Feehan’s Tuesday morning Mass is a great way to come together with your friends, worship God, and even make new friends. Every week in the Chapel, Father Craig, the Chaplain here at Feehan holds a Mass that is short, but efficient, and everyone is welcome.
“They [the masses] have great attendance”, according to the director of Campus Ministry, Mr. Deramo, there are over 100 students attending every week. He also says, “Historically the Tuesday morning masses did not have many students attending. The increase in numbers at morning mass is proof the school’s commitment to God is growing. Perhaps the reason for this is because recently they have started to make some changes in the way they’ve been promoting it. Per Mr. Deramo, he says “Last year we started to make a point to advertise it, announce it, and invite students and faculty to it. We added the post-mass donuts and juice as a way to foster community and belonging after Mass, which is something many parishes do on a Sunday morning after Mass too.”
As Mr. Deramo mentioned, they also serve free donuts in the Campus Ministry Center after mass concludes. This has helped attract more students, but most come because they genuinely want to worship God. “I think it definitely helps attendance. Someone may decide to come to morning Mass at first because they can get a donut after. But I firmly believe that they will find a sense of peace at morning Mass, and that is what really keeps kids coming back.”
Lastly, the moderators of this event have also tried some fun challenges to keep attending Mass interesting. Mr. Deramo explains, “Two times per year we do a Daily Mass Challenge – during Advent and Lent. For one week we have morning Mass every day before school and challenge students to attend as many as they can. This hopefully helps a student to attend morning Mass on a day that they may not be able to attend otherwise (for example if they have a club meeting on Tuesdays).” These ideas have also contributed to better attendance, because it allows students to participate if they have club meetings or different conflicts on Tuesdays. These daily masses are held during special times of the year, (Advent and Lent) when students may want to grow deeper in faith.
Tuesday masses are an opportunity to learn and grow closer to God. If you are feeling down or tired, going to Mass in the morning is a great way to start your day on a good note. It’s a good way to meet new people and say hi to your friends as well. If you want to grow in your faith, come to the Chapel at 7:15 Tuesday morning.
