By all appearances, what I attended yesterday was Mass. There were some people in the pews. Words were eloquently spoken. The host was validly consecrated. Yes, it was Mass. And yet, I left hungry, ravenous, for the Word.

Yesterday I was traveling and attended Mass at a Church other than our lovely Dominican parish. I recognize, that I am spoiled, being fed by the Order of Preachers. But our lay faithful of every parish have a need for the true Word, not the pleasantries to be found any Sunday at any non-denominational Church.

We are a church in crisis. Our lukewarm brethren need to know that we are the One, True, Church. That the Eucharist holds us. “Where else would I go, Lord?”

Yesterday was a children’s Mass. Jesus loved the little children at a time when children were considered a burden one must train to someday become a useful adult. He loved, nurtured, and valued them. He chastised the apostles that one’s faith must be like a child.

So why do some churches insist upon watering down the Word for our next generation of fired-up Catholics? How could it possibly be ok to routinely leave out the second reading? I suppose the goal is to make the Mass shorter. But that second reading each week is to give us the roadmap to apply our faith to our daily life. To endure and shine in a world which tries to strip us of our beliefs.

I thought perhaps my mind had wandered and I had missed the second reading, so I asked the pastor after Mass. He said that indeed, they do not read the second reading at Children’s Mass.

He called the children up to the steps of the altar to sit, while he turned he turned his back to those in the pews, to directly address the children in his homily. His watered down, meatless homily. Believe me, I’m fine with a priest facing the tabernacle, away from the pews, to worship our Lord, together with the faithful. This was altogether different.

Yes, he was engaging.  His speaking style was fantastic. He walked among the pews, turned around, asked the parents questions, but it was a vegetarian meal. Something about Jesus being great. We’re called upon not to be great but to serve. Sounds ok. But what was the example to serve? Raid your parents pantry, get some hot cocoa and put it in the church’s food collection. For real.

No mention of sacrifice. No mention of acting in the image of God. No mention of small acts of sacrifice, such as serving your brother dessert before yourself. Just disconnected talk about the homeless. Feeding the homeless is certainly important to discuss, but these kids also need a personal connection to the unique sacrifice  upon which we are called. That sacrifice is why we are Catholic when we could easily be anything else.

In this age of technological invasiveness we need to be able to attend Mass and receive calm, peaceful guidance from our Lord, in addition to worshipping Him with our every fiber. Priests, it is incumbent upon you to feed us. 

If “your” Mass consists is a wonderful example of engaging speech, but does not call upon our souls to sacrifice for our Lord, you missed the point of why we are Catholic.

These pews are emptying because we can find engaging Christian rhetoric anywhere. We are Catholic because He literally feeds us and we can get this food nowhere but here. Priests, your rhetoric is not special. If your watered down rhetoric is all we get, the lukewarm will leave. All that is likely keeping them here is a sense of familial duty. “My parents raised me Catholic, so I’ll raise my kids Catholic. We’ll attend on Sundays. Good enough”. That may work for one generation, not two.

If your fear of offending those in the pews with true Catholic teaching, like gnawing on the body of our Lord, outweighs your sense of duty to bring them to Heaven, you have failed.  People can get lectured about charitable donations anywhere. People can even get fired up about Lord anywhere. Only at the Catholic Church can we receive the flesh our Lord and call to sacrifice this world to follow Him. It is not an easy call, one which many priests with pews of lukewarm Catholics avoid. Why risk driving them away? Because, priests, they are leaving anyway.

Feed us.