"Why Go to Mass?"
from Bulletin of February 1, 2004

First the Bad News – One of the most familiar complaints heard by priests from parents is that “my kids don’t go to Church anymore!”

• One of the most common complaints from irregular churchgoers is “it’s boring” and “I don’t get anything out of it”.
• Competition for weekend time has become fierce: so many things to see and do; so little time of relaxation, leisure or family; once upon a time Sunday church service was the major thing and often the only thing to do on Sunday morning.
• Catholics have been faithful, serious and regular about Sunday mass when a persecuted minority and the price for mass attendance ranged from ridicule (once in America) to imprisonment (early Christians, Iron Curtain); without second class citizenship and opposition we tend to stop acting like Catholics!
• In 2003 Protestants have clearly overtaken Catholics in church attendance, for the first time in Gallup polling history. Weekly Church attendance in 1955: Catholics 74%, Protestants 42%; 1969: Catholics 63%, Protestants 37%; 1979: Catholics 52%; Protestants 36%; November 2003: Catholics 45%, Protestants 48%.

A Parishioner’s Sunday Morning Thoughts (or maybe Saturday evening at 4:45 pm): Another Sunday morning and I sure would like to sleep in . . . Lots of my friends avoid going to Church; they tell me it’s boring and often irrelevant (at least it was when they last attended many years ago!) . . . they say they have a hard time understanding all that religious stuff that goes on (personally I find using the computer and following football plays on T.V. are also hard to understand unless I make an effort) . . .they say a lot hypocrites go to Church (Bishop Ken Untener says criticizing Church because hypocrites show up is like criticizing Weight Watchers because they let fat people in!)

Why Do I Keep Going? Sometimes I feel the same arguments my friends have: I don’t always understand everything that goes on; I don’t always like all the people there; the leaders don’t do it my way in terms of music, length, topics or language. But I do keeping going and I will keep going.

Next week, the Reasons Why!

Guilt, fear and family pressure just aren’t what they used to be!