I
recently began hearing the confessions of the children in school and in the
religious education program (PREP) for Advent with my brother priests. I try to put the children at ease and try to help
them realize that God is a forgiving
God, if only we request His mercy. I tell them that there is no sin God can’t
forgive, if we are truly sorry. My
emphasis is on how merciful God is to
all of us. I want this sacrament to be
one in which children will never be afraid and will continue to keep a
positive attitude as they mature into adulthood.
Without
going very long I usually begin hearing from the young children how they are “too
busy” to go to Sunday Mass, that they “have sports on Sunday,” that their
family “usually goes to Mass for Christmas and Easter” but not necessarily each
week, and a whole bunch of similar comments.
All this is unfortunately telling me that going to Mass each Sunday is
far from a priority in many, many families.
I dare not even mention Holy Days of Obligation—like the recent Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(December 8). Holy Days of Obligation
have taken on the attitude of optional at
best, similar to the attitude of approximately 75% of Catholics who think
in similar manner about Sunday Mass attendance each week.
Do
Catholics still have an obligation to
attend Mass each week? (Yes)
Hasn’t this requirement changed
over the years? (No)
"Sunday . . . is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church." "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass." (2192, CCC)
[Please refer to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) under the section on The Ten Commandments for the complete explanation.]
So
what is a pastor to do? I have an obligation before God for the spiritual well-being of my people. I care about them. I love
them. I pray for them each day.
1) Maybe
I can pretend that there is no problem.
Just be silent and not bring up the topic. I will only alienate people further. (How
much worse can it get? Three-quarters of
the average parish is missing each Sunday already!?) 2) Maybe I can gently urge and try warmly to invite people. (Realistically, I have been attempting to do this almost every day of my priestly
life. The results, unfortunately, have
not been overwhelming.) 3) Should I preach hell, fire and damnation like the good, old days? (While I think that the
Fear of the Lord is a much needed
virtue for our times, most of society does not want to be told what to do—rarely, if ever.) 4) Should
I go on trying to live and lead by example? Will my striving for personal holiness and my desire for conversion of life became contagious and lead people to Christ? (I can
only hope and pray!)
Growing
up as a child in the 60’s and 70’s was, in my humble opinion, a very crazy
time. Free-love, the drug culture,
Vietnam, the Cold War, unrest on college campuses, racial tension, etc. all seemed
overwhelming to me as a kid. Yet,
somehow God was present to me in the midst of it all. Despite the many adversities, I mysteriously heard
the call to be Jesus’ disciple. God
could truly penetrate even the most difficult of situations—then and now. Just
look at the cross. Didn’t this, too,
seem to be the worst of all situations? When
I ask myself today “How did we get here?”
as a culture and as a Church, I know deep down I must trust that God is still
in charge and in His plan for salvation good will ultimately triumph.
Please
come to Mass each week. I will never stop asking (begging). I care about your eternal salvation too much.
Fr. Ed Namiotka
Pastor