The Sunday Mass Obligation in a Time of Liturgical Crisis (Conclusion): Wisdom from Bishop Schneider’s Catechism

Let us be guided by the light of supernatural common sense

This is the final post in a four-part series. The others: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3.

The limits of our enterprise

It is in the nature of moral reasoning in a contingent, fallen world that it cannot always give black and white answers. Yes, a direct sin against any of God’s commandment is evil. But in anything less than divine commandments (and that would include the Church’s precepts), there are situations that call for prudential decisions, for discernment of circumstances, assessment of gains and losses, balancing of obligations and risks.

For that reason, I cannot tell you what you “must or must not” do when it comes to fulfilling the Church’s days of obligation for attending Mass. The best I can do is to share valid principles of moral reasoning (part 1) and insights into the liturgical mess we are dealing with (part 2 and part 3). Such reflections should help with the decision-making process. At the end of the day, it is your conscience, well-informed—and that means, not fed on half-truths, lazy rationalizations, and extravagant gaslighting—that will issue directives. It is on these directives, and on your efforts to make them righteous, that you will be judged by Almighty God.

Given the seriousness of the issues under discussion in the past few weeks, I deem it highly appropriate to let the final installment be filled with the wisdom of a successor of the apostles, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, whom (I am sure) we all admire for his clarity of judgment, serenity of spirit, and undaunted courage.