Elementary level, 2nd-5th
grades: Mass attendance
Dear parents,
Greetings! Below you will find guidelines for Mass attendance, and tips on
how to avoid coming up short at the end of a quarter.
Regular attendance at Mass on Sunday—“the Lord’s Day” (cf. Rev.
1:10), the “day of the Resurrection” and first day of the week—is the single
most important thing we do at the parish. This follows upon the practice of
Christians, who gathered together from the earliest days (cf. Acts 20:7 & 1
Cor. 16:2). Faithful attendance at Sunday Mass is a precept of the Church.
We require that all those in our Religious education program attend Mass
here at St. Edwin at least 75% of the time. It is no less important than
attending class and is an essential part of the child’s formation. For those
who have not been coming to church regularly, it will be a new experience, at
times challenging as new habits are formed.
The strategy is to attend Mass without exception at the beginning of each
quarter, so as not to arrive at the end of the quarter with a low percentage
and no buffer when some unforeseen emergency comes up.
Many reasons are cited for missing Mass, like being sick, experiencing
some family difficulty, going out of town, not finding the attendance person
after Mass, going to another church for some special occasion or even
weightier matters like an accident or serious illness. In such cases the
question is never whether or not the reason given is strong or weak, valid or
not. Things happen and you have our understanding. The problem will
always be that a critical aspect of preparation for the sacrament, namely the
practice of participating in the Sunday liturgy, is not being fulfilled.
Families who do not attend Mass regularly over a four month period
will most likely be asked to wait before re-entering our program. During this
time they will have the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to follow the
precept of the Church to attend Mass and be part of a local Catholic Christian
community.
With regard to your place of work and your children’s activities,
please be aware of your right to reasonable religious accommodation. With
complete confidence you may ask your employer or children’s coach to allow
you two hours to fulfill your weekly religious observance. Let them witness
the example of your life ordered around Christ. In these matters, know that
you are not being singled out; many other families make similar sacrifices
and adjustments in their work and activities to prioritize Sunday for the
Lord.
We have someone taking attendance with a clipboard after every Mass
outside the church. It is the parent’s or legal guardian’s responsibility to see
that their son’s or daughter’s name is marked on the list each week. The
person receiving the sacrament must be present. We keep hardcopies of the
attendance sheets but do not add check marks after the fact.