“you will all be looking for priests or some form of reconciliation on your death beds”

Keano ,you absolute cunt, I for one will not be looking for reconciliation.

I want to be shot out of a cannon on my deathbed.

Typically, the progression I see is as follows: first engaged couples….then a woman with a couple of children without a husband….much less often a whole family with mother and father and maybe even a grandparent….then there are the older people (singly or in couples).

Big turnouts for Ash Wednesday, Easter, and Christmas…..so much so that you have to remember to get there early or you’ll have to stand in the back. Other times no problem finding a place to sit.

Many Indian priests, too, a new one each year, it seems, but when I was younger they were all Irish-American.

I remember, when I did CCD (religous instruction for those children in public school) some parents would drop their children off for the children’s Mass (after which we would have an hour of religious instruction–preparation for communion/confirmation) but not bother attending themselves.

If you want your children to attend the local parochial school (where there is generally a lower risk of getting stabbed by a fellow pupil than in some of our public schools) you have to be registered in the parish and, in some cases, tithe a certain percentage of your income–or donate your time, generously–and participate in all the fundraising/raffles.

You don’t get a break, anymore, either, with multiple enrollments (tuition break for the third or fourth child). Many of those enrolled aren’t even Catholic anymore….their parents just want to make sure their child is in a safe environment where they will graduate knowing how to read and write and perhaps even gain entrance to a decent prep school/college.

Also….another question might be….who goes to confession anymore?? I see practically the whole congregation go up for communion but it’s the same fifteen people for confession every Saturday afternoon (can we all really be that spotless???). I don’t think so!!!!

For some, especially men, it’s “hatched, matched, despatched.” Perhaps, for women, it provides more of a social function–and our parish does a good bit of social outreach–collecting food and clothing for those who need it–so I think that must be a good thing.