My wife and I have 7 children scattered across America from Albany, NY to Tucson, AZ, from
Washington DC to Denver, CO, by way of Omaha. In the process of visiting mostly the 13 grand-kids we have had the opportunity to visit some very large vibrant Catholic churches.

Recently as I was waiting for Mass to begin at one of these churches, I could not help myself. I had to do the math: 13 people per pew, 9 pews per section, and 10 sections equals 1170 capacity. At approximately 85% full today equals 995 were celebrating Eucharist. I was impressed. I have to admit hearing nearly a thousand voices reciting the Lord’s Prayer sent a chill down my spine!

Since serving on the Diocesan Stewardship Council I have become aware of the need for engagement in our parishes. So, again, I had to do the math: 1 priest, 1 deacon, 8 Eucharistic ministers, 2 lectors, 4 altar servers, 6 greeters/collection takers, 8 in the music ministry, and a family of 4 took up the gifts. That is 34 parishioners actively, visually engaged through service at that one Mass. I am sure they have several more each weekend. But still impressive. Later, on my phone, I once again did the math: 3.4 %.

I then compared this to our little St. Michael’s in Absarokee: 1 priest, 1 altar server, 3 Eucharistic ministers, 1 lector, 2 greeters/ collection takers/ take up the gifts, 6 in the music ministry. A total of 14. We average about 48 attending our Saturday evening Mass. That is 29% actively, visually engaged through service!

Now I am not going so far as to say our stairway to heaven is any shorter than those poor souls in these big cities, but I really like my odds. With the exception of a handful of large parishes in our diocese, most are small, almost family-like settings. I had to wonder how many of those 995 attendees that Sunday would gladly trade places with me.

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