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Question
HELP ME SETTLE A DEBATE, PLEASE. WHAT PART OF THE MASS MUST ONE ATTEND IN ORDER TO MEET ONE'S OBLIGATION FOR ATTENDANCE ON A DAY OF OBLIGATION SUCH AS A SUNDAY?
One is obliged not to miss *any* part of the Mass, assuming that one could have done so (for example, not held up by a traffic problem that could have been provided for in advance).
It is amazing how those who call themselves "Catholic" treat the Holy Mass so lightly. Who would think of coming late for a meeting with the President or ducking out early? Yet those who call themselves Catholic will without much, if any, compunction do so for a meeting with the King of Kings!
Nor should one really speak of "obligation" in this way. It sounds like the Pharisees, whom Our Lord condemned as hypocrites. Anyone who calls himself "Catholic" loves the Holy Mass and cannot get enough of it. To miss any part of it would be painful.
To see how Our Lord regarded any less, see Matthew 22:2-13.
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Fr. Michael
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A traditional Catholic priest, who provides forthright answers to questions FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF TRADITIONAL CATHOLICISM (not the New Order) on topics pertaining to TRADITIONAL Roman Catholicism, including theology, the Bible, Church history, the Latin language, liturgy (especially the Traditional Latin Mass), and music (especially Gregorian chant), and current events in the Catholic Church.
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