Do you skip church if you have guests?

[TheOrigFV45]

Just that - if your guests are not church goers do you still go?
We are the guests, leaving for home at 11am.
DS2 said he doesn't want to go to church and it got me wondering what people generally do.

I think anyone goes to church instead of looking after their guests then the message of Christ has gone over their heads!

Good point.

I think anyone goes to church instead of looking after their guests then the message of Christ has gone over their heads!

I agree with this. Missing church one Sunday to entertain guests would in some circumstances be the right thing to do for. I don't think it's for any of us to tell you what the right thing to do would be in this scenario.

How old is DS? Is the reluctance to go due to guests?

I visit people who go to church. I don't believe so don't go unless it also involves doing something for the local community. I expect my host(s) to go if they want as I'm a house guest who can entertain herself get food/drinks and clean up after herself plus others as required without destroying the house.

DD's best friend at primary school was from a church going family. One weekend, I asked if the little girl could join us on a day out visiting a donkey sanctuary, as I knew she was a real animal-lover. The mum looked very uneasy, but said sorry, no, as it would mean her missing church. Seemed all wrong to me.

If you're the guests, have the hosts encouraged you to go with them?

As the guests, I'd either stay back and potter as people have said; if the hosts offered, or I'd leave earlier so they could go to church in peace if they didn't offer. I'd work on the presumption that they didn't want to leave me in their house if they only offered attending with them.

As the hosts, it would depend who the guests were. People who stay over all the time I'd probably leave at mine and still go if I'd planned to; anyone else and I'd not.

I wouldn’t expect the hosts to miss Church. If Churchgoing is an integral part of the hosts faith. I certainly wouldn’t expect someone to miss Church except in the car of serious illness (and certainly not to suit someone else wanting my child to go to a donkey sanctuary)

I’m not a churchgoer myself (I’m agnostic), but I was brought up in a catholic household where we went to church every Sunday; it was just like going to school for us; it was just what you did

I would t expect my host to miss church, but I’d probably rather they nipped out to the speedy 8am service rather than the long 10am service if I’ve traveled to see them.

Our family and friends know we attend church so don't tend to make plans for Sunday morning. We are also mindful of the time of church when we make any Sunday plans.

As a catholic, you're required to attend Sunday mass obligations. We believe the first commandment set by Jesus was to love God. Part of which is to attend church on Sundays. In fact, not attending mass is a mortal sin that needs to be confessed before partaking in communion again.

You can get dispensations for not attending church - young children who can't come to church, looking after an ill person, not safe to travel to church in bad weather, illness etc.

Jesus's message to love each other would definitely not be neglected by leaving guests for an hour in a warm home with food, etc in order for you to attend church.

I think anyone goes to church instead of looking after their guests then the message of Christ has gone over their heads!
Which message of Christ do you have in mind here?

OP, I would almost always say to the guests that I plan to go to church as normal and that they would be very welcome to come with me, or to stay in my house and relax, whichever they prefer. And if they chose not to come, I would make sure I left church and came home rather more promptly than usual.

Oh yea. Jesus said go to church, private reflection or prayer can't possibly
Work. Nothing at all to do with wanting money in the collection plate

It’s a mortal sin to miss Sunday (or Vigil) mass if you are Catholic unless in case of illness. A mortal sin means that if you die before you get to confession you will go to hell.

That’s the Catechism, not my opinion, but I’m pointing out that, in the case of Catholics, you would be putting the hosts in a terrible position if you expected them to miss Mass for you. Some towns do only have one service now.

I don’t think Jesus would have expected people to miss Church tbh! One of the 10 Commandments is to Keep The Sabbath Holy and Jesus also said things like “The Greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and understanding.” and urged people to leave their homes and families to follow him. The message above came before “and love thy neighbour as thyself”. I think the message is pretty clear, to put God first, then others.

I’m sure guests who don’t want to go to church can accommodate themselves for an hour to let their hosts meet their Sunday Obligation.

Money in collection plate is not compulsory at all. In fact, many people don't give money but give their time to help others in whatever capacity they can.

Private and quiet reflection is absolutely crucial in my faith. However, we are also required to attend church. We believe that Jesus established a church on earth through apostolic succession to help us in grace. We also partake in the eurachrist prayer which transforms the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus.

Whilst there's a lot of variables for me I would skip church (3 hours) if it was someone who was only briefly visiting and I was still going to keep the Sabbath in mind.
I realise that means different things to different people though.

If it was a longer stay visitor then I would definitely go along to church although perhaps only for the main service.

If I knew someone was leaving at 11am though (services run 10/10.30 onwards at my church) I wouldn't go. If it was super important to go that week I wouldn't schedule visitors to stay.

Sorry, Cross posted with WhatisFreddoingnow.

Also...you don’t have to put money in the collection plate. Many people pass it along without putting anything in and many people just put coppers in. I’ve never ever met a rich clergyman!

“not attending mass is a mortal sin”

Blimey. No wonder we had the reformation!

We'd just go to evening mass.

A mortal sin is not necessarily missing Mass on Sunday - although many priests might have you believe that was the case. A mortal sin is theologically considered to be a conscious and deliberate breaking of the Ten Commandments.

Mandatory Mass attendance was introduced relatively recently when attendance declined; it’s nothing to do with the teachings of Christ.

I’m going to be very warm in the afterlife as my Catholic God teaches that as well as loving the Lord our God and keeping holy the Sabbath that we should love one another. You can recognise and keep Holy the Sabbath without sitting through Mass. The rest is very little to do with being physically in a church. We do attend regularly but we also miss Mass sometimes and don’t feel guilty for so doing.

Oh, what I could say in a debate about the reformation....

To make clear the catholic perspective....Mortal sins are forgiven through confession. We also believe in perfect contrition in extraordinary circumstances.

We don't profess anyone to be hell apart from Satan. That is up to God's judgement and we can't pretend to understand God's mind. What we do profess is God's mercy (of which there is plenty!)

People still go to church these days? 🤣

Did you want an answer to this question or are you just the token wind up merchant on the thread?

Depends on the guest. Many friends I’d leave at home if they didn’t want to come, some would wish to come.

I’d give people the choice, leave them at home with the kettle and the cake tin. In the past many friends have chosen to go for a walk, or take some of the horses/dogs out etc.

As defined by the Cathecism:
One commits a mortal sin when there are simultaneously present: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent

Missing Sunday mass is declared a mortal sin because it is putting our schedules before God. God must be our number one priority but by missing mass, we aren't doing that. As mentioned, we are fed the words, body and blood of Christ so it's in our best interest. Mentions of 'gathering in one body (church)' is mentioned throughout the Bible.