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.

If you ever wonder about something when attending the mass as a non-catholic, please do ask! It's fascinating when you get to know the different signifances of the parts.
A priest or member of the laity would love to help you out.

"But I am mature enough to be able to sit/kneel/sing and listen for a few hours without derision or worrying that I may be turned into a flambe."

I wouldn't kneel to be honest. It's not done in my denomination and I was told it was dwindling and becoming rare for Anglicans. I'd feel very strange doing that.
Karmin, people who don't have faith also attend religious services for various reasons.

Oooh, I haven't heard of that, @gwenhwyfar. What denomination do you belong to? In Catholic churches, kneeling is very much still done (people who cannot kneel sit instead). I've seen people kneeling before recieving Eurachrist as well.

Try finding a service which suits in a 7 parish area spread over wide distances. I would try for Christmas Evening Mass if it's on offer or go to somewhere for the early morning service at 0800 or whenever. The difference is my guests know my commitment and do what they can to help. And Knitwit you can just miss the tea and coffee and ask your guests to put the potatoes on or whatever?

But clearly different lives, different folks.

"In Catholic churches, kneeling is very much still done (people who cannot kneel sit instead)."

Most Christians in Britain aren't Catholic though. Many Anglicans are not necessarily regular attenders and many other denominations don't have kneeling.

I didn’t know about is being a mortal sin not to attend mass! I went to scouts with loads of catholics and they all came to weekend camps... surely this wouldn’t be allowed?! I can think of quite a lot of sporting events that sometimes happen on Sunday mornings too. So Catholics wouldn’t be allowed to skip the odd Sunday for a cross country race for example?

I guess to me, running is how I connect with the spiritual part of myself: I feel connected with the earth and nature and it’s quite a meditative experience. And no, I probably wouldn’t skip my Sunday run for guests but I might change the time.

Dispensations can be given if you are in remote places where you can't realistically get to church. You might try to do extra prayers, a rosary or watch mass online in that case.

Doubt it would be given for a sporting event - my poor footie-mad priest missed most of the world cup.

In praticse, lots of Catholics don't go every week. However, this is the requirement and we do get quite a few chances e.g my church has four possible times spread over two days.

WhatisFreddoingnow Just out of interest - how do you apply for a dispensation? Do you just ask your own priest or do you have to fill in a form?

Sorry - forgot to say that would be for watching a sporting event. If there was no way that you could attend mass as you were participating in a sporting event, I imagine that you would get a dispensation but it would be up to the priest.

I imagine it depends on the diocesse but normally just ask the priest. It's really just a chat - no need to fill in forms! He will check to see if there is a compromise e.g vigil mass / attending another catholic church. It happens very often and I believe very much up to the priest if it should be granted.

I don’t understand the issue OP?
Is DS2 your son ie also a guest?

If you are leaving at 11am and your hosts wants to go to church at I assume about 10-11am what’s the problem? Can’t you just leave when they go?

Are you suggesting they should miss it simply to spend the last half an hour of your visit with you when presumably you didn’t arrive earlier this morning.

You wouldn’t need a dispensation for being in a remote place would you? That’s already covered because there is no obligation if that’s the case.

Do mortal sins still exist? I thought they got rid of those (am clearly a bit of a rubbish Catholic!)

If we had guests DH would probably go to the Saturday evening mass by himself (DS can only sit through the childrens service). Unless they were our relatives as they'd probably go to mass too.
If we were staying with friends we'd probably tag along to mass/synangogue/temple to be polite as long as there's a kid bit...if it was a case of sitting quietly we'd go for a walk instead or go home early.

The OP has only posted once, which makes me think she was slightly annoyed at the time, but has got over it.

She surely knew these friends were church goers and would therefore be leaving between 10 and 11 am. Surely, this should have been discussed when arranging the visit?

They do, Camomila. I’m not sure how seriously most Catholics in the U.K. take the one about the Sunday/holyday obligation though. I doubt most of them are confessing every missed day of obligation before the next time they receive communion.

OP here. Thanks for the responses.
Host was my sister. Timing flexibility was limited due to other commitments and travel distance for the weekend.

I did want us to spend our time together, whether that be at church or her home. If she wanted to go w/o us then we would just have headed off earlier - no hard feelings. Young kids = no lie in!

I am not religious but am comfortable attending church. I feel there is space for the church to welcome guests who are respectful. I was raised catholic.

What happened was that sis spoke to DS and that discussion led to her deciding they wouldn't go. She was fine with that decision.

drama church for my sis is 20 min walk, 1hr church, 30 min coffee, 20 min walk.

It's a very social thing for her, as well as the worship side. It also means getting up and ready etc rather than relaxed coffee in jammies while kids play.
That would be fine and I respect that. We've always played by ear. Other sis (with similar arrangement) has sometimes said she's skipping when we've been there.

I was just wondering really.

My Mum will go to an earlier service than normal if I am staying.

It's more the case if you were going off to far reaches of Alaska for a week. You would probably get a dispensation then.

If you lived in the remote wildness, I know there are travelling priests who go to the far reaches of the the earth. Obviously, this would depend on the area that you were in.

I'd go on Christmas Eve while the guests are watching telly and can entertain themselves a bit

I'm a church skipper in general

Synagogue rather than church, but yes - I still go when I have guests.

My answer is hypothetical as I never have overnight guests and hate staying in other people's houses.

I'm also a committed atheist ( to the extent I do not celebrate Christmas in any way.)

However, as the guest in this situation you'd surely stay at home and offer to start lunch or whatever. Or leave when they left for their godsquad meeting?

My aged mother goes to church and I have to say they have been very supportive socially and practically as has her cleaner who belongs to an extremist sect (JW) . I have an occasion attended the church my mother goes to ( non conformist) and it is so dumbed down and weird. Also cringey guitar playing, children's hymns and ....percussion.

Aesthetically I prefer bells n smells, Latin liturgy, or at the very least St James's Bible, fabulous music and gothic ( not neo) architecture. Intellectually though, for me ( you can think what you like) Christianity itself is patent nonsense. And quite barbaric if you think about the reality of what is supposed to happen in communion.

"I'm also a committed atheist ( to the extent I do not celebrate Christmas in any way.)"

Wow. Christmas is obviously a Christian festival, but it's also a social and cultural one and has pagan roots. It's a nice way for family and friends to have time off at the same time and to eat nice things when the days are short and dark. I find it quite sad that you don't celebrate Christmas just because you're not a believer.