Mass Attendance recommendation from pastor

[sallystanley]

The following is an excerpt from our parish’s Easter Sunday bulletin, written by our pastor under the heading of a “partial job description” of a Catholic:

“Attend: Being a member means showing up. This
may not happen every weekend, but at least a few
times a month.”

WHAT???

I am so disappointed! And on Easter.

 

[MusicMan]

There is the thought that you’ll attract more flies with honey than with vinegar. Perhaps rather than take the hellfire and brimstone route of “You’re obligated to attend Mass every Sunday or you’ll be under the pain of Mortal Sin and go to Hell when you die,” he’s trying to take a kinder route to lure people back to the pews.

Not saying either way is right or works, but at least he’s making an attempt.

I was at a Byzantine Catholic Church on New Year’s Day where the pastor observed the excellent attendance over the Christmas holidays and then chewed 'em out because only about 1/3rd of his congreation attends regularly during the rest of the year. He went the route of threatening that the Bishop would close the parish if things didn’t turn around, citing that three other Byzantine parishes in the area had closed because of attendance problems. I was back a month-and-a-half later and saw about 1/3rd of the parish in attendance.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

The following is an excerpt from our parish’s Easter Sunday bulletin, written by our pastor under the heading of a “partial job description” of a Catholic:

“Attend: Being a member means showing up. This
may not happen every weekend, but at least a few
times a month.”

WHAT???

I am so disappointed! And on Easter.

I think it was meant for the Christmas and Easter Catholics. A few times a month is moving in the right direction from two times a year.

 

[Sir_Knight]

I belong to a parish that is a 90-miute drive (three hours round trip). I attend once a month and on Easter & Christmas. The rest of the time, I attend mass at a local church that is only a 15-minute drive from my home.

Could this be what was meant by your pastor in the bulletin? To attend THEIR parish more often?

 

[otjm]

There are many who seem to think that preaching Hell and Damnation is going to fill the pews. It doesn’t work.

To those who attend regularly, they would know that the message is not directed to them; if they don’t get that, one has to ask why they are attending regularly.

It is obviously directed to the CEs and the BFWDs - The Christmas and Easter crowd, and the Bred Fed Wed and Dead crowd. As MusicMan said, there are more flies drawn to honey than to vinegar.

 

[Sir_Knight]

There are many who seem to think that preaching Hell and Damnation is going to fill the pews. It doesn’t work.

That may, or may not be true. A few months back our parish had a guest speaker at mass. Not sure if it is alright to mention his name so I won’t but this priest did a “Hell and Damnation” homily that brought me to tears.

Me … a 265-pound macho man – spent 15-20 minutes crying in my car. From that moment on, I haven’t committed certain sins that I was in the habit of doing and thought that I would never be able to break the habit.

 

[Andreas_Hofer]

There are many who seem to think that preaching Hell and Damnation is going to fill the pews. It doesn’t work.

You don’t have to use hellfire and brimstone every time you preach the truth, but a priest, as Ezekiel’s watchman shows us, will be held accountable for whether he presents the truth to the people. In this case, the priest’s remark would have represented an improvement in behavior for the likely target audience but was still HIGHLY misleading, which is a big no-no. You can send the same message without giving people the impression that neglecting the Sunday duty is okay.

 

[teachccd]

The following is an excerpt from our parish’s Easter Sunday bulletin, written by our pastor under the heading of a “partial job description” of a Catholic:

“Attend: Being a member means showing up. This
may not happen every weekend, but at least a few
times a month.”

WHAT???

I am so disappointed! And on Easter.

He did head it with " Partial job description"

This should indicate to those who attend the Easter/ Christmas Masses that that’s the least they can do. Full time would be weekly Mass attendance. I think that he’s trying and means well. I’m sure he knows that regular Sunday attendance identifies practicing Catholics but those are not who he was addressing and he was baiting the hook.

 

[Digitonomy]

He did head it with " Partial job description"

This should indicate to those who attend the Easter/ Christmas Masses that that’s the least they can do. Full time would be weekly Mass attendance.

You seem to be arguing the distinction between a full time and part time job (as a Catholic), but the title doesn’t reflect that. Instead, the plain meaning is that of an incomplete description, which could apply to either a full-time or part-time job. Like you, I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but the wording just doesn’t support it.

 

[davy39]

We shouldn’t discourage the Easter bunnies and the Santa Clauses. It sure does help with the collections. Maybe a few will start coming all the time.

 

[fix]

The following is an excerpt from our parish’s Easter Sunday bulletin, written by our pastor under the heading of a “partial job description” of a Catholic:

“Attend: Being a member means showing up. This
may not happen every weekend, but at least a few
times a month.”

WHAT???

I am so disappointed! And on Easter.

Why do folks think truth is unloving or unattractive?

Apply this logic to the rest of the Gospel and see if it leaves folks satisfied.

 

[Sr_Sally]

I belong to a parish that is a 90-miute drive (three hours round trip). I attend once a month and on Easter & Christmas. The rest of the time, I attend mass at a local church that is only a 15-minute drive from my home.

Could this be what was meant by your pastor in the bulletin? To attend THEIR parish more often?

Why do you belong to a parish that is 90 minutes away if there is one 15 minutes from your house? In order to particiapte fully in parish life, you should really join and attend regularly the parish that’s boundries include your home.

