Posted on 05/23/2015 8:22:47 AM PDT by Salvation
Necessity of Mass While the faithful are obligated to attend Mass, the compulsion to do so shouldn’t take away the joy
5/20/2015
Question: I wonder if the blessing of attending Mass would be greater if we didn’t compel Catholics to attend. Further, keeping the Lord’s Day holy is about 24 hours, not just one hour.
— William Bandle, Manchester, Missouri
Answer: I am not sure on what basis you say blessings would be greater. Perhaps you mean that someone who joyfully attends Mass enhances both the experience of the one who attends and the communal experience of all who attend.
This is fair enough. One can see how a congregation of wholehearted attendees will be more enriching than that made up of those who attend merely under some legal obligation and want to get the Mass over with as quickly and painlessly as possible.
However, given our fallen human condition, both individually and collectively, it is usually necessary that in important matters there be a number of things to motivate. Law is among them. For example, we may like to think that everyone will drive safely simply because they joyfully acknowledge the sacredness of the life of everyone around them and thereby wholeheartedly comply with all traffic regulations. But, to one degree or another, this is not always the case. And thus, some fear of negative consequences for violating traffic laws must also be used to motivate compliance for at least some if not many drivers.
And God, too, knows how we are made, and that at times we must be compelled to do that which is good and necessary for us. Removing the commandment that obliges us to keep holy the Lord’s Day would tend to signal that attending Sunday Mass was of lesser importance.
So, attending Mass, hearing the word of God and receiving the sacraments are critical medicines. Ideally, we should all run to them with great joy and relief that these hopes are available. But practically speaking, due to sloth and other sin, many do not run with joy. Thus other, lesser motives must be used, and many must be warned of the critical need for these medicines and that to freely neglect them is mortal sin.
As for your observation about striving to observe the Sabbath for 24 hours and not just one, you are correct. However, the way that this is done is more variable. Attending Mass is pretty straightforward — you’ve either done it or not. Rest and the engaging in works of charity, however, will be experienced and fulfilled differently depending on one’s circumstances and state in life.
Babies’ souls
Question: Please tell me what happens to the souls of aborted babies. Are they in heaven?
— Rosemary Easley, Catonsville, Maryland
Answer: In an absolute sense, we do not know if they are in heaven since the Lord has not revealed this to us, and the Church is not a in a position to set aside the Lord’s teaching on the necessity of baptism for salvation (Jn 3:3-5).
However, recent popes and theologians have taught that we are on good ground to hope and trust in God’s mercy and justice toward these infants and to confidently assume they are in his good care. Though in need of baptism to wash away original sin, these infants committed no personal sins that would merit hell. And though we are bound by sacraments, God is not and can lovingly save these infants in ways known to him.
I’ve read that just 12% of Catholics attend mass regularly.
Is this accurate?
What is the cause of this in your opinion?
Monsignor Pope Ping!
CARA states iirc about 20% attend at least once a
http://cara.georgetown.edu/CARAServices/CARACathPoll.html
You can find detailed info there.
PS I dont trust a word of any study of the Catholic Church other than CARA.
AMDG
“PS I dont trust a word of any study of the Catholic Church other than CARA.”
It always amazes me that no matter which Catholic institution is quoted, Catholics are quick to tell me they do not trust them. You trust only one and you didn’t name the Vatican.
In this case, I do not know where the 12% number on one of Salvation’s threads (I think) came from.
Let’s go with your number that 23% attended mass each week back in 2008 - 7 years ago. I believe that from what I’ve read this year, that number would be substantially less, but let’s go with it.
Let me rephrase my question to Salvation (which received no answer)...
Why do 77% of American Catholics not care enough to go to a service once a week?
Please note that the CARA survey says the number of those attending skews older. Why don’t younger Catholics attend?
Perhaps no one knows the answer. As a non-catholic, I look at this lack of participation in the most basic act and it appears that it is withering on the vine.
Go beyond our shores. Ireland, 71.9% of the poplulation self-professed Catholics, just voted overwhelmingly to approve gay marriage. Why?
Belgium, 75% self-professed Catholics. Only 10% attend. Why?
Maybe no one knows. To me, it does not appear good.
Best.
I wonder what percentage of protestants and other non-Catholics do not attend a service every week? LOL!
Thanks for the stats.
Is your cricket cage full yet?
I had to release mine, they were eating everything in site!
“I wonder what percentage of protestants and other non-Catholics do not attend a service every week? LOL!”
It would probably depend on which church you are speaking about, but before you laugh, I will share two things.
1. We don’t count people who do not come. If they aren’t there, they aren’t counted.
2. The little church I started going to about 7 years ago just passed 14,000 attendees every weekend. It now has 7 locations. The last time they had a baptism, which they do quarterly, there were hundreds of adults that came forward to testify of they saving faith in Christ and their desire to tell the world they are a Christ-follower. Unchurched, tattooed, pierced, sinners, who have come to entrust themselves to Christ. Exactly those who Christ died for.
