Where I'm headed in about 45 minutes.
This morning I had to pick someone up from a New Mass. While waiting in the vestibule, I witnessed some Catholics talking and laughing in the Communion line, like they were waiting at the gate of a Sunday football game or something. I wanted to walk up and say "Do you have ANY idea what you're standing in line for?" This was just one group. Other parishioners were suitably solemn and dignified (but not to nearly the extent we will be at the Latin Mass, if you count the clothing and demeanor before/after the Mass).
You already know the answer ;-) Sadly, much has been lost over the past 50 years. As much as we may seek to lay the blame on a particular moment in time or a council or an individual ... the truth is somewhere in between. And, it is not getting any better.
Last year, I was appointed director for the religious education program in our VERY small parish (50 families, if that). The program only lasts 15 weeks, spread out over the course of 9 months. Ironically, parents of the small children (aged 3 to 9) make the commitment but once the child reaches 10, the excuses begin to pile up ... "my child cannot attend because he/she has (name the sport) practice on Sunday at that time". Last night, one parent left a message on my vm saying her daughter would miss today's class because they were celebrating the 1st birthday of (again, fill in the blank). After Mass today, I confronted one parent in the parking lot who explained that he is embarrased to bring his young children to Mass because they "don't know how to behave in Church". I pointed to his 3 beautiful daughters aged 3 through 8 and told him that within a few years, the older one, in public school, would be taught about condoms, birth control and how to have an abortion without the parent's consent. Were he to bring the chldren to Church on a regular basis, they would learn the "rules" for comportment in God's house. Most of these are no different from the rules in his own home.
It is absolutely frightening how parents can trust the public schools to provide an education but waylay their children's instruction in faith and morals. This is no joke! Our responsibility as parents is to ensure that our children get to heaven. We only have a few precious years in which to lay the faith foundation and then pray that over the course of their lives, those morales will guide them into eternal life with our Lord.