Last week, I shared about how you can begin building in time for God every morning. This is in preparation for the Parish-wide launch of The Purpose Driven Life. Creating a Purpose Driven Life will be the focus of all of our Small Groups for the first six weeks of Fall, and all of our Homilies will be based around this as well.
This week, we’re going to talk about how you can incorporate time into your calendar each week to make time for Mass.
I’ll be the first person to tell you that I GET what BUSY feels like. As a working mom of two little boys, a wife of a man that works over 60 hours a week and commutes two hours a day, I get it. It’s hard to balance all of the things like work, child care, kids’ activities, not to mention travel, hobbies and special events. In this crazy time we live in, it is easy to get bogged down with all of the things that clutter our calendars.
Last week I shared how I put my daily time for God on the calendar and keep it like an appointment. This week, I encourage you to put Mass in your calendar for each weekend and keep it like an appointment as well. The great thing about our area is, that if for some reason you can’t make one of our Mass times, there are multiple churches with multiple weekend Masses for you to attend. You can find all of these Mass times on the MyParish App.
Now, I’ll be the first to tell you that I don’t like being told that Mass is an obligation each week. I don’t like being told I HAVE to do something. But making time to worship the Lord each week doesn’t have to feel like an obligation. It’s something we GET to do, to honor Jesus and the ultimate sacrifice He made for us.
In the book, Rediscover Catholicism, by Matthew Kelly, the prologue is enough of a reminder for me to consider Mass as a time to celebrate this sacrifice. Kelly shares a fictional story of a pandemic (this was published almost 20 years ago, but eerily similar to today’s situation). In this story, the only way to end the pandemic is to have a certain kind of blood, and in this case, it came from a child. The parents of this child must say goodbye because it would take all of his blood to save the world. The following Sunday, a ceremony is held to honor their son for his phenomenal contribution to humanity. When some people sleep through it or claim it is boring, the parents want to stand up and say, “I’m not sure if you are aware of this or not, but the amazing life you have, my son died so that you could have that life. My son died so that you could live. He died for you. Does it mean nothing to you?” Kelly wonders if this is what God wants to say to us about His Son’s Sacrifice.
Regardless of stage of life, I know that it’s not always easy to make it to Mass. For those of you with young children, I know that it’s extremely difficult to get here, let alone get the kids to sit still. (My kids still don’t sit still well, so you’ll get no judgement from me).
And while our weekend experience isn’t one that makes it easy to bring little kids, I promise you, we’re working on ways to make this weekly celebration one that will be a great one for you and your children. It will take time and effort and plenty of volunteers to make the weekend experience one that will be engaging for all generations.
Some of the things we’d like to accomplish sooner rather than later include a “Family Room” This room will be one where families can take their children to watch Mass on a screen as it’s streamed from the Sanctuary. A Eucharistic Minister will bring Communion to these families. While small changes like a Family Room won’t make it easier to fit Mass into your calendar, it will hopefully make the experience at Mass a little easier for families that have active little ones.
In the words of Father Michael A. Garcia, “ We attend Mass because it’s our loving response to the God who has loved us first. It is an active choice of the will to give of our time, treasure, and talent – knowing full well it will never amount to the sacrifice endured by our Savior.”
Peace be with you.
Melissa
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