 

[THurifer2]

I am not sure about the honey and vinegar thing. Perhaps it might work… Shouldn’t we be talking the reality here though? "AT LEAST A FEW TIMES A MONTH

Isnt that language VERY misleading on what the church teaches about attending mass? How many of those people walked out of that church with the understanding that the church thinks its OK to go to Mass a few times per month? Doesn’t the church actually teach that it is a mortal sin to miss SUnday mass without good reason? Certainly I didn’t miss a change in the teaching did I?

What is that saying Half the truth is sometimes worse than…

 

[THurifer2]

Why do you belong to a parish that is 90 minutes away if there is one 15 minutes from your house? In order to particiapte fully in parish life, you should really join and attend regularly the parish that’s boundries include your home.

Is there an actual “official” document that defines that people are bound to attend a parish that they reside inside the boundry? Is there a map of boudries drawn up each year in each diocese worldwide to show where people should go to Mass? Cities grow and sprawl out certainly if there were boundry maps they would need to be updated every year.

Perhaps the poster does attend a Mass that is “within” the boudries…Liturgical boundries that is.

A perfect example is TLM attendees…They most likely drive past several N.O. parishes in order to attend their TLM church…And according to the Pope and bishop of that diocese they have every privy to .

If there are Maps of parish boundries I am certain that my house, street and neighborhood are not on it…since they are not even on the county and city map yet. (new neighborhood.)

 

[sallystanley]

To those who attend regularly, they would know that the message is not directed to them; if they don’t get that, one has to ask why they are attending regularly.

That seems harsh.

It is obviously directed to the CEs and the BFWDs - The Christmas and Easter crowd, and the Bred Fed Wed and Dead crowd. As MusicMan said, there are more flies drawn to honey than to vinegar.

I wondered if that was the goal - an attempt to get more people to show up and hope the Holy Spirit will work in them. And it’s likely the CEs, APs and BFWDs were reading the bulletin during mass.

 

[Sir_Knight]

Why do you belong to a parish that is 90 minutes away if there is one 15 minutes from your house?

My children were baptized in that church (the one that is 90 minutes away). My wife and I were married in that church. I was baptized in that church. My parents were married in that church. Etc.

 

[Digitonomy]

Is there an actual “official” document that defines that people are bound to attend a parish that they reside inside the boundry?

I think “bound” may be a strong word. The document is Canon Law:

Can. 518 As a general rule a parish is to be territorial, that is, one which includes all the Christian faithful of a certain territory. When it is expedient, however, personal parishes are to be established determined by reason of the rite, language, or nationality of the Christian faithful of some territory, or even for some other reason.

Thurifer2:

Is there a map of boudries drawn up each year in each diocese worldwide to show where people should go to Mass? Cities grow and sprawl out certainly if there were boundry maps they would need to be updated every year.
If there are Maps of parish boundries I am certain that my house, street and neighborhood are not on it…since they are not even on the county and city map yet. (new neighborhood.)

I’ll let someone else provide more clarification on who commissions and keeps the maps and how often the bishop changes the borders, but I believe in general the diocese is divided into geographic parishes. If you have a new house, it is a simple matter to look at the map from last year, or 20 years ago, or whenever, to determine which parish the house was built in. Similarly, they didn’t have to wait until your neighborhood was built to figure out what county it was in.

 

[MusicMan]

I just don’t think an exhotation that “you must come to Mass every Sunday” on Christmas and Easter is going to rope that many people back to the pews. There is the saying, “you have to crawl before you can walk.” Get these people coming once a month. Then encourage twice a month, and then before long, you could have them back and attending.

People want community in their faith life. Look at the mega-non-denominational churches. Why do they lure so many people in? They feel like they belong to a community.

If the regular attendees and the pastor made the effort to foster a sense of belonging and community with the people who only come twice a year, I suspect that it wouldn’t be too long before they became regular attendees.

This doesn’t need to take away from or supplant the Sacrifice of the Mass, or the Catechism, or the holiness of the churches. Look to the East, and see what they do. A lot of Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches have “coffee hour” after the Liturgy, or sometimes a parish-wide meal.

A lot of our Protestant brethren do this too (I’ll bet they stole it from the East).

What are we doing to bring these people back?

 

[fix]

I just don’t think an exhotation that “you must come to Mass every Sunday” on Christmas and Easter is going to rope that many people back to the pews. There is the saying, “you have to crawl before you can walk.” Get these people coming once a month. Then encourage twice a month, and then before long, you could have them back and attending.

People want community in their faith life. Look at the mega-non-denominational churches. Why do they lure so many people in? They feel like they belong to a community.

If the regular attendees and the pastor made the effort to foster a sense of belonging and community with the people who only come twice a year, I suspect that it wouldn’t be too long before they became regular attendees.

This doesn’t need to take away from or supplant the Sacrifice of the Mass, or the Catechism, or the holiness of the churches. Look to the East, and see what they do. A lot of Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches have “coffee hour” after the Liturgy, or sometimes a parish-wide meal.

A lot of our Protestant brethren do this too (I’ll bet they stole it from the East).

What are we doing to bring these people back?

I would say the point is there is often too much emphasis on one aspect of the truth. If the “community” notion is the only one emphasized how is that being faithful to the Church?

Gimmicks and such are not the answer. Yes, coffee hours are great. Yes, being friendly is good. But, if we come to see emotionalism as the primary goal to attend mass we are not being faithful to the Gospel.

 

[MusicMan]

People do not want to be somewhere where they feel unwelcome.