Hi Karen,

Thanks for the questions.

You said:
My mother said when I was a baby, I was baptized Catholic. She was Catholic but we went to my father's Lutheran church. Once I was married, I didn't go to church again.

• Seeing I'm 50 years old today, would I still be considered Catholic?

Yes, you would still be considered Catholic. If you wish to confirm this, there will be a record of your baptismal certificate at the Church where you were baptized.

If you are contemplating getting back into the practice of renewing your covenant with the Lord
by attending Sunday Mass, I would encourage you to either:

• go to Confession on a Saturday afternoon, or
• make an appointment with a priest or the pastor at the rectory, if there are more issues involved.

In both cases, at the end, just say you want to start practicing the Catholic faith and wish to make good, Holy Communions.

If you are contemplating this, common sense tells us, you have to know the faith you believe in. This is where a Catechism can come in handy. It would make no sense to return to the Church if you didn't believe in and practice Her teachings (though some may be hard to practice) and most people of any faith can distinguish between those that practice their faith versus those who just enjoy having the faith name when convenient for them. Based on what Jesus said about lukewarm souls, I wouldn't recommend this. (Revelation 3:15-16)

You said:
Also:

• Are there no church clauses that say if you are camping, you don't have to worry about going to church?

Sorry, there is no such thing as a no church clause.

In our American culture, vacation time is considered by most as a time to get away and relax, but let's step back a little and think about the issue.

Getting away implies a freedom from something.

One of Pope Benedict XVI's stellar statements when he visited the United States was:

Freedom is not an opting out. Freedom is an opting in!

It's an opting into to Jesus! We can only see freedom as an opting in when we acknowledge our moral limitations to discern correct choices.

Man by nature is a physical and spiritual person. The spiritual side of any person can't go on vacation any more then he could go one week without eating any food. When we take a vacation from regular Mass attendance during vacation our choices during that vacation will not be as spiritual healthy as they could be.

In today's culture, we are squeezing God and morals out of our society and replacing it with ourselves and what we think is OK.

Going to church on vacation isn't a big thing. Just find a church in the area you plan to camp around, go to Mass, then have fun for the rest of the week!

I'd rather have my moral compass set correctly before going camping then morally getting lost during the trip. : )

Hope this helps,

Mike

Hi Karen,

Let me make a small modification to what my colleague has said.

The Church has always recognized an exception to the obligation to attend Mass where it is physically or morally impossible to do so, such as when traveling somewhere where there isn't a Catholic church within a reasonable distance. 

If you are:

• backpacking the back woods and it would endanger you to hike out to go to church, or
• you're too deep in the woods, or
• you wouldn't be able to make it in time — for example if you leave at sunrise and you wouldn't be able to make it in time. (the same applies to getting their by sunset for the vigil Mass.)

then obviously you are excused.

That said, if it's only a half-hour or even an hour out of your way, there is no excuse for not going.  The point is, there has to be a real hardship, not merely an inconvenience.

Eric