If you attend a Saturday afternoon wedding at 2:00 pm, does that satisfy your Sunday obligation?
No. The earliest Mass one can attend on a Saturday to fulfill the Sunday obligation is 4:00 PM. Of course, it is never exactly that simple. I am aware of at least one anomaly in the area of a church that has an earlier Saturday vigil Mass than 4 PM. That particular church claims to have a special dispensation for their Mass, so the rule still stands for the rest of us that Mass for a vigil (the evening before), whether for Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation, must take place after 4 PM.
Some object that a wedding Mass uses different readings, so it should not fulfill the obligation. I disagree. A wedding Mass after 4 PM would “count”. Canon law (and several commentaries on it) state the obligation is to participate at Mass, and there is no mention of which Mass or what readings. I will note that some would disagree with me on this (I think they are wrong). So let me make the point that we should not be going to Mass just to fulfill obligations and jump through hoops, but we should want to go to Mass to encounter Jesus in Word and Sacrament, and we should want to celebrate the proper liturgies with the right readings for the Sunday or Holy Day. We lose out if we avoid it.
In fact, it is serious sin to miss Mass on Sunday or a Holy Day without valid justification (such as being sick or physically unable to make it due to weather or travel to a place where it would be extremely difficult to go). So if a person has full knowledge of the seriousness of missing Mass (as you might by reading this now) and if that person freely chooses then not to go to Mass, they have met the conditions for committing mortal sin, a turning away from God. Sometimes people simply don’t know or have pressures that limit their freedom, so the sin is lessened. If a person has issues with work or something else, I recommend talking to the priest to figure something out. The reason we have such obligations to go to Mass is because we have an obligation to follow the Third Commandment, “to keep holy the Sabbath day”. Also, if we don’t nourish ourselves spiritually once a week, we will spiritually starve! I don’t want that to happen.
What about the case we have this weekend of having a Holy Day of Obligation on Monday—the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary? Since the Holy Day is Monday, could a person attend Mass the evening before (Sunday night) and have that count for both Monday and Sunday? No. That is cheating! One Mass fulfills one obligation. There are no two-for-one deals. We are obliged to go to Mass on Sunday (or Saturday evening after 4 PM) and then again on Monday (or to a Sunday evening vigil Mass for the Holy Day). Mass is awesome! We should want to go. Where else do we receive our Lord and God in such powerful ways as in the Eucharist, Jesus’ true Body and Blood, and in the Gospel proclaimed in the community, the body of Christ?
-Fr. Greg
