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b'**Today\'s host(s):** Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O\'Connell\\n**Today\'s guest(s):** Joshua Phelps, Associate Director of Pastoral Planning for the Archdiocese of Boston\\n* [Office of Pastoral Planning, Archdiocese of Boston](http://www.bostoncatholic.org/Offices-And-Services/Office-Detail.aspx?id=1448)\\n**Today\'s topics:** Why Catholics don\'t attend Mass and why they should\\n**Summary of today\'s show:** Josh Phelps talks with Scot and Fr. Mark about the work of pastoral planning, part of which is looking at the reasons Catholics give for not attending Sunday Mass every week. Also, our hosts and guest look at this Sunday\'s Mass readings and how they relate to our need to respond to God\'s Word by being part of our parish community.\\n**1st segment:** Scot welcomed Fr. Mark back to the show. Today\'s show will discuss why people make the decision not to attend Mass. Fr. Mark wondered if when people go on vacation they will bother to go to [MassTimes.org](http://www.masstimes.org) to find a local Mass.\\nScot welcomed Joshua Phelps to the show. He is a graduate of Boston College and worked previously as a Pastoral Associate at St. Patrick, Watertown before coming to work at the Archdiocese in the Pastoral Planning office. He and his wife have been married for five years and they have two children. A couple of years ago, their family was featured in an episode of the CatholicTV program "House+Home".\\n\\nJosh said it\'s a surreal experience for people come up to them and say they saw them on TV.\\nJosh worked previously in retail forecasting and moved to pastoral planning. Pastoral planning is a catch-all for helping parishes be the best they can be. It\'s their hope to help parishes work toward the mission of Christ. When an initiative like Catholics Come Home starts, while it\'s a project mainly of Faith Formation and Evangelization, it\'s near and dear to Pastoral Planning because they see the statistics regarding the Church in Boston. They see both the downward trends in some parishes and upward trends in others and then they dig down to find out why the differences are there.\\nJosh said leadership, mission, and vision are incredibly important. Parishes that are seeing increases are those that take Sunday Eucharist very seriously and where people see the Eucharist as a very important part of their lives throughout the week. The mission is to live out the Gospel of Christ and build the kingdom of God in that parish. Parishes that take it seriously are the ones that see growth.\\nJosh recently helped two parishes in Wayland to complete a merger. The parishes themselves initiated the merger between St. Ann and St. Zepherin to form one faith community as Good Shepherd Parish. It was a lot of work by a lot of people. As a result of the merge, people now say to their neighbors, "I didn\'t know you were Catholic," because went to different parishes. Fr. Mark said the merger isn\'t complete, but goes on for years. While being in the same town, they are very different communities and it needs leadership like that of the pastor, Fr. Laughlin, to facilitate that. Even though they were so different, they were able to come together in a process that both could embrace through proper planning and setting a reasonable timetable. Scot said parishes with very different cultures can come together fully. As the archdiocese continues to look at pastoral planning, this model will have great import for the future.\\nJosh said every parish starts by asking what is in the best interest of the parish to move forward and thrive. In Wayland, they decided it was to come together as one parish and one community. Across the archdiocese, people are realizing the same thing. Fr. Mark said that in some places they maintain two parishes with one pastor, but it\'s easier like here where it\'s just one pastor, one parish council, one pool of money for the budget and so on.\\nOne of the most important statistics that Josh\'s office tracks is Mass attendance, which is an important metric for the pastoral needs of the parish. Catholic speaker Matthew Kelly spends time in one of his talks giving an illustration of the problem with the Mass according to people\'s claims about why they don\'t like to go to church. (Just 4 minutes in the beginning of the video below)\\n* [Matthew Kelly\'s 7 Pillars of Catholicism on YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/user/DynamicCatholic#p/u/4/Syj8XHnClGM)\\n\\nFr. Mark said he\'s most of those comments at one time or another in his priesthood. Scot said Kelly says the problem with the Mass is "me" and if we approach the Mass each Sunday with asking God to show us one new thing about how to improve ourselves, it would change everything. Josh said that instead people want to change the user experience as if that would make a difference. Scot said our culture is all about seeking entertainment and we\'re used to being spectators, but if we want to get the most out of Mass, we need to be an engaged participant by preparing: Reading the Sunday readings ahead of time; keeping a journal to Mass to write down one thing to make myself a better version of me and then to meditate on that throughout the week. Scot said he\'s never been let down when praying for God to help him to deepen his faith.