Lent 4 Dummiez

[Ice_nine]

[quote name='Socrates' timestamp='1301160445' post='2223491']
Attending Sunday Mass is a requirement of the Church for being Catholic, and deliberately missing mass without serious reason is a mortal sin. If one does not obey the precept of the Church to attend Sunday mass, and thus lives in mortal sin, then all her fasting and penances are without merit. The point of lenten penance is for spiritual benefit and to lead one to greater holiness, not for its own sake or just to be "hard-core." Complaining about one's penances is also a bad practice.

Your cousin needs to get to confession and mass (in that order) before she worries any further about penance on Sundays and such.
[/quote]

She wasn't brought up Catholic. Her mother is a sociopath and her dad has been emotionally manipulative and abusive. The environment she grew up in was something like a living hell and such things undoubtedly jack up one's formation of conscience. I would like to see her attending Mass, going to confession, and living right sure but I'm gonna take things one step at a time. But if you would like to pray for such a thing to happen, I would appreciate it.