daily mass

[theculturewarrior]

Hello:

For Lent, I would like to start attending Daily Mass on my lunch hour. The thing is, if I attend the whole mass, I might not have much time to eat afterwards.

Would it be sinful to arrive late to Daily Mass, and receive communion, provided that I was early for Sunday Mass?

[Adeodatus]

When you say 'arrive late for Mass' do you mean after eating? In which case do you mean not keeping the Eucharistic fast?

Going to weekday Mass is a laudable thing, but bear in mind: [b]no one is obliged to it.[/b] I'm not saying it's not important. Not at all. But I am saying you can't break the rules (like the Eucharistic fast) deliberately simply because the action itself (going to weekday Mass) is a good thing.

You could attend these weekday Masses late (after having lunch) and refrain from receiving Communion. You could then make a spiritual Communion instead, and offer this for all the people who unlike you are in a mess and can't even receive Communion on a Sunday. Just a suggestion.... think about it.

If on the other hand you are late for Mass but have kept the Eucharistic fast, I generally think it's a good idea to receive Communion if you've heard at least the Gospel being proclaimed (i.e. Word and Sacrament together). But the Church will not deny Communion to those who spontaneously ask for it even outside of Mass (for sufficiently good reasons), so it seems that if you arrive at Mass as Communion is being distributed, you may still receive.

Personally I think this makes Mass seem like a Communion-making machine, and not what it is: the best prayer in the whole universe, offered by the whole Body of Christ in the person of its Head, the Son, offered in the Spirit, to the Father. Even if you do not receive Communion (which would be a shame) you are still sharing in this greatest prayer in the whole universe. And that may be reason enough to go to weekday Masses during Lent.

And so I would tend to avoid such deliberate late arrivals, and not make it a habit. Not even for Lent. Lent is a time when we do what we should do all year round, and bad practices shouldn't be done. Less diserable practices should probably not be encouraged---and tolerated only in extreme cases.