Weekly THIS AND THAT for May 20, 2007: Today's Dedication, the Approaching Summer, and Mass Attendance

This and That:
Today’s Dedication, the Approaching Summer, and Mass Attendance

This weekend we celebrate two events that include our Area Vicar, Bishop Mitch Rozanski. He is with us for the 10:30am Mass today, Sunday, which follows with the dedication of the Sports Pavilion and the blessing of the Athletic Fields. He returns later this evening for the Sacrament of Confirmation at the Sunday 5:00 Alive. It is not coincidental that both events deal with youth.

Our new pavilion and athletic fields have increased our possibilities for serving our youth through athletics. Our Confirmation Class of high school Sophomores is another group of faith-filled youth who, hopefully, will be committed to their faith in Jesus Christ as they continue through their high school years.

In the past two years the number of youth to whom we minister has grown a great deal. Through the Drama Ministry and Athletics Programs we are drawing in young people at an increasing number. Of course drawing them in is only the beginning. It is the role of our parents to develop in them an appreciation for regular Sunday worship, as well as involvement in our parish life and outreach to those in need.

Last weekend and this weekend we have given the Sacrament of First Eucharist to so many wonderful 2nd Graders. Their openness and innocence to receiving Jesus in the Eucharist are a marvel to watch. Yet, if that openness and innocence is not fostered by regular Sunday worship, it will surely dry up and wither on the vine. It does take parents, who themselves have developed a habit of regular and faithful attendance and participation at Mass.

The school year is winding down. Anyone at weekend Masses will quickly note how the numbers have already begun to thin out now that Religious Education is over. Well, they will thin again when we switch to the summer schedule of three Masses on Memorial Day Weekend, and still again when our Catholic School ends the year. At that point, our people will scatter to vacation spots across the State and across the Nation. We have always experienced this lighter attendance as summer approached. However, what is of added concern is that over the past few years the attendance does not rebound to the level at which it was when things began to thin out. I do not really understand why this is so.

A Think Tank that is studying declining Mass attendance recently sent out a survey to all registered parishioners asking them what was keeping them away from regular Mass attendance and what could we do to bring them back to regular to attending regularly? The response was excellent with over 400 surveys received. A second letter and survey will be going out to the same group in a week or two, this time reporting the results of our findings and asking folks what their preference is for Mass time and type of music. Once all this information is in, the Think Tank will formulate recommendations, which will then go to parish leadership for decisions. There is no question that the input will have an impact on what our weekly worship with look like by this coming September.

Of course in the end what gets someone to regular Mass attendance, whether it is summer and they are away from home or it is just a lazy, hazy Sunday morning, is the person’s desire to be there or not. I wonder what makes me a regular attendee? Part of it is learned habit (It would not be Sunday for me if I didn’t go to Mass.) Part of it is to obey the commandment (Keep the Sabbath holy and worship God.) Part of it is my own desire to go and to feel connected to Jesus Christ and others with whom I share my faith.

They say that faith is “caught” not “taught.” That is, that it is “caught” in much the same way we catch a cold. We have to be exposed to someone who has a cold. Faithful Sunday observance, a home where children see parents forgiving and caring for each other, regular prayers at mealtime and before bed are all ways that children “catch” the faith. In addition, a home environment that is rich with symbols helps, e.g. a crucifix in bedrooms, palm over a picture or two, a statue or rosary on a dresser top are all helpful images that our Catholic Faith in present here.

Finally, since I began with youth, I’ll close with them. There are many couples who worship with their teenage children. I know from experience that many of those teens would prefer not to be there, but they come because they have learned that Sunday Mass is “what we do,” in much the same way that we do many other family customs. Once teens are out of the nest and away at college at least they will have the experience of having attended Mass with their family in the “old days.” That will be a tremendous resource to them when they have an opportunity to decide for themselves what to do on a Sunday morning.

Fondly,
Father Nick Amato