I haven't seen a single word from HepiHipo yet—though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by the silence. It’s become quite the pattern lately, hasn't it? Everyone enters these discussions with such grand intentions, only to vanish the moment things get even slightly complicated. One can almost hear the collective sigh of disappointment echoing through the thread. Honestly, if we are going to have a serious conversation about this, we need people who actually show up and contribute something substantial rather than just lurking in the shadows. Typical. Sam Kim12 says:
I’ve already stated my position quite clearly—Mass is just as valid anywhere as it is here, and frankly, that is exactly how things ought to be.
And of course—it’s just too much to ask for parents to have any flexibility—they expect to be able to drop everything and head out the moment Mass is over. It's always the same story.
Look, I’m not even talking about that—it’s just that you seem to have this habit of cherry-picking exactly what fits your narrative and ignoring everything else.
There are far, far more parents of that particular stripe than there are priests like the two we’ve been discussing—it's an overwhelming reality.
Make no mistake—this isn't some secondhand account or a collection of someone else's anecdotes—it is my own firsthand experience.
I have been involved in the sacramental preparation process for kids in my parish for over a decade now—dealing with hundreds of parents, and I mean literally hundreds—and it is the same exhausting cycle every single year. They drop their children off for religious education as if they’re just checking a box on a grocery list, with absolutely zero interest in the spiritual journey itself. There is this complete lack of engagement; parents don't seem to grasp that preparing for a sacrament isn't merely about enrolling in a class and showing up on a specific date to satisfy a requirement. It is the same tiresome litany of grievances every year—the endless, relentless "why." Why does it have to be in the morning? Why do they actually need to step foot inside the church? Why is there extra religious instruction? Why are they being pushed to attend morning Mass? Why is regular attendance mandatory? Why are they being encouraged to go to confession? It’s just a constant, maddening barrage of "why, why, why..." from people who treat faith like an inconvenient chore rather than a meaningful life milestone.
I’ve had about twenty parents per age group reach out to me lately—it’s becoming a bit of a pattern, really—claiming they have this "tradition" of visiting grandparents, or perhaps they’re tied up with soccer practice or some other game, using those as excuses for missing a specific Mass.
And you know what’s actually great about them? They never complain. You can always find a solution—everything gets ironed out with the teacher and the local priest—and there’s just zero drama.
In this country, we don’t obsess over counting attendance stamps—even though we have them—nor do we interrogate children about where they were if they missed a service. We don't force them into the exact same Mass every single week just because they’re "short" on their requirements. Honestly, kids actually enjoy filling up those little booklets; they can show up to any Mass they want—whether it’s a weekday service, an evening vigil, or some other special occasion—to fill in the gaps. We have a genuinely fantastic system that works perfectly fine. And yet—and this is the part that exhausts me—you will always find the same small circle of parents standing outside the church every week. They spend forty-five minutes straight droning on about how the schedule is an "attack," how tired the kids are, how difficult it all is, and how utterly pointless, exhausting, and boring the whole thing is.
And here is the even more absurd part of the whole ordeal—they do this right in front of the church during the service. Meanwhile, their kid is stuck inside, expected to sit perfectly still and remain dead silent while the parents are outside, lounging around, taking a stroll, smoking, chatting, and having a good laugh.
It’s common sense—it goes without saying—that kids should be out there actually living their lives, too. 🤦
Honestly, what is driving people to act this way? Who exactly is pushing these kids into this—who is actually forcing them down this path?
Vi. 🤷
Why on earth does some priest feel entitled to dictate the entire schedule of Sunday just because it suits his own personal whims? Why should the rest of us be forced to bend our lives around his specific preferences—simply because he finds it inconvenient otherwise?
Oh, absolutely—there are some truly terrible priests, chaplains, and youth ministers out there. No doubt about it.
Look, their lack of accountability for the absolute mess they’re making doesn't somehow absolve the parents—no, it certainly doesn't—of their own responsibility when they choose to enroll their kid in religion class.
Honestly, if everyone who keeps whining about this would just stop making it a thing and simply *not* enroll their kids in religion classes, life would be infinitely easier—for everyone involved. First off, it would save the kids the headache, then it would take the pressure off the parents, and finally, it would make my life a hell of a lot simpler too. I’d much rather deal with a group of ten kids during prep than try to manage thirty. It's common sense, really.
Honestly, I can’t seem to find anything worth my time lately—nothing I read actually resonates with me.😉 I’m speaking from my own lived experience here—not just repeating some tired old clichés or parroting what the local clergy tells us we ought to believe.😉 It’s becoming painfully obvious to me—and I say this with zero exaggeration—that we are dealing with a self-inflicted crisis. We aren't actually struggling because of the issues the parents are bringing to the table; rather, we are drowning in new, unnecessary complications born solely from the sheer, unadulterated incompetence of the clergy. It’s the stupidity of the priests that is creating the friction here—not the actual concerns of the families involved.
Around here, nobody ever raised an eyebrow about kids being required to attend Sunday Mass or those Saturday religious education sessions held in the parish halls. If you were prepping for something like St. Peter, you were fully aware that extra instruction sessions were part of the deal—dedicated time specifically for sacrament preparation—and honestly, the Catechists ran the show so well that the kids actually loved it.
I don't attend Sunday Mass, and I’m certainly not making a federal case out of it—my kids go on their own accord, without me breathing down their necks or rolling my eyes at them😉.
Who’s forcing me? —absolutely nobody
Who’s forcing my children? —nobody at all
Why do you keep hitting me with such mindless questions? Did I ever state that I don't want my kids attending Mass? NO
Did I say my kids have no interest in going? NO
My critique was aimed squarely at the clerical dictatorial streak—the way some priests insist that only *their* specific Mass counts and refuse to recognize services in other parishes. That kind of ego-driven absurdity—where a priest starts believing he actually *is* God—is precisely what drives the next generation away from faith entirely.
