Stephanie has been watching TV all morning.  Once again, she is lounging at home instead of attending the Mass at St. Joseph’s church of which she is a parishioner.  She casually reaches for her cellphone, when suddenly her cousin Clair calls.  After the big deal Clair had made when Stephanie slept through Mass last week, Stephanie is sure what the conversation is going to be about now.  The two are best friends, but Stephanie has been dreading this call from her cousin all morning. She might as well get it over with now.

“Hey Clair!”

“Stephanie! You weren’t at Mass again this week! Is everything okay? You’re not sick or anything, are you?”

“I was feeling lazy this Sunday, so I missed Mass again.”  Stephanie grins at her own answer as if it were some sort of mischievous, daring accomplishment.  “I know, it was bad; but  I’ll definitely see you there next week.  How are you?”

“I don’t think you realize that missing Mass on Sunday when you could have gone is a serious sin.”

“Come on, Clair.  I would have gone I guess, but I couldn’t be seen in church. My hair has been doing funny things lately when I brush it out.  And, as I’ve already said, I was feeling too comfortable this morning to get dressed and drive.  It’s Sunday, a day of rest, after all.  And it just so happens that the start of Mass today coincided with when that awesome zombie show came on.”  Stephanie staggers on the phone with her pitiful excuses.

“Stephanie, I don’t think you fully realize what mortal sin is.  Going to Sunday Mass is not something you can just skip whenever you feel like you want to.  Here is my old 9th grade Baltimore Catechism!  Let’s see what it has to say about serious sins, like missing Mass on a Sunday.”

Stephanie shakes her head, and continues staring at the screen full of stumbling, hideous zombies. After looking the catechism over a bit, Clair is back on the phone with a clever analogy.

“Mortal sin is like the worst kind of zombie virus.  It is a serious offense against the law of God that deprives the sinner of sanctifying grace, the supernatural life of the soul infused at Baptism.  After mortal sin enters in, the soul is decayed and lifeless from depravation of God’s grace, even as your body may walk around healthy and fine.  The real kind of “walking dead” aren’t in the TV– they are the people all around us who have un-confessed mortal sin rotting out their soul.”

This seems to wake Stephanie up.  She turns the TV volume down. “What else does the catechism say about mortal sin?”

“Well, besides eliminating sanctifying grace, mortal sin makes the soul an enemy of God, takes away the merit of all its good actions, deprives it of the right to everlasting happiness in heaven, and makes it deserving of everlasting punishment in hell.”

“I’m so glad you called to give me this warning about mortal sin.  Even though going to Mass sort of interrupts my Sunday, and seems like such a boring waste of time to me, I’ll never miss it again,” Stephanie almost too honestly states.  “I just didn’t truly understand the consequences before now.”

“Unfortunately, there are many more mature adults who seem to secretly share the same distorted beliefs as you about the Mass, based on their behavior toward it.  If we all really participated at Mass, we would witness the holy sacrifice of the Lamb of God, happening all over again for us in an un-bloody manner on the alter.  At Mass, we have the chance to receive great graces through the Eucharist, where Our Lord is truly present, and to thank Jesus for the ultimate sacrifice He made of Himself for us.  Remember, the Mass was not instituted for our  amusement.  If it still gets boring, we must offer that suffering up to God, remembering how much, much more He suffered for us on the cross.  At Mass, He should be all we’re thinking about, no matter how distractingly awful your hair may want to sit after brushing it out that morning.”

Clair pauses, out of breath.  The TV show is off on Stephanie’s end of the line.  Stephanie is awkwardly silent for a while as she thinks about what Clair has been saying.  Clair goes on.

“There is a 5:00 mass today at St. Mary’s church downtown.  Confessions are being heard there from 3:30 to 4:30…”

“I’ll be on time for both.  Also, Clair, I’m going to take a course on religion.  This conversation made it clear how negligent I’ve been up till now about learning and practicing our Faith.”