the situation. I let prayer back into my life. I let Jesus back in. The dark became light and I began to see hope. My life became more meaningful. Even with the passing of my father, because I go to mass and pray everyday I see things differently. The dark demons of my past have retreated. They are still there, watching me and waiting for me to slip, but now I have my church and friends to help me out. I am not alone. I do not see the fight against evil as me fighting, rather I see one billion Catholics fighting with me.
Thank you Lord.