\\n* ["Catholics Who Have Stopped Going to Mass," Australian Catholic Bishops Conference](http://www.catholicaustralia.com.au/page.php?pg=livingfaith-reasons1)\\nScot said the Australian bishops conference commissioned a detailed study on why Catholics say they have stopped going to Mass:\\n1. Mass isn\'t a priority\\n2. Crisis of faith\\n3. Family or household related issues make it difficult\\n4. Changes to parishes or Mass schedule\\n5. Don\'t feel welcome because of their state in life, e.g. divorce or they have small kids.\\nBut the most important reason, 32% say, they don\'t feel it\'s important to go to Mass to be a good Catholic. Fr. Mark said people start by forgiving themselves and stop going to Confession. Then they decide they can pray on their own and don\'t need to follow rules that tell them where to pray. Scot said his brother, Fr. Roger Landry, that people who say they are spiritual, but not religious, really mean that they want God on their own terms, whereas a faithful Catholic would say that I want to love God on Jesus\' terms.\\nJosh said when he prays at home, he\'s praying by himself or with his wife and children, but when he\'s at Mass he\'s praying with the entire 1-billion person Church and even more if you include the saints in heaven. The Mass is an incredibly important part of our spiritual life. It is spiritual food for our souls.\\nFr. Mark said our community is less without the full community. The person not only needs the community, but the community needs them. The Church needs the full participation of the community, because without it we are less. Much of our culture is focused on individualism. We don\'t think of ourselves as part of a community. Scot said God created us to be part of a family and that\'s what each parish strives to be. Eucharist means "thanksgiving" and Scot\'s been thinking about how that relates to the American holiday. People will travel across the country on the third Thursday of November, even if they know it won\'t be the most fun or if it\'s a big hassle, but there\'s a sense that we\'re made to be with our family on that day. Our heavenly Father is like our parents who say all that matters is that the whole family is together on that.\\nScot said Cardinal Se\\xe1n is writing a pastoral letter on Sunday Mass attendance and he will write about how much of the factors are within our control.\\xa0\\nJosh said the Australian study shows that it\'s no one fact that pushes people out the doors of the Church. In many cases, it just happened over the course of a long period of time. Fr. Mark said he\'s been impressed by the people who come on the program who see a need in their parishes and participated and made it better rather than just leaving because it wasn\'t what they wanted at first.\\nScot said John Paul II described love, not as a feeling, but as a self-gift. Pope Benedict\'s first encyclical was the God is love. God loved us first and how do we love him back? Not through a feeling, but through an act of the will of a self-gift. Even if we\'re not active in a ministry, we can give of ourselves on a Sunday morning by witnessing to our community and neighborhood that this is a priority. for one thing, it\'s a different experience sitting in church that\'s packed full of people rather than a mostly empty one. Every time we make a choice to go to Mass, it makes a difference to everyone else in that church.\\nScot said another reason in the study was the Sundays are not distinct any more. Businesses are open, people have to work, people have to do chores, kids\' sports are scheduled on Sunday morning. That makes it even more important for the Catholic to show neighbors by our witness that Mass is our priority. Those actions will make someone notice.\\nArchbishop Dolan of New York recently wrote about threats to Sunday Mass. He said in recent years communication technologies have made it easier for us to be distracted and make church just another in a range of options on the weekend. Scot suggested that perhaps as a response it would be fruitful for Catholics to turn off TVs and computers and other distracting devices on Sunday. In his letter, Archbishop Dolan then responded to a lot of the same objections found in the Australian study.\\n* ["Keeping the Lord\'s Day Holy," Archbishop Timothy Dolan\'s St. Patrick\'s Day, 2010, Letter to the Archdiocese of New York](http://blog.archny.org/?p=570)\\n>\\u201cSunday is our only free time together.\\u201d (Great, what better way to spend that time than by praying together at Mass).\\n>\\n>\\u201cI pray my own way.\\u201d (Nice idea. \\xa0But, odds are, you don\\u2019t).\\n>\\n>\\u201cThe sermon is boring.\\u201d (You may have a point).\\n>\\n>\\u201cI hate all the changes at Mass.\\u201d (see below)\\n>\\n>\\u201cI want more changes at Mass.\\u201d (see above)\\n>\\n>\\u201cUntil the church makes some changes in its teaching, I\\u2019m staying away.\\u201d (But, don\\u2019t we go to Mass to ask God to change us, not to tell God how we want Him and His Church to change to suit us?)\\n>\\n> \\u201cEverybody there is a hypocrite and always judging me.\\u201d (Who\\u2019s judging whom here?)\\n>\\n>... and the list goes on.\\n>\\n>And the simple fact remains: the Eucharist is the most beautiful, powerful prayer that we have. \\xa0To miss it is to miss Jesus \\u2014 His Word, His people, His presence, His Body and Blood.