Saturday, October 30, 2010

Sunday Obligation - Re Msgr. Muench's article

Anonymous has requested the following:

How about a discussion of Msgr. Muench's article on Sunday Obligation?

I know there is not universal agreement on whether SSPX masses fulfill the obligation. Although he seemed to indicate that there was.

It is a sad day when the only way the diocese can keep people in it's parishes is by telling them its "obligatory".

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Could you provide a link to this article?


8 comments:

Mark said...

The link to the article anonymous mentioned is below:

http://www.catholicvirginian.org/archive/2010/2010vol85iss26/pages/article6.html

I was really surprised that the PNC is considered as possibly kosher - "depends" was the verdict by the author.

The article did not mention the increasing number of those parishes in our country where the Novus Ordo Mass(Ordinary Rite) is celebrated with the Traditional Mass (Extraordinary Rite) on every Sunday. Outside of our Diocese, such parishes are relatively numerous, and their numbers are growing. Una Voce shows the extent to which they have increased outside of our Diocese.

standing.maryanna said...

I had read somewhere that it was permissible to attend the SSPX Mass but not to receive Communion. Why one and not the other...

I'm not sure if this meant that the SSPX Mass covered the Sunday obligation though. Unless there was no other Catholic Church in the area.

Mark said...

Standing Maryanna:

I would research that further - SSPX is not in full communion with our Church.

Anyway, why go in that direction, when we already have so many churches staffed by the FSSP priests (one in our own Diocese) in our country, plus a steadily growing number of churches offering both rites every Sunday. No "are you in communion?" questions there.

standing.maryanna said...

Mark, I am aware that it is not in full communion. Supposedly the SSPX and the Vatican are trying to come to an agreement... In the meantime, I would guess that in some parts of the country where there are great distances between FSSP parishes, this question might come up.

I'm just curious, that's all...

Anonymous said...

The general consensus (especially given feedback from Ecclesia Dei is that attending an SSPX chapel does fulfill one's Sunday obligation. Ostensibly this would mean receiving the Eucharist. However, for some it could be a bad practice given the climate if they are not rooted well enough.

standing maryanna said...

Stu, perhaps I misunderstood your comment but a Sunday Mass without Communion fulfills the Sunday obligation.

Anonymous said...

No disagreement.

Anonymous said...

I didn't realize that obligations were considered negative. But if it makes some people feel better, I've heard people refer to Holy Days of obligation as Holy Days of opportunity. I prefer the term obligation because it implies a moral tie to the Church. But then again, we are living in an era when we do not see it that way.