I’m not sure if it is because I’ve been a longtime employee of the church or it is because I am one of those people that others like to share their story with, but over the years hundreds of people have shared with me the reasons their family doesn’t go to church. Most of the excuses come down to being busy. Every time I hear the overly booked/busy excuse, I think of St. Francis de Sales who once said, “Every one of us needs half an hour of prayer a day, except when we are busy-then we need an hour.” The fact is, the busier we are the MORE we need Church. I’ve provided a few reasons (and my quick rebuttals) below.
- Golf. The summers are short in Michigan, and people love hitting the links early on Sunday morning. The good news is most churches offer a Saturday night offering and St. Isidore specifically offers a Sunday evening Mass for those who have something going on Sunday mornings.
- Kids sports. This is a tough one for someone like me who played sports my entire life. Being on a team means something, and missing practice and/or games will never be tolerable. With that said, somehow faith has to be a priority. Churches have many offerings, including an online Mass (not the same as going to Mass and receiving the Eucharist, but better than doing nothing) so there are ways we can commit to our faith despite other priorities.
- Vacation schedules. When I was growing up, the first thing my family did when on vacation was find the local Catholic Church to see their Mass schedule. We built our weekend around it. Fast forward to 2023 and finding a Mass schedule is as easy as going on masstimes.org.
- The Church is full of hypocrites. I can see why people may say this, as there are quite a few flawed individuals (like myself) in Church every week. As Church goers, we realize we are flawed individuals. We want to be better. We go to Church to hear a message, receive the Eucharist and then we are sent back into our communities. We are sinners set on sainthood, not hypocrites.
- Church people are judgmental. Yes, we are, and that is yet another reason to go to Church, so we become less judgmental. Matthew 7, “Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite,* remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.
- I don’t believe in God. God believes in us, regardless if we believe in God. See what God has to say to you by being present in Church.
- I am against organized religion. I say this tongue and cheek, as I am the Mission Support Director for our FOP, I promise you we are plenty disorganized. In all seriousness, there is a beauty of a religion that has stood the test of time for over 2,000 years. I often ask people to track back just how far their family is rooted in Catholicism. This can be eye opening for some as they realize Catholicism has been part of their family for hundreds of years. Additionally, in my experience, many of the “newer” Catholics are on fire for their faith and the Catholic way of worshiping God.
- Someone was awful to me at Church. I’m sure they were, and when I hear these stories it is heartbreaking, but that can’t stop us from attending. I wonder if people who are “jerky” at Church realize they could possibly be part of someone else’s damnation. Scary. Let’s all work to be more welcoming to all; to those who don’t look or act like us, to those with kids and to those who are there by themselves. What better place than Church to be as Christlike as possible?
- I just have so many questions. Me too! Our challenge is where are we going to seek the answers. Society will (incorrectly) tell you they have the answer and if we spend 168 hours each week away from Church and our God, there is no way we are going to find holy answers. Bring that doubt and those questions to Mass every week. See how God answers.
- Churches only want my money. As the person responsible for the financial stewardship of our Family of Parishes, I assure you this is categorially false. However, part of being a Christian is realizing that all we have and all that we are comes from God. Sharing our good fortune with those in need is a spiritual exercise that tells our money that we are in control of it, not the other way around. The Church has survived for thousands of years, and it will continue to survive with or without your investment. But if you want the Church to thrive, we need our people to offer their financial investment.
Please note that the title of this article is ten reasons not to go to Church, not ten GOOD reasons not to go to Church. Excuses to not go to Church are just that, excuses. I’m sure many of you thought of many other excuses that you’ve heard people you know use as to why they don’t attend Mass on a regular basis. I don’t think we should invalidate how people feel, but rather encourage them. Our encouragement can go a long way. A good exercise may be to think of all of the reasons we love going to Mass (I’ll make this part of my next INSPO article!). Sharing this list may be a powerful witness to others. With all of the above said, how many of us feel worse off after attending Mass? I can only speak for myself, but 100% of the time I feel more grounded, more relaxed and more ready to face the day, after I’ve received the Eucharist and been sent forth from Mass. I want everyone in our FOP community to feel the same way. I look forward to seeing you at Church.