On Pentecost, when Peter preached, a mega-church of 3,000 souls was added to those who already believed. God recorded it. For some reason, it was important to Him to share that with us.
If people are no longer attending a church - any denomination - it seems there is a reason. Having said that, I don’t think it is the destiny of every small church to become gigantic.
All I wondered is, why are so few attending Catholic churches in the US? I suspect there are a number of Catholic Churches that are full, but I wonder why so many are empty of those who they list as members?
Maybe no one knows.
My church is one of four in our vicariate — if you want to call the vicariate the mega church.
We have 4 Masses with an average of 700-800 at three of them and probably 500 a the other one.
One church in the vicariate has nine Masses, I believe, three in Spanish, one in Vietnamese and the rest in English.
The other two churches each have three Masses and I do not know the attendance there.
They are all growing, in fact, our Easter Mass was the largest attendance we have ever had.
CARA should have some non-Catholic figures for you to add to the stats, though.
It’s wonderful there are many who value their faith at your vicariate.
Why do so few Catholic members attend these types of services across the US? Do you have an opinion?
most of the born again churches in my area are so desperate that they have to drive to the inner cities and pick people up in a van, take them to church, feed them, then drive them back home. The rest have their services in store fronts and may get a dozen or so people attend.
It’s so sad.
And the mainline Protestant churches are closing, combining congregations and those that remain open are lucky to have 20 people attend a service in Sunday.
Church Attendance Statistics for Denominations of Christianity
Have you ever wondered which Christian denominations attend church with the most regularity? Do you have assumptions about which denominations fall short when it comes to church attendance? The results are in, and here they are for your viewing pleasure.
Southern Baptist
Of the 16 million Southern Baptists in America, only an estimated 6 million show up for the primary church service on a given Sunday. This means 37 percent is the average attendance rate for Southern Baptists.
United Methodist
Compared to the Baptists, the Methodists fair a little better when it comes to church attendance, but not by much. Methodist membership is estimated to be 8.2 million and, on average, 3.49 million Methodists attend a primary worship service on a given Sunday. This means about 43 percent of Methodists are attending church each Sunday.
Protestants
Over the past six decades, the Protestants have been fairly regular when it comes to church attendance. In 1955, Protestants attended church at a rate of 42%. Now, Protestant attendance is estimated at 45 percent, a slight increase over time.
Catholics
Catholic church attendance has experienced major changes in recent years due to scandals and tumultuous times at the Vatican. In 1955, Catholicism was at the height of its power in the United States, and average church attendance was estimated to be 75 percent. Now, Catholic church attendance is more comparable to other denominations. Now, it is estimated that 45% of Catholics attend a primary worship service on any given Sunday.
No matter what denomination you are, the truth is that Christian church attendance on the whole is declining. Currently, no denomination reports that more than half of their constituents attend church on a given Sunday. While the number of constituents is not necessarily on the decline, the rate at which they attend a church service certainly is.
“most of the born again churches in my area are so desperate that they have to drive to the inner cities and pick people up in a van, take them to church, feed them, then drive them back home. “
That is called “a ministry.”
tee-hee...Oh what the what...BWHAHAHAHA!!!
45% of Catholics attend a primary worship service on any given Sunday. >>
that’s about 30 million Catholics attending mass on Sunday, I’ll take it...believe me, it’s more than all the other Christian attendance combined.
And not to worry, with 12 million illegal-alien Mexicans living among us, church attendance is growing.
Also, when the time comes in the distant future when the Muslims or Chinese take over the USA, I bet the born agains and Catholics unite and focus on more what we have in common than our differences.
because, like many of their Protestant brethren, they are not living in a state of grace.
“I no more believe that figure than the man in the moon. I would suspect it’s brought to us by the same people that all the sudden say 20% of the US population is sodomite.”
Yeah, I don’t know what to tell you NKP. It came from a thread posted on FR by a Catholic - one of the two who post 90% of the Catholic/Anti-Protestant threads.
I assume since the article was a Catholic article, it was accurate, but more than that I can’t say.
Because you are special, I took time to dig back through the many Catholic posts to locate the original thread that the 12% figure comes from.
[By the way, it was posted by NYer]
First, here is the exact quote...
"That should come as no surprise to any Catholic who is attentive to the current situation of the Church in North America. What the study did not point out, but we know from experience to be the case, is that only approximately 12% of those 51 million Catholics attend mass regularly on Sundays. The Catholic Church in America is, and has been for decades now, constituted by practicing Catholics, kind-of-practicing Catholics, and non-practicing Catholics—a situation in many ways not unlike previous centuries, yet which emerges from new and complex causes, and has resulted in a Church of profound internal tensions."
Here is the linky for you to savor...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3291513/posts
I will let you quibble with other Catholics as to what percent of Catholics actually attend mass and what percent do not...
Best
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.