This morning I read an article on Catholic Stand: The 18-Minute Mass.
Though I can’t get behind every statment or suggestion in this article, author Kevin Aldrich makes a good point: it’s not that hard to set things up so that the option of daily Mass is open to more Catholics.
It’s something I’d love to see happen around here.
My parish used to have an 11:45 Mass. People from several neighboring parishes (and others from farther afield who worked in the area) would come to this Mass during their lunch breaks.
When the parish merged, we switched to a 9-AM daily Mass time slot–like nearly every other parish in the area.
A quick check of MassTimes.org shows that within a 5-mile radius of my home, on any given weekday, I can attend daily Mass at these times:
8 AM – at 2 different parishes
9 AM – at 5 different parishes
We have a total of 7 parishes in a 5-mile radius and everyone’s praying at the exact same time.
Why not spread it out–and publicize it? Why not have Parish A schedule an early-morning Mass (6:30 or 7?) Why not have Parish B take a noon time slot? Why not have Parish C celebrate an evening Mass?
Allowing more options for daily-Mass time slots, it stands to reason, will allow more people the opportunity to attend daily Mass. If neighboring parishes worked together to spread out the Mass times and to get the word out, attendance should increase.
It’s like that line from Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they will come.”
I would be thrilled if our parish has a noon Mass. The only noon Masses in our entire city are both downtown, which is almost impossible on a week day. And I get stuck in rush hour traffic trying to get to my parish at 8:30. There have been many times, if there is an accident or construction, that I have reached the exit about halfway through Mass.
I agree! There are many who would attend daily Mass if there were times available that aligned with their work/commitment schedules. I hope that some dioceses would read this post and see that lay Catholics are hoping for this!