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Hi Kevin,
For someone who is in a state of God's friendship (a state of grace),
for them to lose that friendship with God, and so be in the peril of Hell
should they die, requires committing a sin with three conditions:
- It must be grave matter (which this is);
- They must do so knowing it is a sin and grave matter (which is true
in this case); and
- They must do so freely and deliberately, that is, not under internal
or external compulsion, not impulsively or out of passion, and so forth.
This is kind of the idea of the premeditated murder.
This means
that if you forget to go to Mass, it's not a sin (unless, perhaps, you
are grossly irresponsible in doing so, i.e., You could
have made the effort to remember but deliberately ignored every opportunity
to ensure you remembered).
If your spouse pressures you into not going, you may not
be committed a mortal sin . . . and so forth.
Eric
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