I’ve noticed something troubling recently at Mass. It’s parents at Mass without their children. And I’m not talking about the wee ones who cry and eat Cheerios in the pew. Actually I still see them quite a bit and am glad for it. It’s the teens I don’t see.
I’ve noticed parents that I’ve seen for years bringing their little ones to Mass suddenly flying solo as their children become teenagers.
What’s going on? Is it some misguided notion that you shouldn’t force religion on teenagers? Is this a trend you see at your parish? It seems pretty foolish to me. If you ask me, parents should be forcing teenagers to do all sorts of things, shouldn’t we? If we see our children veering in a dangerous direction what does it tell them when we don’t attempt to change their direction? If we don’t require them to attend Mass as teenagers either we don’t care about them so much or we don’t consider religion all that important. I don’t really see other options. And believe me, they notice.