\\n**2nd segment:** Now, as we do every week, we look forward to this coming Sunday\'s Mass readings to help us prepare to celebrate together.\\n* [First Reading for Sunday, July 10, 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Isaiah 55:10-11)](http://www.usccb.org/nab/071011.shtml#reading1)\\n>Thus says the LORD:\\nJust as from the heavens\\nthe rain and snow come down\\nand do not return there\\ntill they have watered the earth,\\nmaking it fertile and fruitful,\\ngiving seed to the one who sows\\nand bread to the one who eats,\\nso shall my word be\\nthat goes forth from my mouth;\\nmy word shall not return to me void,\\nbut shall do my will,\\nachieving the end for which I sent it.\\n* [Gospel for Sunday, July 10, 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 13:1-23)](http://www.usccb.org/nab/071011.shtml#gospel)\\n>On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.\\nSuch large crowds gathered around him\\nthat he got into a boat and sat down,\\nand the whole crowd stood along the shore.\\xa0\\nAnd he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:\\n\\u201cA sower went out to sow.\\xa0\\nAnd as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,\\nand birds came and ate it up.\\xa0\\nSome fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.\\xa0\\nIt sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,\\nand when the sun rose it was scorched,\\nand it withered for lack of roots.\\xa0\\nSome seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.\\xa0\\nBut some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,\\na hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.\\xa0\\nWhoever has ears ought to hear.\\u201d\\n>The disciples approached him and said,\\n\\u201cWhy do you speak to them in parables?\\u201d\\xa0\\nHe said to them in reply,\\n\\u201cBecause knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven\\nhas been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.\\xa0\\nTo anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;\\nfrom anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.\\xa0\\nThis is why I speak to them in parables, because\\nthey look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.\\xa0\\nIsaiah\\u2019s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:\\nYou shall indeed hear but not understand,\\nyou shall indeed look but never see.\\nGross is the heart of this people,\\nthey will hardly hear with their ears,\\n\\xa0they have closed their eyes,\\n\\xa0lest they see with their eyes\\nand hear with their ears\\nand understand with their hearts and be converted,\\nand I heal them.\\n>\\u201cBut blessed are your eyes, because they see,\\nand your ears, because they hear.\\xa0\\nAmen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people\\nlonged to see what you see but did not see it,\\nand to hear what you hear but did not hear it.\\n>\\u201cHear then the parable of the sower.\\nThe seed sown on the path is the one\\nwho hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it,\\nand the evil one comes and steals away\\nwhat was sown in his heart.\\nThe seed sown on rocky ground\\nis the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.\\xa0\\nBut he has no root and lasts only for a time.\\xa0\\nWhen some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,\\nhe immediately falls away.\\xa0\\nThe seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,\\nbut then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word\\nand it bears no fruit.\\xa0\\nBut the seed sown on rich soil\\nis the one who hears the word and understands it,\\nwho indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.\\u201d\\nJosh said he sees two important aspects of the readings: The seed that is sown, which is the Word of God. The Word is perfect. And then the soil. A farmer would say there\'s only so much you can do with the rocky ground. He thinks of his own life and how he tries to live the Word of God superficially and he then has to uproot himself and change his life and move to more fertile ground in his life.\\nFr. Mark said the key is the roots. With regard to today\'s topic, we need an environment that isn\'t just a quick high, but creates deep spiritual roots. He related the story of Orpheus, whose music could seduce anyone, but when he stopped playing the people were left worse off, pining away for the music. He said the true test of a teen or college ministry is whether the young people can move on from the interesting, high energy Masses aimed at them and go to a regular Mass and remain fully engaged.\\nScot said the parable speaks directly to today\'s topic. The culture is hardened against the Word of God. When people don\'t understand a Church teaching, they just dismiss it rather than wonder if there might be some truth in that. He said that if we\'re reaching out to people to help plant the seed, but there needs to be reciprocity from that person. Even if they don\'t respond right away, we don\'t stop trying and letting the Holy Spirit work.\\nJosh points out that the sower is actively sowing seeds, not sitting back passively. A parish should not sit back and just say that the doors are open if anyone is interested. A parish should be mission-oriented and entrepreneurial.\\xa0\\nFr. Mark said the deep roots he spoke about are built by spending time. We have a responsibility to bear fruit. It\'s not just about what can I get, but what can I give.'