How far would you drive for Mass?
I don't know if anyone has ever done a study of such a pedestrian
topic, but it is a question that will become increasingly relevant.
Once upon a time, driving farther than your local parish was
simply a matter of choice. For example, when I was a child, my parents took
strong exception to our curmudgeonly pastor.
As kids, we had no idea why so many Sundays were an adventure: We
would pack into our VW bus and go anywhere but our home parish: from Our Lady
of Malibu to Corpus Christi to St. Monica's. It was a great opportunity to see
the diversity of worship spaces, even in the one, holy and Catholic Church.
Only years later did I find out the reason for our road trips.
As a parent myself, I fall in the camp of "stick to the
parish in whose boundaries you reside."
I know many people decide otherwise, choosing to find a parish
that satisfies their taste in music or homilies or even language. To which I
respond: Who am I to judge? But if being Catholic means "here comes
everybody" (to quote James Joyce), then all the messy diversity of
"everybody" is to be found in my parish.
In the future, however, driving long distances for Mass may not
be optional when the number of priests available are not enough to staff all
the parishes and all the Masses to which people are accustomed.
Some Catholics in rural areas are already experiencing this
shortage, as are folks in the military. There are dioceses now that have almost
the same number of priests as parishes. When one gets sick or dies, it isn't
just an inconvenience, it means people may go without.
As our priestly population ages and populations shift, this will
only get more dramatic. Dioceses like Pittsburgh are already facing this
reality, going from 188 parishes to 57. Other dioceses are consolidating
priests so that three may serve five parishes or four serve six.
We laity have been pretty spoiled, to tell the truth, believing
that whatever our schedule or inclination, the church will be available to us.
For too many years, we've treated parishes as the spiritual equivalent of
service stations. We pull in at our convenience. We get the Mass time, the
music, the liturgy, even the language we want, and then we sail off into the
work week.
In many of our dioceses in the not too distant future, we may
soon resemble much of the rest of the world. Masses may take place in shifting
locations and larger venues. It may not be a 10-minute drive and a one-hour
Mass. It may mean a time commitment we readily accept for travel soccer or 18
holes of golf.
How far would you drive to receive the Eucharist, go to
confession, baptize your child? Would you go 30 miles away? Would you go to the
next county? Would you do the readings with your family on those weeks when no
Mass may be available?
I've heard stories already of parishioners shouting at parish
staff because they can't get the funeral date they want or the wedding time
they want. A priest simply isn't available. How many people will simply wander
away, not a "none," but a "not worth the bother"?
Some dioceses are already calculating the sliding scale: Closing
parishes to save money means X number of Catholics will simply stop going,
which means a further drop in revenue.
The calculation we laity may have to make is how far we will
drive for the Eucharist.
Erlandson is director and editor-in-chief of Catholic News
Service.