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We’ve all been there: You’re on your way to something important when an unforeseen and unavoidable delay comes your way. It’s the most frustrating feeling, and totally out of your control.
It happened to my dad last week, when he was on his way to daily Mass at a local church and got stuck behind a broken train barrier. He waited for several minutes before having an opportunity to turn around and go another way. But that delay made him a little late to Mass.
He had a clever and simple solution to the problem, however. It was so good I wanted to share it with you for the next time you find yourself unavoidably running late for weekday Mass.
Stream an online weekday Mass
When he realized Mass was starting and he was still several minutes away from the church, he pulled up an online livestream of daily Mass around the world. He listened to the readings, prayers, and the beginning of the homily while driving to Mass.
Streaming the weekday Mass helped him to follow along and stay focused on the liturgy so that he was ready to join right in when he did arrive.
The only downside? “The online homily was better,” he joked.
There are several other websites that live-stream daily Masses throughout the day. Another option is CatholicTV, which offers live-streamed Masses at different times to accommodate various schedules. You can easily access the Mass livestream from your phone and listen to the liturgy while still driving or commuting.
I found myself using this hack a few days later when road construction unexpectedly slowed my path to weekday Mass. Pulling up the Mass livestream helped me connect to the liturgy and not miss the readings even though I was running late.
When should you livestream Mass?
Of course, it goes without saying that our priority is making it to Mass on time whenever we can.
It makes sense to livestream the beginning of weekday Mass, which we don’t have an obligation to attend, when arriving late is truly unavoidable. But this hack isn’t for Sunday Mass, which we do want to attend in its entirety.
“My spiritual director said this was only for weekdays, not for Sunday Mass,” my dad said after asking a priest.
Yet it’s a good idea to keep in your back pocket for those emergency situations when you can’t be there on time despite your best efforts.
If you’ve ever wondered how late you can be to Sunday Mass and still fulfill your obligation, check out this helpful video from Fr. David Michael Moses. He explains perfectly why “How late can I be?” isn’t the right question to ask.
Hopefully the idea to livestream the liturgy will be helpful for you the next time your car won’t start, your bus is running late, or the road is blocked and you have to re-route when you’re on your way to daily Mass!
