We went to a different parish for the 11:30 a.m. Mass today. (That’s where I took these rainy Sunday pictures, by the wayβin the peaceful parish garden. ππ§π»)
It’s the third church we visited within these last seven days.
We like to do what Travis and I call “church hop.” That means visit different parishes throughout the week.
(Okay, this next part might sound a bit confusing. π)
During the work week (Mon. – Fri.), our family attends the 7 p.m. daily Mass two to three times a week, and each evening Mass we attend is at a different parish.
Then, on the weekend, we attend either the Saturday Vigil Mass or a Sunday morning/afternoon Mass at a nearby local parish.
For the daily evening Mass, it is generally offered only once a week at select parishes. Not every Catholic Church offers an evening Mass.
The evening Mass may be at 6 p.m. or 7 p.m., just depends on that particular parish’s Mass schedule.
Whereas, early morning daily Masses are offered pretty much at all parishes (there are a few exceptions, of course) four to five days out of the work week.
Morning daily Mass times range from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.. Also, each daily Mass, mornkng or evwning, is about 30 minutes long.
We’re just not able to go to a daily Mass in the morning right now. Travis has to be at work by 6 a.m., and we only have one working vehicle at the moment.
But boy, are we thankful we found a few evening Mass options at several local parishes during the work week! πππ½
After today’s morning Mass, we went to say hello to the priest, and he said, “Don’t I know you?!” π€π
We explained he probably remembered us from a different church we visited a couple of weeks ago when he was the celebrant at that Mass.
“Oh, yes!” he exclaimed remembering where he had last seen us. π
We do have a “home church” that we make the best effort to attend on the weekend a few times in the month.
However, Travis works a lot (six days a week), and life gets pretty busy with the kids, so having the flexibility to also attend a Saturday Vigil (at 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m. or 5 p.m.) or a Sunday Mass time (at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12 p.m., or even 5:30 p.m.!) that fits our schedule works best for us.
As you can see, living in a metropolitan means we have A LOT of options! π And that’s another great blessing for us. ππ½
This is just the stage of life we’re in right now, ya know. π #busybigfamilylife
Honestly, I wish we would have thought to do this (church hop) when the kids were babies and toddlers instead of always being late to church. Haha ππ«£
π XO